NEWBRIGHTONAFC.COM

New Brighton Rovers 2007

Review 2007

Well, another season has now passed and what a year it was. Last year was great as we were the top team through out most of the year. This year we hid down the table only to burst thru with 7 games to go to clinch another double. This was even greater than that of 2006.

When we started this season we had lost a few players and gained a couple. It was never going to be an easy job to repeat the success of 2006 however we were always going to give it a shot.

We started the season with a 4 win, 2 loss over the first part of the season that dropped us down the league table. Hopefully this made other teams look at each other instead of trying to beat Rovers as we had already dropped points. In game 8 against Glenbrye, we had the upper hand only to drop away and let them off with a 3 all draw. This again did help our cause in trying to win this league. We dropped down the table again, when looking back; not being at the top of the table did us a favour as teams were looking at Dux de Lux as the top team.

This lead to Rovers infamous games of the year. We played MAC United in the Bolam Cup which turned from a good game into an abandoned one. I have written enough about this, just to say we were not the only team to have the game abandoned against this team.

We continued the path to victory with consolidated results against Azzurri, Canty Fiji and Woolston Foundary that now lead to the must win game against Dux. They convincingly beat us in the first round. They had a draw the previous week and a win by us would take us back to the top.

This was the turning point of the season as we won the game 4-1 and the team had the desire to push on to try to take out the title. We were also to meet this team in the Bolam Cup semi final 2 weeks later of which we also ran in a 3-0 victory to take us to the final.

We have 2 league games left and one of these was against DDP Japan who had beaten us in the first round. We initially sent Prebbleton home with an 11-0 trashing which lead to the game against DDP Japan. The players had been talking about the double again.

The last league game was interesting. A nice day (very warm) and against a team that probably played some of the best football we have seen all year. This did not deter the resolve to win and that we did 4-2 and sealed a double league title.

This left 1 game to go, the Bolam Cup final against the old enemy Glenbrye. This was again a very warm day that started well with most of the team having a breakfast and then moving onto English Park to watch and support the Reserve Team in their Trophy final. Sadly they did not win as they would have also ended the season with the league and trophy double.

The game came and went and the result was a good 2-0 victory that sealed the double for the 2^nd year in a row… the double double.

Well that was 2007 and a great year in the end. To repeat the double is fantastic and something this team should be very proud.

Thanks must go to the players for their efforts through out 2007 and congratulations to them for getting through to complete this double.

The following is a breakdown of awards for 2007. To select people for awards is very difficult and this season is no different as each player has done their job.

The following have been selected for this year

Now it is time to relax and reflect on the past year and enjoy the break until it all starts again in 2008.