Cheddar travelled to Elmore for what they knew would be a tough game, potentially, even at this stage of the season, a title decider and so it turned out.

Cheddar, now used to playing on a virtual carpet at Bowdens Park arrived to find a very with surface with long grass and plenty of bobbles and this seemed to affect the Cheddar side early on. Elmore virtually camped in the Cheddar half for the opening 25 minutes but crucially only scored the one goal. This came from a corner, which seemed to be an area of expertise for the home side that Cheddar failed to defend. The fact it was only one goal was down to some last ditch defending with man of the match John Tee Boon a tremendous inspiration to those around him and also some very impressive keeping by new signing Ryan Bishop.

Cheddar did gradually get back into the game as their midfield got some sort of a foothold in the game and were unlucky not to equalise on the half hour when a superb strike by Simon Mounsden hit the post with the keeper well beaten. Sealey and Edwards were working hard but living off of scraps and Tim Richens was mentally prepared to be facing a one goal deficit at the break when John Edwards showed the goalscoring form that has been his trademark all season by slotting home a top quality finish just on the stroke of half time – taking him to 8 goals for the season and showing why Cheddar are desperate to get him from Draycott to their Senior teams on a Saturday.

Despite the “let off” Cheddar were still told a few home truths by Tim Richens and Derek Matthews at the break and in fairness, after the break they responded. Cheddar made one substitution at the interval with Javier Goroda coming on in goal for Bishop as they continued the sharing policy implemented by Richens. Goroda was equally impressive in the second period and showed maturity way beyond his 15 years throughout, making crucial saves and commanding his area well. The defenders all followed the lead set by Tee Boon and Teagle in particular, who came in for harsh treatment from his opponents all evening, was tremendous in all he did.

Cheddar took the lead on the hour when Sealey took his turn to get a goal, the ball taking an eternity to roll over the line after the keep took much of the pace off the ball. Elmore attacked from the kick off but a rapid Cheddar counter attack saw Lewis Matthews hit a 30-yard drive that flew inches over the bar with the keeper nowhere. At this point Cheddar were not being helped by some “unusual decisions” by the referee and Tim Richens casually pointed out to the cheddar support that if it was still 2-1 in the last couple of minutes then a home penalty may be awarded. These were indeed prophetic words as, despite a lack of any obvious foul or even home appeal, the referee saw something no one did and gave Elmore a penalty, which was duly slotted home to make the score 2-2. Tim Richens did some quiet seething to avoid getting into any trouble but felt huge disappointment for his players more than anything else.

There was one shock left though, three minutes into injury time, as a Lewis Matthews long throw found the head of Sealey and went through a crowd of players and into the net at the far post, Cheddar went crazy celebrating, including the management team and supporters, what was a crucial goal possibly in the season as a whole. Elmore on the other hand were stunned and had little time to recover anything and the final whistle saw the visitors grab all three points to take them 6 points clear at the top of the league.

The team had shown huge character in the last hour of this game and deserved their reward for their self-belief and commitment to the cause.