It is with a somewhat heavy heart, as we begin the winter break, that Covid seems to be looming large over yet another football season. Not perhaps in the same way as 2019/20 when the Reserve XI were robbed of a triumphant finale to a record breaking season just 4 points away from securing a seemingly inevitable league title. Only for the whole thing to be scrubbed from the history books, declared null and void, treated as though it never existed. Neither is it like last season when, in an effort to complete a season ravaged by lockdown, teams were forced into a series of hastily arranged double headers which changed the traditional 90 minute match format into 60 minutes and stretched the usual 3 points available on the day to a potential 6. The 1st XI finished last season with a run of results which can be best described as mixed, good results against the better teams in the league were let down by disappointing displays against teams which we would have routinely expected to get the better of. It was however nice to see the return of competitive football.

With the lifting of restrictions in the summer and the national success of the vaccination program there was confidence that the spectre of the virus could be put behind us and the annual recruitment drive went well with the open days proving popular and promising new players bringing fresh blood into the club The pre-season friendlies went pretty well too with the firsts winning three and drawing two of the seven games played, far from perfect but given that a fair amount of experimentation was going on and several new players were being integrated into the squad, hopes were building as we went into the new season.

As luck would have it the start of the new term was going to be a baptism of fire. The opening game was away to what was expected to be the toughest team in the division, Old Ignatian. Worse still, we had to play them again on matchday six, without a recognised goalkeeper we lost the first match 2-1, then at home we lost 3-1. It sounds worse but actually we conceded the home game in the few minutes either side of half time. More worryingly, matchday three we lost to Old Minchendenians away having led 4-1 at halftime and with that score remaining with 25 minutes to go, only to eventually get nothing after losing 5-4. This was, to my mind at least, the lowest point in the season, if not the year. The weather conditions were dreadful that day, heavy rain got worse in the second half with storm force winds causing all sorts of mayhem.

In brighter news we have won three and drawn two of the other league games scoring plenty of goals and had a good run in the AFA Cup which sadly came to an end against the Civil Service FC only a couple of weeks ago. They beat us fair and square on the day and, as the oldest remaining amateur football club in the land, we wish them well in the competition. I suspect some will be surprised that my high point of the season (so far) will be the battling 2-2 draw away at Enfield Old Grammarians. It is not so much about them being the likely second best club in the division but the manner in which we turned what looked like a loss after conceding a late goal into a draw that felt like a win as we stuck to our guns and kept plugging away to earn the draw, with Ryan Allison's excellent headed equaliser in stoppage time. Indeed we nearly rescued a win, and on another day it might well have been so.

It only remains for me to wish everyone associated with the club and all of it's teams a happy and prosperous festive season and new year. COYP!