Sunday 18th June 2006

From the word go it was clear that the final day's games were going to be even more hard fought than all the others, if that was possible! Chelsea had an extra player advantage for both games and applied pressure on "The Yellow Submarines" all over the pitch. Soma and Lars looked dangerous up front and Benny, Johnathan and Max N coped easily with the lone threat of Adam.

Edgar and Francois seemed like they had played beside each other all tournament long though and provided a great defensive rock in front of Sven. Max H was running the midfield on his final day at Buda Juniors and Till's long-range shooting was always a threat to Sven's goal. Bizarrely it was Edgar who forced Sven into a stunning reflex stop to keep the sides level, deflecting his attempted clearance just over the bar.

The second half was more of the same as a breakthrough just wouldn't arrive. With only Niklas joining Adam sporadically in attack, Bernardo and Noe formed a formidable wall which Chelsea could not breach. The last seconds of the game were the most exciting as Till's corner found its way to Max H at the back post, but his low drive smashed against Sven's legs before the keeper gathered the loose ball. His long clearance bounced all the way to Thorben at the other end who had trouble holding on
and Adam squeezed a left-foot effort goalwards from a narrow angle. Luckily for Chelsea the ball lacked enough pace and Thorben scrambled back to stop the ball on the goal-line.

So a point a piece ,with Villareal left to sit back and see how Hamburg coped with Chelsea before facing "The Greys" in what would effectively be a cup final to decide the league!!!

With only pride to play for, Chelsea went all out to scupper Hamburg's title ambitions and having beaten "The Greys" in their two previous encounters hopes were high of ending the league with 10 points. With just Alec at the back there was a lot of space for Chelsea to exploit with Till and Dani out wide enjoying acres of space. Max H broke the deadlock, colecting Kevin's pass in his stride and hitting his shot into the roof of the net over Glenn. Till then doubled the advantage with a superb long-range free kick, curling the ball through a crowd and into the far corner past an unsighted Glenn.

Chelsea threatened to run riot with Lars and Max H pushing for a third but Alec gave Hamburg hope of a fightback before half-time. Taking a leaf from Till's book he struck a wonderful free-kick from fully thirty metres which curled away from Thorben and into the top corner.

After the break and with a change of formation, Hamburg looked much more comfortable with Alex K joining Alec at the back and Simon on his own up front. Lewis and Aron joined the attack on the break and Johnathan had to stay alive to clear a couple of through balls. As the game wore on "The Greys" were worn down and in truth Max H,Lars and Soma could have stretched the lead but for a combination of good goalkeeping and wasteful finishing. As the final whistle blew, Chelsea celebrated a much deserved victory while Hamburg were left to catch their breath before a do or die final game against Villareal...

A perfect way to end the league with the final game deciding which team would be champions. With Villareal grabbing a draw against Chelsea, another would be enough to claim the title. For Hamburg their defeat to "The Blues" left them no choice, as only a victory would suffice against a team who they had beaten twice and drawn with once in previous encounters.

As predicted it was Hamburg who pressed from the start as Villareal had only one thing in their minds... 0:0. With Alec starting attack after attack feeding Lewis on the right and Aron on the left Villareal were forced to sit deeper and deeper, leaving Adam to work tirelessly up front on his own again. Simon and Yuki linked up well before Lewis faked to shoot, squaring the ball to the unmarked Aron who contrived to miss from close range with the goal at his mercy! Simon then forced three corners from great last-ditch defending by Francois and Bernardo.

However the goal duly arrived just before half-time. After Alec had combined with Yuki to put Simon through down the right side, the French whippet rounded a couple of challenges before drawing Sven and squaring the ball to the onrushing Lewis who remained focused, despite cries of "he can't miss that" from the crowd, and dispatched the ball into the net.

After the break Hamburg understandably let their foot off the gas and sat back with victory in sight. However "The Yellow Submarines" weren't finished yet and started to threaten Glenn's goal more and more. In somewhat controversial fashion they were offered the perfect opportunity to snatch an equaliser as Alec felled Adam. Initially the ref awarded a free-kick but
changed his mind and pointed to the spot after conversing with his linesman who said the foul took place inside the box. Edgar stepped up but his well-struck effort smashed off the crossbar and rebounded to safety!

Villareal could have let it get them down but instead responded by forcing Glenn into action and winning a succession of corners. From one of these the equaliser duly arrived as Bernardo's cross somehow found its way to Noe at the back post. He took one touch before smashing the ball into the roof of the net and sending his team into raptures!!!

But the drama wasn't over yet as Hamburg came back looking for what would surely be a title-winning goal. Simon drove one wide of the near post and Edgar deflected a dangerous effort from Aron for a corner. With their last chance the entire Hamburg team surrounded Sven's goal and as Aron swung in the corner Alec's effort was blocked by Francois and the ball
somehow ended up in Sven's arms. With that the final whistle went and Villareal were champions of the inaugural Group 4 League!