Tough, tense physical tussle as Tomasz says goodbye

Balham 1 Sutton Common 1

In hindsight, today was not about the result, particularly when it became clear that Mitcham had somehow beaten the League leaders twice, and that only two teams are guaranteed promotion. Instead, it was about a series of thank yous, the most important one to Tomasz. Having coached the boys for 8 years, he has shown a selfless devotion to the club and to the development of the team. The tears at the end, from every single player and many of the parents, were poignant and heartfelt. From the highs of the unbeaten season to the lows of too few players to field a side, Tomasz has stuck with the boys through everything, has shown them how he expects them to behave on the pitch, and has improved their skills phenomenally. A true legend of the club who I imagine the boys will remember for a lifetime, we wish him all the success in his new career as a primary school teacher.

The match itself was not one that he would have wanted to sign off on - it was a physical, ill-tempered affair with an overly vocal opposition manager, and a referee who struggled to keep control. The first half was one of the Whites' poorest of the season - they were beaten to every second ball, showed poor anticipation and were broadly off the pace. It was clear that Sutton were a physical side, but the first fifteen minutes were very tentative with no attempts from either side. The away side were reliant on long balls to their skilful and tall striker, and it was from a hopeful lob forward that they took the lead. Jacob was beaten to an awkward bouncing ball when he could have been braver and the forward headed in past a despairing Ty who was inches from clearing it off the line.

Balham finally had a shot from Max after an excellent drive forward from Chris, but it was well wide and the boys were struggling. Somehow they did not concede another before the break. The Yellows' striker rifled a long-range shot against the crossbar, from the follow-up Jacob pulled off an astonishing save with the striker only six yards out. From the resulting corner, Patrick put his body on the line with a brave block and the boys were still in the game.

Tomasz's final team-talk went as expected: it was angry and pointed, with several areas for improvement highlighted. The most important one was for the boys to show some passion and commitment, and thankfully the turnaround in the second-half was stark. Patrick and Joe particularly were tenacious and strong in the tackle, with Wilbur also bravely putting his foot into a number of tackles in the centre of the park.

It took a while for the equaliser to come, but the Whites had the most chances in the half. Ty's long-range free-kick found the dangerous no-man's land, but no White shirt anticipated well enough. Patrick cut-in and curled the ball over with his right foot, and Ty's free-kick resulted in a Playstation-save by the keeper.

With only fifteen minutes to go, Tomasz put Ethan up front, his third position of the match. It paid off with some excellent skill - a tight turn on the edge of the box and a lovely left-foot effort to nestle into the corner.

Either side could have won it from there, although Balham probably finished the stronger. Jacob had to bravely clear with his head after another awkward long ball, and the boys had to defend a couple of corners. At the other end, the Whites had a couple of goalmouth scrambles, but the clear sight on target would not come and the result in the end was a fair one.

Astonishingly Mitcham beat Ashford twice in the day's other results.

Mitcham 4:1 Ashford

Ashford 3:4 Mitcham

With a couple of tournaments and a celebration evening to come, it is not quite time to say goodbye to Tomasz yet, and he has promised to support us next season in a less official capacity.