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Premier Division Third Place 2006/07 |
Much was promised in pre-season but the Griffin failed to perform in all competitions in what was our most disappointing season to date. The opening game of the season against Linton was typical of the season ahead. Having been the better side for most of the match the Griffin failed to convert chances and were hit on the counter attack, losing 0-3. It was a brutal game at times in which Ben Fox was badly injured and would miss the opening months of the season; along with Ryan Russell and Jason Jaap. Our next game was the lowest point in the Griffins history. Drawn against Osterley Rangers in the County Cup, a side we had beaten in the league the previous season, the Griffin for a variety of reasons had only 8 players on the day. Three ‘strangers’ were brought into the side and the game was a shambles that resulted in a 10 a side game with Osterley’s Matt Graves single handed winning the game 1-4. Like previous humiliations the Griffin responded positively with Jeff Lovell taking over as Captain and along with Manager Oz became instrumental in running the team. A demolition of a strong Haverfield side (5-1) was followed by good display against Brentford where we missed countless chances and the Ref decided to gift Brentford a penalty (1-1). A similarly poor referee influenced our loss to St Margarets (0-2) but one again glaring misses cost us dearly. The first decent game of the season was December’s match against Chiswick Albion. On a boggy, vast pitch at Bedfont the Albion took the lead early in the game but the Griffin fought back, putting in a dominant second half display but failed to score; Albion’s cheers at the final whistle was testament to our performance. A lucky win against Whistlers and a 15-1 demolition of Oisin Celtic rounded off 2006.
January was a strange time. Bogey side St Margarets again stole a point against the run of play (2-2) and a diabolical game against South West London finished 5-4 in our favour. The home game against Chiswick Albion once again left me moaning about referees (as I trudged off following a red card). The Griffin had shot themselves in the foot, going 0-2 down early in the game but recovered and took the game to Albion and got a goal back. The Albion became nervous as the game drew to a close until a Ref failed to notice a blatant handball in the build up to Albion’s third goal (1-3). February was another inconsistent month, losing 0-3 to Whistlers in a game that we dominated!? But we beat Whitton and Haverfield (4-1 and 2-1) when we played poorly. It was nice to demolish South West London 5-1 but a black moment occurred in the Griffin’s history in a quarter final match against Sheen Park Rangers. Playing on the worst pitch I’ve ever seen and in hurricane conditions the Griffin were comfortably winning 1-0 with 20 mins to go when Dan Fay launched into one of his trademark tackles but this came off the worse, sustaining a horrific injury, breaking his leg in two places. In hindsight the game should have been abandoned but the shock of the accident and dismal conditions made us collectively want to finish the contest. Sheen equalised in the dying moments of the game and went on to win in extra time against a demoralised Griffin.
The last three games of the season raised the Griffin’s level of performance as they faced the only decent teams in the Chiswick & District League. An epic League Cup quarter final against Chiswick Albion finished 3-3 but the Griffin’s lack of football and fitness showed in extra time as the Albion went on to win the tie. Two midweek matches finished the season against the unstoppable Bedfont Sunday (who had already been crowned County Champions). Bedfont had not lost in the league since September 2005 and the Griffin went to the ‘Rec’ with a bare 11 (no Captain Lovell, top scorer Fox, Jason Jaap, Rob Cuddeford…) but against all odds put in their best performance of the season. Playing a rigid, defensive 3-5-1-1 the match was nicely poised at 1-1 when Damien Wilkins was harshly sent off after 50 mins. What happened in the last 40 mins showed a collective determination that the Griffin tend to lack in close games. Superb performances all over the field and two great goals from new boy Gabs stunned Bedfont as the Griffin finally beat them 3-1! The last game of the season followed the week after and Bedfont gained revenge winning 3-0, courtesy of two very generous penalty awards but the Griffin once again finished the season with a very impressive squad but no rewards to show for it.
There were few positives to take from the season. Once again the Griffin were blighted by injuries and player unavailability. A pleasing note was that a squad of 16 players was used in 2006/7 and new signings Rich Kell, Lee Davison, George Orr and Gabs Jones have cemented themselves into the Griffin. A sour note was the state of the Chiswick & District Premier division. The Intermediate County Cup winners Plough resigned a week before the season started, a poor Brentford A side resigned half way through the season and Linton resigned when they realised they would not win a trophy. The league was effectively split in two with Bedfont, Albion and Griffin the only sides with quality and Haverfield, St Margaret’s and Whistlers in a period of decline; the less said about South West London the better…
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Premier Division Runners-Up 2005/06 |
Fourth season
"A season of rebuilding" as Griffin stalwarts Steve Osbourne, Dwayne Rhone, Matt Scott, Dan Smith wandered into retirement. There were new signings - Chris Howes, Jaime Page, Mike Hynes and Paul Hamblin – but they all disappeared by Christmas and with Ryan Russell injured and Ben Fox being camp the Griffin had a threadbare squad. Ironically it was 6-0 humiliation against Hanworth Villa in December that marked a turning point for the Griffin. Facing relegation and out of the main Cup competitions the Griffin went on an unbeaten run until the last game of the season, finishing a respectable second in the Premier division.
In retrospect the season was disappointing with many lows, particularly before Christmas. Losing in the first round of the Middx Cup to a weak British Airways team started the rot, followed by a feeble 3-2 loss to Brentford Athletic in the Riverside Cup and 'England-esque' loss to Acton and Ealing Whistlers in the League Cup on penalties.
The Griffin’s season started in January with a new gritty determination which had been absent in previous seasons. The flair football was replaced by hard tackling/work from midfielders Rob Cuddingford (Players Player of the Year), Jeff Lovell (Managers Player of the Year) and Ben Madden. The Griffin ground out battling wins against Osterley Rangers, St Margaret’s and New Inn. Towards the end of the season Michael Dermott, Ben Fox and Ryan Russell came into form which brought the goals that made us the only threat to Bedfont Sunday. Throughout the season the Griffin defence lead by Captain Jason Jaap, containing returning duo Charlie Dean, Dan Fay and the enigma John McGranaghan were consistently solid and can be credited for prevented the Griffin failing apart during the early part of the season.
The season of transition witnessed over 26 players don the Griffin shirt but only with only 8 or so players regularly available! The lack of commitment by individuals will always blight the Griffin but finishing the season on a high we’ll enter 2006/7 season with renewed hopes of upsetting Bedfont Sunday’s monopoly on the league title.
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Riverside Cup Runners Up 2004/05 |
Third season
A season of some very high 'ups' and 'lowest' results in our history. A disasterous start to the season started with a heavy 0-5 loss to would-be Champions Bedfont Sunday. Three more painful losses followed to Whistlers, Villa and our usual 1st round exit in the County Cup to Locomotive Enfield. Our league form was indifferent with win's against St Margarets, South Ealing and Duke of Wellington. This inconsistant form was maintained to teh end of the season which saw us finish in our lowest position.
This season was about our cup run to the Riverside Cup final. A 7-4 first round victory against Oisin Celtic and a 7-1 away win at Carefree Athletic were expected but the turning point was a penalty shoot out win against South West London after a 0-0 draw. A minor miracle occured on Steve Nicoll's penalty which was stopped by the keeper only for the ball to spin back, hit the prostrate keeper and deflect back in! The quarter final was possibly the best game of the Griffin's history. The game prior to the QF Hanworth Villa knocked us out of the League Cup and they came to Fullers with a very strong squad. The game was an epic that finished 4-3 to the Griffin. The semi-final was a tough away fixture against St Georges at Warren Farm but a ruthless performance saw us win 3-1. The final had the billing against rivals Whistlers but the game was poor. On a dreadful surface we failed to find our form but still created enough chances to win the game. The match finished 1-1 and went into extra time with the game destined for penalties Whistlers nicked a last gasp winner against the run of play.
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Premier Division Runners-Up 2003/04 |
Second season
The Griffin's best season to date got off to a flying start with a 5-1 win against a strong Suffolk Punch (their demoralising loss a cause of their demise). Two weeks later
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Intermediate Champions 2002/03 |
First season
The Griffin's inauguarl season typified the spirit of the players in the squad today. 72 league goals scored in 18 games, but the 32 conceded always made the games entertaining as the Griffin won the division with eight points seperating them from Duke of Wellington in second place.
Having formed out of the ashes of Heidelberg Griffin old team mates Jaap, Fox, Iffy, Greening, Rhone, Osei, Ragozzino and Fay were joined by a variety of mates including Michael Dermott, Tom Connell, Michael Doherty, Steve Osbourne and the old head Curtis James.
The season was an enjoyable one throughout. In the second game leading three nil at half time against Whitton Athletic the talk was to keep the game tight by keeper Greening. Not long after the restart a long goalkick from Whitton bounced over Greening, hit the bar, smacked him in the head before going in - much to the amusement of the Griffin players! The game was an epic that finished 4-3 to the Griffin and typified the season. A few weeks later Dan 'Iffy' Smith declared himself the Goalmachine, scoring an outstanding hatrick against rivals Crosslances in a 3-5 win. The best performance of the season was a 2-2 draw against Premier side Suffolk Punch in the Riverside Cup that was unfortunately abandoned with 20 mins to go because of a waterlogged pitch. Suffolk P were more than greatful for the decision with the Griffin dominating the closing stages of the game. Other notable performances were a two wins over Hanworth Villa reserves and a 4-3 win over Isleworth when the Griffin scraped a team of drunks together. The only lowlight was Riverside Cup loss to South Ealing on penalties in a game that was marred by terrible refereeing and a poor display all round by the Griffin.
End of season awards went to Dwayne Rhone (Golden Boot),....
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TEAM CREST
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SPONSORED BY:
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