Hook Youth 2 vs 3 Curley Park Rangers Vulcan

The unfamiliar evening KO for the final match of the season... the 2nd Place play-off against Curley Park; 2 draws having been the result of the previous league meetings. The pitch at Hartletts looked great and was freshly cut, allowing Hook to play the ball down and move it around the pitch.

Hook got off to a flying start and, with some superb football, made Curley Park look distinctly ordinary - no surprise that Hook took the lead after 3 minutes, with their 3rd effective attack! More decent breaks followed but not quite the cutting edge for the final pass/finish. A shame, as the game could have been all but over in the first half.

Unfortunately, Curley Park, physical as ever, got in to the game more and more as time went on. Two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half tested Hook's resolve. Much like the last meeting, Hook took all of 3 minutes to respond with a deserved equaliser. 2-2.

It was always going to be frantic for the last few minutes (extra time and penalties loomed...). Unfortunately, the physicality took its toll and Curley Park stole a winner with 2 minutes to go. No coming back and the match was decided.

A valiant 3rd place finish AND promotion to Division 2 confirmed.

Echoed many times in the last couple of weeks, the Hook players have every right to be so proud of themselves for the season they have had. It is fair to say nobody expected such an exciting finish at the start of the season. The distance the players have come in their development, every single one of them, has been fantastic and they fully deserved to finish at the top. How close it was...