Enzo Cantú wins the ball back at the halfway line and lumps the ball up to Curtis McGuire. McGuire, knowing this is the reason he was brought here, ignores the jeers of the home-side crowd whose grounds he’s invaded and kicks it into high gear, outracing the defense right up the middle. His pace is furious and he’s running right at the keeper! Like a game of chicken, Wimbledon’s keeper doesn’t know whether to stand ground and move to the side – and still McGuire races on. Then, at the last second, McGuire jukes to the right and lightly taps the goal beyond the bewildering keeper. 1-0 Kingstonian.
The goal would be the difference. Kingstonian had defeated AFC Wimbledon 1-0. Not only that, but Kingstonian was three points closer to the first-place club. The race for the League 2 Title was on!
Also, some other big news. Another takeover bid was submitted – this time, a consortium group led by Steve Barton. Barton and the takeover are successful and he immediately puts in for two transfers in March: Sefa Akgün, a Turkish deep lying midfielder and a Swiss striker who ultimately does not sign. I have no idea what Akgün will bring as his attributes are not visible and Turkey is outside my scouting scope. I suppose we’ll have to wait until the summer to see if our new Club President is out of his mind or not.
Roco Rees with three shutouts. McGuire with five goals. A good month with the win over Wimbledon but our loss to Bradford City meant we were still down two points with five games to go. It pains me to say this but the Bradford City game was decided on a late 92nd minute goal – and it was my fault. I really wanted to get another win rather than draw and so I went attacking. This left us exposed in the back on a counter and Bradford took advantage. Luckily, my frustration was eased by the subsequent two clean sheets.
April continued the good vibes, with three more clean sheets from Rees. McGuire also made it 13 goals in 11 matches since the winter skid. What a duo.
But AFC Wimbledon was equally on fire, mirroring our results and leaving us two points behind going into the final day. Not only that, but AFC Wimbledon had the goal differential advantage as well, one goal ahead of us. A draw from AFC Wimbledon could still see us win the title with a victory but things like this are often too difficult to overcome in Football Manager.
Final match day
Kingstonian on the road against middling club Colchester and AFC Wimbledon at home against mid-table Wycombe.
5th minute. Wimbledon give up a penalty and Wycombe score! We might have a chance.
6th minute. A Kingstonian corner is cleared and Colchester is on the break. A shot directly at Rees is parried away. Jason Sraha, our central defender who had been racing back on defense, grabs hold of the ball before it goes beyond the touchline and immediately lumps it back into the middle of the pitch just above our box. The K’s take it forward on their own counter but the ball is put out for a throw. The throw is received and beautifully crossed into the box for a wide-open Alfie Matthews, who slots the header into the left corner of the goal. Kingstonian 1-0.
18th minute. Andrea Falzon drives the ball up the middle of the pitch and finds Danny Preston on the left wing, cutting inside. Preston passes the ball to Matthews who hits the side netting. Shortly after the goal kick, we win the ball back and Falzon crosses to Matthews who unleashes a wicked volley at the keeper. Three successive corners follow with great chances by Matthews and Dilan Markandy but the Colchester keeper is on his game today. Maybe the boys heard about the score in Wimbledon? They look really up for this.
34th minute. A Falzon corner is cleared but only to Sraha near midfield. Sraha passes back to Falzon who crosses it to Markandy in the box for another goal. Kingstonian 2-0. Nearly simultaneously, the score changes in Wimbledon. Wycombe is up 2-0!
43rd minute. A breakdown in defense as a Colchester attacker zips past Sraha and cracks the woodwork. The rebound ricochets to another Colchester player who slots the ball cooly in the net. Kingstonian 2 – Colchester 1.
46th minute. AFC Wimbledon takes a goal back. The pressure is on but if the results at halftime hold, we would have the title.
62nd minute. A Falzon corner goes directly to McGuire who hits it home. Surely, we are good in our game now, right? Kingstonian 3 – Colchester 1.
64th minute. A goalkeeper error on the edge of the pitch lets Falzon steal the ball from him and lashes it into the net. Now we’ve won and just have to focus on the scoreline in Wimbledon. Still no update there but here, K’s up 4-1.
74th minute. A glimmer of hope for the home side as Colchester pounce on another rebound and claw a goal back. 4-2 to Kingstonian.
89th minute. Leon Davies is booked and the highlights show shot after shot from both teams. Honestly, it’s amazing this game isn’t 4-4. Just take a look at the final tally.
The time ticks away. Still no update in Wimbledon.
Still no change.
Still –
We’ve done it! I can’t believe it but we’ve won League 2! Take a look at how close this table was at the top between us and Wimbledon.
I’m sure AFC Wimbledon fans were rankled by the final standings but it probably meant more to our club than theirs. In my mind, we now had a proper rivalry because both of us would be promoted together to League One.
Best XI
You can see that Dylan Ruffles was dropped for Davies and Louis Dunne for Dave Burke midway through the year. I was honestly surprised about Dunne making this Best XI but he really took off in the last two months despite not being as good attribute-wise as Burke or Dominic Birch. He also spelled Falzon somewhat too.
I mentioned it earlier but Markanday’s rating is misleading as many of his goals and good performances were from the first two months of the season. Matthews made up for it in the second half so I’m surprised to see his overall rating did not look good by the end of the year. Also, remember Birch and his five goal game? Yeah, he only had two other goals all season so I’m pretty disappointed in him.
But the superstar here really was McGuire. 31 goals, 14 of which were in our last 16 games. McGuire really shows that acceleration and pace are key for strikers in the lower leagues. I have my doubts about him and his 10 rating in finishing as we move up the football pyramid. Speaking of which, it is time to kick on to League One!
The Kings of London 