By Martin Strain
IN WHAT was the final game of Abbey Villa’s 2023/24 title-winning campaign, Saturday afternoon’s visitors to Millisle were Mossley FC.
Villa’s position as league champions was confirmed earlier in the month, and in essence this game was of very little importance to them. It should be said though that Villa’s one and only defeat in the league this season was at the hands of their Newtownabbey opponents.
Mossley’s situation wasn’t quite as definitive as the home team’s. The margin between them and third placed Lisburn Rangers was so tight that should Mossley have lost by more than six goals, unlikely as that might have been, they would actually miss out on promotion.
Both teams were sitting on 53 points before kick-off, with Mossley holding the upper hand purely by having a better goal difference than Rangers.
After Villa were once again applauded onto the pitch by their opponents, referee Mark McCurdy brought both teams to the centre circle, where they paid a very respectful minute’s silence as a mark of respect following the passing of Villa supporter and grandfather of players Chris and Ryan Murray, Bobby Ringland.
Bobby was a faithful supporter to the club, and took great pride and enjoyment in watching the boys help Villa to their success this season. It was great to see Rhonda, Geoff and family all down at the game.
In bright sunshine, with a strong wind blowing down the pitch from the pavilion end, Villa started well with the wind behind them and in the early stages they had the majority of possession.
It was actually 15 minutes before Villa’s stand-in ’keeper Jonathan Busby actually got to touch the ball, such was the strength of Villa’s defence. It should be noted that due to injuries Villa were struggling for goalkeeping cover, and to his great credit ‘Buzz’ willingly took up the challenge.
Villa took a deserved lead soon afterwards, when a clever free kick was driven low into the Mossley box by Alex McIlmail. It seemed to surprise the defence, who just couldn’t clear their lines before Keith Armstrong struck a low shot past the visiting goalkeeper.
Villa continued to look dangerous throughout the half, but weren’t able to add to the score. The visitors, a good footballing side, did enough to show why they are so well placed in the league.
The second half was barely underway when Villa were forced into an unfortunate early substitution as Busby was forced off injured, to be replaced by centre-half Scott Robbie in goals.
The game remained competitive with the visitors now playing with the benefit of an increasingly strong wind. Villa, whilst restricted to playing on the break, actually created more chances, as the visitors’ forwards were well controlled by the home rearguard.
The match ebbed away to the final whistle, with both teams relatively happy with their day’s efforts. From an Abbey Villa perspective, this was never going to be as important as the event it would become at the final whistle. After the now customary pitch invasion by dozens of kids was cleared, the day’s official business took place.
Club secretary (and stand-in ’keeper) Jonathan Busby along with chairman Gary Pitman took centre stage at this point. Armed with a PA system and on what to the best of my knowledge is a totally unprecedented occasion in this area, ‘Buzz’ called the players of both the club’s seconds and the first team forward to receive their respective league winners medals.
The organisation by the club was as usual exemplary as each player collected their richly deserved medals, adorned in specially printed Abbey Villa 2023/24 champions t-shirts. The support staff and management groups of both teams received particularly strong receptions from the players of each team.
Each team collectively also received their respective silverware, which was presented to captains Jake Rainey and Alan Strain. Noisy celebrations then followed as the players took the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labour from what has been an historic season for Abbey Villa.
As someone said, “it doesn’t happen very often, so we are going to enjoy it!”
