Blues’ co-manager Glen Golby was pleased with his team’s performance in their final game of the season, as Jordan Parson reports.
Barking had a massive say in where the Essex Senior league title went last Thursday, denying challengers Basildon from claiming local bragging rights. The Bees would not have applied for promotion if they had won the league, but the result was still vital.
“We got to have a say in where the title went, which is great, and we gave everything against them to test them as much as possible,” Golby said.
“I’m on good terms with the [other] bosses, so it would have been unfair if we didn’t field our strongest squad, if it was any other game at the end of the season, I may have played a few kids, but with so much riding on it, we had to field the best team we could.”
Golby’s men had an interesting build up to the final game with 12 days between the last game and their 4-3 loss to Stansted.
“We cancelled Saturday training to allow a few of the lads to earn some extra money doing overtime, while a few of us also turned out for the reserves,” he added.
“What it has meant, though, is that we were ready for the game against Basildon and it paid off with a hard earned point.”
The Blues looked set to be pushing for the title at the Christmas break, sitting comfortably in second place and only a couple of points behind leaders FC Romania. But an inconsistent second half to the season saw them fall away from the title spot and drop down to fourth place where they ended the season.