In soccer terms, 1999 was 'one of those seasons'. In a year when we broke records, hoo-doos and the odd body part the Grangers consolidated on an ordinary first year. The season started with more organisation and planning than previous years with the traditional BBQ to gather players for the new year. It was not a huge success as a handful turned up to hear the news of the coming year. Recruitment went well…too well for some that saw the squad of 20 as too many. Despite this the team managed to start the season off with some great wins in the pre-season friendly games. The work done early was shown in an excellent NCL cup run with saw us break the hoo-doo of 4 years of round one exits. The team was unlucky to make the semi-finals after losing in extra-time to the Dolphins. The team had more bad luck with Rob Parton out with a career threatening injury to his knee.

The season started as it finished with a good win over the Roosters. The team still had problems in the midfield and it was a problem that had dogged the Grangers for most of the first season. With Liam suffering from injury and Rob unable to walk…the team made do under some trying circumstances. Playing a string of away games early in the piece no doubt affected the results. There were some horrific fields played on and it took a few games of adjustment before we managed to earn some points. The 'fortress thistle' was proven by just one defeat in the first round of the league at home. There were some great results…and games we lost but still managed to play well. The 2-0 loss to the Devies was still acknowledged as the best game of the season for us…despite the scoreline. The first half of the season was plagued by goal scoring problems and one felt that it was just a matter of time before they started to go in. The goals did start to fall…I think the game that turned it around must have been the div 2 clash against Caboolture…the team won a solid 3-0 and played well after some hard defeats. We also scored 11 goals in the next 2 games and the problems with scoring were certainly solved.

The good form died away in a season that started to drag out. Players had come and gone and many were physically and mentally tired from the constant schedule. Many struggled to make the field and it was a constant struggle to get a regular team. It has been the usual problem for a NCL team but the team managed to keep its core of players that were improving all the time. Some big improvers this year was Ismaan, Andy and Runski.

The final series was in doubt as we dropped some form after the 'infamous' boat trip of the Grangers executive. We managed to scrape in 4^th place, despite the fact we had beaten all of the teams above us. The first game saw us play Brighton…a hard team in more ways than one, we remembered them for the near break-out of a brawl during our away clash earlier in the season. Nerves always play a part in finals, even though we are hardly playing for 'sheep stations'. The pre-match warmup was a little different than usual…we actually warmed up. More importantly we played like a team intent on winning. I suspected that we were a team that could turn 'it' on whenever we felt like it and the finals was a great for waking us up. The Brighton game will go down in history as a rout, a 5-1 thumping in which we made a team that was good look very, very ordinary. Again it was a strange performance…its strange to see players lift above what you sometimes expect them to.

The final was also a strange game. The atmosphere was different, as you would expect, but we still had trouble getting 11 players so that made us all feel comfortable (like it was just another game). History will show that Grangers won the game 2-1 but it was a win that the team desperately needed. The team in just its second season had put some trophies in the cabinet and the boost to morale for next season is one that will be well felt. The team now looks forward to Division one and the prospect of building on what we already have. Some players will leave…others will come in…the Grangers remain the same.

Check out the end of season party!!!