On a glorious Spring afternoon at West Clewes and in front of another large crowd, it was Welton who were straight out of the blocks and had taken the lead within two minutes.

Cam Allen was found out on the right and he switched gears and drove at the visitors defence before unleashing an unstoppable power driver of a shot that flew into the back of the net. Toby Cole then got into the action and a long range shot from him saw it flash inches wide of the target.

The visitors equalised in bizarre fashion on eighteen minutes when a weak shot from Joe White seemed to be covered by Alfie Kelsey in the Welton goal but the ball suddenly bounced up high after hitting the ground in front of the keeper, rolled up his arm and over his head and went into the net in slow motion. This setback galvanised Welton back on the front foot and good play between Allen and Lewis Russell saw Russell’s driven shot thump into the visitors side netting.

A couple of minutes later, Welton got the ball into the Almondsbury net but the effort was ruled out for offside. The lead was restored just after the half hour after Courtney Charles was bundled over on the edge of the area. Upstepped Allen who fired in a terrific shot that gave the keeper no chance. A minute later, Welton got their third when Joe Ellis bravely headed home low down from close range. Almondsbury keeper, Neil Diluca then produced an outstanding fingertip save to deny Russell. However, Russell wasn’t going to be denied and just before halftime he unleashed a stunning strike from the edge of the area that this time gave the keeper no chance, to make it four for Welton at the break.

The second half saw Welton continue where they left off in the first half and Allen and Russell combined well and Almondsbury keeper, Diluca saved with his trailing legs to deny Russell a second goal.

Manager Tom Smith, with one eye on the playoffs, brought off Ellis and Morris who were replaced by Joe Garland and Will Hunter respectively.

Welton kept pressing for more goals and were rewarded in the sixtieth minute when the ball fell to Charles in front of goal and despite being quickly closed down, managed to slot the ball through a pack of players into the net to make it five for Welton.

Allen looked like he had picked up a slight knock and was replaced by Stuart James. Good work from Chris Pile saw his final effort fly over the Almondsbury bar and a couple of minutes later, Pile broke through the visitors defence only to be denied by another top save from the Almondsbury keeper.

Another charge into the visitors area, this time by Charles, saw him brought down in the box and referee Mann had no hesitation in awarding a penalty. Upstepped James who showed no signs of nerves and calmly fired the spot kick straight into the net to score his first ever goal for Welton, much to the delight of his team mates and the Green Army. That was that and Welton finished on a big high and the Green Army were well satisfied.

So the season has ended, Welton finished a highly commendable fourth position in the league and who can remember the unbeaten run from the start up to nearly Christmas. That will live long in the memory.

Congratulations to manager Tom Smith and his team for producing the goods on the pitch, an excellent campaign, well led. Bob Allard