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The Harold Wood AFC Presentation night took place on Saturday 17 May 2008, winners were as follows: Players Player of the Year Managers Player of the Year 1st XI Jon Manzi Jon Manzi 2nd XI Dave Sewell(35) Luke Fletcher 3rd XI Adam Ribbits Mark Wordsell 4th XI Wes East Billy Winters Clubman of the Year was Brian Rafis Golden Boot was won by Steve Portway. Season Summary The first team got off to steady start, drawing their first five games. Unfortunately this was followed by a barren run and plenty of changes of personnel followed by the resignation of Manager Steve Munday to take up a role at Barkingside. The team fell in to the relegation places and lacked goals and confidence. Assistant Lee Hammond stepped up and after a slow start managed to mix things up and rebuild confidence. The introduction of a few new faces and loan signings led to some excellent results towards the end of the season, the most satisfying of which came against pub team Mountnessing. The Romford Charity Cup win against Manford was a great way to end the season, despite a broken leg suffered by double player of the year Jon Manzi. In the end a decent season which sets solid foundations for next year and the hope that some of the new faces can be retained to push for a top half finish. The second team lost manager Lee Hammond to the first team, so brother Gary stepped in ably assisted by former player Wayne Robinson. Despite an early cup exit, the team went from strength to strength and retained their league title by a massive 9 points which wasn't really a reflection on how close fought it was. The last game of the season saw a return to playing action for Wayne (I've still got it) Robinson and Gary Hammond in a spray on kit. The third team had another successful season, winning the league cup in a high scoring final. They also did well to finish 5th in a strong Premier Division. Brian Rafis proved once again how good he is at grooming young boys as Ryan Walsh and Craig Sampson established themselves in the team. Veterans Preece and Francois once again provided invaluable experience, and Ribbits and Cork gained representative honours. The 4th team started with a new management team after the good looking ones left, and despite having a lot of changes on the playing staff managed a creditable mid table finish and a League Cup Final appearance. Several youngsters came in to the side and pushed through in to higher teams, which is excellent for the club and perhaps a better indicator of the success of this team. Paul Winters will be on his own next season as Moody's success went to his head (nothing else up there) and he has moved on to take up a role at Billericay. That's Billericay ladies mongs team. |