“The roar when the winning goal went in was unbelievable.”

Those are the words of Chalford chairman Martin Smith after his side beat Tredworth Tigers 2-1 in front of their own fans in a wonderful  Northern Senior League Division One championship shootout last night.

Substitute Luke Brunsdon was the late hero for Chalford, slotting home in the final minutes of normal time to ensure Chalford retained their title  in stunning style.

They finished four points clear of Tredworth with Longlevens Reserves taking the runners-up spot, two points adrift of the champions, after winning 4-0 at Woolaston on Saturday.

“It was amazing, absolutely amazing,” said Smith. “We were brilliant last night, to see what it meant to everyone was unbelievable.

“There must have been 400-plus people at the game last night. The support we had from everyone at the sports club – tennis, cricket, the youth section, friends and families of the players – it was amazing.”

Both teams had to win last night to win the title with both knowing that a draw would allow Longlevens Reserves to finish on top on goal difference.

And after a goalless opening 45 minutes the game erupted into life after the break.

“The first half was cagey but we came out of the blocks really well in the second half and we went ahead with a superb Andy Maryon header from Ben Minnican’s free-kick, it was absolutely fantastic," said Smith.

“But then Tredworth equalised with about 20 minutes to go through Corey Warrington and after that it was end-to-end football, it was great for the neutral.”  

That was before Brunsdon, who was on for Maryan, took centre stage.

“It was the 89^th minute,” continued Smith. “It was a long ball forward and he calmly slotted the ball home, it was a great finish.”

Chalford were 10^th in the 16-strong division at the start of February, 14 points adrift of the leaders, albeit they did have games in hand on all the teams above them.

They finished 12 points clear of second-placed Brockworth Albion in 2022/23 so how do the back-to-back title wins compare for Smith?

“It was an unbelievable feeling to win the title at Brockworth last year,” he said. “But to win it on our own pitch, in front of our own fans and from where we came from… that was just amazing.”

And although there were plenty of celebrations last night, the season isn’t over for Chalford yet because they now go into the play-offs to determine who will be promoted to the County League.

They will face the losers of tomorrow’s match between Totterdown United (Bristol Combination Premier League champions) and Filton Athletic (Bristol and Suburban League champions) at Almondsbury on Saturday 18th May. 

Chalford were beaten in the play-offs at the end of last season and Smith wants to put that right this time around.

“It’s very important to win the play-offs,” he said. “We want to test ourselves at the next level. We’ve been in the Northern Senior League for a long time, we’ve never been in the County League, it would be amazing to get there.

“There are two promotion places available, hopefully we’ve got just one more game to play and we can get there on Saturday.”