There was a nagging feeling of what might have been as Shrewsbury men’s first team wrapped up a season which promised promotion for so long with a third-placed finish in the West Midland Premier Hockey League.
The Meole Brace men, relegated in each of the last two seasons, topped the table at the halfway stage of the campaign but were unable to maintain such a high level of performance.
Closing the season with a 2-2 draw against Stratford last weekend at least ensured they remained unbeaten at home, but that was of scant consolation.
“I guess it was always going to be hard work when, in the back of the mind, we knew we should have pushed the title race to the last game,” said vice-captain Anthony Hughes.
“It is pleasing to go a whole season unbeaten at home and to finish third has to be considered an achievement. Deep down, though, I know we could have won this league and our form since Christmas just hasn’t done us justice.
“We lost some really good squad members at the halfway stage and maybe that had more of an effect than we initially thought. But all in all it has been a good season and when we have played well, teams have struggled to live with us, so bring on next year.”
Injury to Hughes and the unavailability of Chris Davis and Craig MacDonald meant late changes to the Shrewsbury squad for their finale, but they still fielded a strong side with Craig Parry again impressing.
The match was not a classic and Shrewsbury fell behind early on before a deflected Chris Burden strike from a short corner pulled them level.
Stratford regained the lead after a defensive error in the second half before stalwart Lyndon Boyden rolled back the years with a fine strike from the top of the ‘D’.