Goulburn Strikers claim "deserved" STFA championship on points

The STFA revealed the winners in each of its competitive divisions via Facebook on Friday, as part of the same post in which it announced the cancellation of the remainder of the season.

Strikers stalwart, David Albrighton, said the title was a welcome reward for the effort the players had put in throughout the year.

"I think it's deserved, we went through the season undefeated," Albrighton said.

"But we were hoping to get a bit of revenge for last season, where we went undefeated for nine tenths of the season and then let it slip in the last couple of games.

"There was a fair bit of hunger there for the boys to go on and not only be undefeated through the season but win the finals."

Not only did the Strikers remain undefeated in 2021, with 10 wins from 10 games in the STFA local competition, but they did so in dominant fashion.

This was evidenced by the 64 goals they scored compared to just five conceded. The Strikers' goal differential of 59 is nearly 25 more than Wollondilly Soldiers Green, who had the next-best differential.

The Strikers' startling volume of goals in 2021 was a result of their concerted effort throughout the year not to release any of the pressure they put on opposition teams.

"One thing we did this year that we probably didn't do last year is we stayed hungry even in games where we were in front," Albrighton said.

"We kept it going and wanted to win by as much as possible rather than being content with winning by a goal. The guys took a lot out of what happened last year to be hungry for the full 90 minutes in every game."

This hunger, Albrighton believes, will translate through to the 2022 season as well. He does not expect the Strikers to lose many players during the off-season, and having missed the opportunity to play in a finals series in which they would have been strong contenders, Albrighton expects the fire to remain in the team's belly come the start of next year.

He also praised the STFA for its continued determination to offer the teams a finals series of some sort. The association refrained from calling time on the season for as long as possible, until a conclusion was no longer viable.

"The STFA have done an amazing job this year in a stop-start season," Albrighton said.

"They've done everything possible to ensure they could get the season done, but it's been out of their control."

The list of 2021 champions is as follows:

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