Cardea FC (4-5-1): Gavin Sampson; Anthony Kiernan, Stuart Yaxley (c), Gav Earl, Kynan Bereznyckyj; Alex Goymour, Aaron Yeoman, John Reddell, Shane Cooke, Daryn Whiteman; Luke Penman. Subs: Rob Ames, Kieran Hart, Ryan Moore, Adam Simons.

Cardea went into the game knowing a win was a must to deny Allbright the title and repeat the same pressure which they crumbled under last season.

Cardea had the better start to the game with Penman and Cooke both having half chances which went wide.

Allbright grew into the game and in the second half of the first period they were the team on top, keeping possession well and getting to the second balls first.

A clash of heads caused a stoppage in the 40th minute as Reddell needed to be treated after suffering a bad cut. The midfielder continued the game with his head bandaged up.

The Cardea defence stood firm to the Allbright pressure until added time at the end of the half when an Allbright corner was put in near post and confusion in the Cardea defence saw the ball go over the line to give AFC Allbright a half time lead.

After a quiet first twenty minutes of the second half the game burst into life and it was the counter attacking of Cardea which turned the game on it's head, which coincided with the introduction of Kieran Hart.

In the 67th minute Cardea grabbed the equaliser. A great ball through from Yeoman was perfect for Cooke running into the area and the Cardea number 9 produced a great finish to dink the ball over the oncoming keeper.

Just four minutes later Cardea took the lead and it was Hart's first goal for the first team. Whiteman put a great ball across the box from the right and Hart ran in at the far post and smashed the ball home.

Allbright reacted to going behind and almost equalised but keeper Sampson was equal to everything that was thrown at him in open play. He produced a wonder save to stop a well hit shot into the top corner and then got out well to smother a one on one attempt.

Cardea secured the three points with 5 minutes to go and what a goal it was. Ames and Reddell took a short corner but it didn't go to plan, Reddell rescued the situation by blocking a clearance into the path of Ames who was 25 yards out at the angle of the box and he produced a wonder strike which curled into the top corner giving the keeper no chance and sending the fans wild!

At the other end Sampson was on top form again as he was forced into a finger tip save to deny Allbright a goal that would have led to a nervy finish.

Allbright did score a consolation from a corner kick but the full time whistle was blown straight afterwards ending Allbright's 100% league run and giving Cardea a chance of a third league title in a row, and a possible treble, going into the final weeks of the season.

The win also guaranteed Cardea would finish at least runners up as they can now no longer be caught by Premiair.

After the game manager Craig Robinson said: "Well done to everyone involved today. First half was very scrappy and even and their goal a minute before HT was harsh. At half time everyone's heads were down and we look defeated.

"Second half carried on as the first, until we scored! After the goal we dominated the play! Big impacts from from Kieran and then Rob off the bench contributing with a goal each. We defended well for the last 10 and their second goal came on the final whistle.

"Big shout out and respect to Reddell for carrying on after the nasty cut to the head. Daryn was good throughout could and maybe should of scored twice! Gav Earl stepped up at centre back and played very well! Rob came on holding midfielder then popped up to score the winner with a superb finish!

"Kieran came on and did what every caveman does, congrats on your first 1st team goal! But a massssssive MOTM performance from Gav Sampson in the last 10 minutes secured the win, 3 or 4 very good saves!!

"Well done lads, it's still not in our hands but all we can do is win our last 3 league games and hope Allbright bottle it like they did last season! Netherton Res next week and that's not going to be easy!"

Next week Cardea are on the Bushfield 3G against Netherton Reserves as they look to keep the pressure up on Allbright.