WILTON - As an athlete, you don’t get many chances to play for a championship. The intensity and pressure of every play magnified in importance. Shank a pass or blast one over the bar in a less important game, no one notice. Not for long anyway. But do that in a title game and you can just feel the glare of your teammates. The agony of a missed opportunity you may not get again.

Will it be glory or go home?

This is what we play for.

For the Wilton Ancient Warriors, this was their chance. One they might not see again. Would they seize the day?

After doggedly fighting their way through their first SASL Division 1 season without a loss, they found themselves tied atop the table with their opponent for this season finale, Greenwhich Pumas. A win would all but guarantee a championship as the second place team, Greenwhich Gunners, would need to accomplish the unlikely task of winning their final match by at least seven goals. A loss could drop the Warriors to 4th place. That’s how tight the race was for number one (as it turned out, the Gunners won by forfeit 3-0 falling short of the required seven goal differential they needed).

Every bit of drama you would have hoped for played out over the next 90 minutes. If you blinked, you might have missed Andrew Allers’ two goals within the first ten minutes. The first at two minutes when Andrew Copley pushed a simple feed through from the backline which Allers collected at 40 yards and carried into the box, sending a low blast that found its way through a tangle of Greenwich defenders to the bottom right corner of the goal. The second came just a few minutes later as Tom Parsons carried from his right back position into the offensive third and sent a sublime cross in where Allers met it just above the goalie area and nodded it into the right side netting to give The Ancients a surprising 2-0 lead. Needless to say, both sides were shocked at the game’s initial developments.

Despite the early onslaught, and unexpectedly finding themselves in an 0-2 gully, the skilled Pumas would not succumb with the championship on the line. The visitor’s defense would recover to stymie Wilton’s continued pressure through the remainder of the first half. Renewed resolve on defense turned into heightened confidence on offense as Greenwich began to apply more pressure. That pressure paid off at 35 minutes on a low cross from the left wing that was first punched away by Wilton’s keeper Mark Isaacs. Fortuitously, for Greenwich, the parry dropped to a Puma forward who controlled it and, from 20 yards, hit a low drive past two Wilton defenders just inside the far post to pull the score back to 2-1 as the first half came to a close.

With 45 minutes remaining, and the league title on the line, both sides lined up for the anticipated dramatic climax to the season end. Players and onlookers were not disappointed.

Struggling to gain control of the midfield, the first 10 minutes of the second half saw hard tackling and stingy defense at both ends. Despite being short handed due to injury and absence, Wilton appeared more fit than Puma, or perhaps had more desire, which became evident as the half wore on.

However, sometimes it is better to be lucky than fit or desirous. That proved true for Greenwich when they converted the equalizer at 62 minutes. Emanating from an otherwise harmless free kick from 40 yards out on the right flank, the approaching ball whipped into the area and fell to the feet of a Puma offender who had slipped in behind the defensive wall. Unmarked, he had only Isaacs to beat, which he did to the left inside post.

Even score 2-2 with nearly 30 gripping minutes still remaining.

Engineering frequent substitutions to keep the midfield as fresh as possible, relentless work lead by Greg Gryglewski, Nick Slater and Ferenc Kiss helped Wilton maintain the majority of possession from that point forward. On three occasions, twice for Allers and one for Romuald Szostek, Wilton’s front line were sprung by their midfield mates for break away chances only to be turned away by a resilient Greenwich keeper.

Then a turning point. On one Allers rush toward goal, he was intentionally clipped from behind, at least in the referees estimation. This earned Puma a red card (the defender’s second yellow of the match) and suddenly Wilton found themselves a man up with 20 minutes remaining.

Wilton now had extra space to work and just three minutes later Slater sent wonderful through ball to Allers who was able to get behind the defense. Bearing down on goal Allers low blast was again turned away by the Greenwhich keeper, but this time Slawomir Prbzybysz, just on via substitution, one-touched the rebound into the back net for a one-goal lead that sealed a 3-2 Ancient Warriors victory.

One final bit of drama occurred in the final 10 minutes when Isaacs inexplicably double-touched the ball in his own area resulting in an indirect free kick for Greenwich from 10 yards. The ensuing strike found its way through the Wilton wall and would have drawn the score even once again were it not for Isaacs’ intuitive reaction to deflect the shot with an outstretched right hand. Just one of many game changing saves Isaacs and his fellow Keeper Andrea Galimi, made throughout this improbable season.

In one fell swoop, Prbzybysz’s goal, then Isaacs' save, put the finishing touches on an epic match and an undefeated season and delivered the SASL's First Division championship, just one year after taking the Second Division crown and getting promoted up a level.