Having romped to the title in the previous two years, this season’s race came down to a decider in which the defending champions had to avoid defeat to Casuals to hold onto the trophy, otherwise their opponents would claim the silverware.
For the neutral, it turned out to be an epic encounter with goals, cards and incident aplenty, with both sides in front at certain stages during the contest.
Casuals nearly pulled off a dramatic last-quarter comeback, only for Colombians to snatch a 5-4 victory in the dying moments thanks to Island player Sean Donaldson.
Earlier, Luke Gavey had scored the first and fourth goals for Colombians with Zak Damarell and Sam Scott also on target.
They had led early before falling 2-1 down but the sides were level, 2-2, at half-time.
Colombians then took control of the game in the third quarter with two unanswered goals, but that proved to be a dangerous advantage as they became too comfortable and almost paid the price as Casuals halved the deficit with 11 minutes remaining then equalised three minutes later.
Knowing it was win or bust, the men in black removed their goalkeeper for the closing stages as they looked to pile the pressure on the opposition, but it did not pay off and Colombians emerged victorious.
Winning goal-scorer Donaldson admitted that after winning their previous two titles virtually at a canter, this season’s five-point margin was ‘flattering’ to the champions.
‘We really had to work for this one,’ he said, before praising one of his teammates for his performance on Saturday.
‘Zak was the difference-maker. When he gets into that mood, he is just destructive and he was running them ragged.’
Donaldson added from a Guernsey perspective, the close-run nature of the domestic league this season and the title deciding clash itself may be of benefit to the Island squad as they head to Jersey this weekend for the inter-insular.
‘The game was physical, it was hostile, so it was the best dress rehearsal we could have for Saturday because effectively we had 10 of our Island men’s first team on the field and in terms of a competitive fixture, without having had a Guernsey game of late, this was the next best thing.’
