Second game of the 2017 / 2018 season was decided, as always, in the dressing room. Phil won the toss and elected to take the extra man – he obviously didn’t witness Dave W’s performance last week! A quick check with all the returning crocks was not very encouraging with lots of shaking heads when asked about fitness levels etc. I didn’t bother asking Richie since his fitness level was immediately apparent as he took up two spaces on the bench in the changing room. However, I was happy with the balance of my final team based on a team spine of Geoff in goal, Mike as centre back, Blake, Mark and Noel bossing the midfield and Mac leading the attack. Brian and I provided stability at the back and Richie was Richie. 

Phil’s team adopted a very negative formation of 9 behind the ball and Ben on his own up front. Ben played against Mike all night and got nowhere and it was noticeable that he didn’t come near me after I when took the ball passed him so easily last week. It’s fair to say that whites dominated most of the game mainly due to the excellent work of Mark and Noel (chips off the old block), and so we deserved to be 2 up with 5 minutes to go, thanks to goals from Richie and Blake. Phil’s team finally woke up and Ben scored a late consolation goal but it was all too little, too late. The most memorable moment of the night was the sight of Richie, bent over, hands on knees gasping for breath, and that was after 8 minutes! Note to self – need to bring shorts with pockets in future so that I have somewhere to put Ross.

Two final thoughts – firstly I think we are all now getting used to the new surface and I for one like it, and secondly that it was a good turnout at the Chimneys but that the venue is not ideal since we ended up on two separate tables so it was difficult to crow about the result.