Second game of the season and Dave and I were asked to pick. After a disappointing no show from Paul S, I had a difficult choice of whether to go with first pick or extra man. First mistake of the night was choosing extra man. For the past few seasons the extra man has tended to make little difference however the new crop of players have changed that and, on the basis of this game, would seem to be a significant advantage once again.

From the off we struggled to keep position with the yellows knocking it around nicely. For the first five minutes we actually looked most likely to score with a couple of decent opportunities however Dave’s team soon found their rhythm and with Richie finding space in front of goal he threatened to shoot before dropping his shoulder and passing to Dave to turn and toe poke a glorious effort into the top corner (perhaps even with his left foot?). It was a lovely strike that knocked our confidence early on. The whites picked themselves up and managed to carve out a great chance to equalise with the ball falling to Andy M in front of an empty net only for him to manage to scoop it over the crossbar.

Soon after Jay found acres of space at the far post and hammered it past me to make it 2-0. A similar move then found Richie in space for him to beat me at the near post with a powerful strike. A fourth goal soon followed with a fairly tame shot from Jay taking a big deflection of a defender and into the opposite side of the goal. The yellow team were finding space all over the pitch and when we did get the ball they were closing us down and making it difficult to string any sort of passing together. I thought I was picking a midfield engine however with Blake fuelled on only 300 daily calories of protein in his quest to reach 0% body fat, and Andy M struggling to breathe, it was more like a midfield straight out of a Covid ward.

Whilst the yellows were playing well, the whites still had plenty of chances in front of goal and it took a string of excellent saves from Bren to keep us out of the game. Eventually we did get a goal as Andy M managed to convert a chance after good work by Andy E on the left flank. We got another goal with the last kick of the game as Andy E was able to finish after a rare mistake from Bren as he spilled the ball.

4-2 final score and possibly a slim chance with the second leg thanks to the late goal. MOM Dave for his fantastic goal and general work rate in a deeper than usual midfield position. Jay and Richie also played well and took us apart down the right wing with Richie’s meg on Blake a notable highlight. Welcome back to Ben – it was good to see him return and slot straight back into his usual position hanging in front of goal and seemingly always just behind the last defender.