With snow drizzling down and temperatures close to sub zero it was the second leg of a tightly balanced tie. Bren 1-0 up from the first leg, which is so far in the distant past I have no recollection of it!

Odd numbers gave the first big decision of the night. And one I wasn’t ready for as Bren took the piss and said he would be ‘back in 5 minutes’ whilst I deliberated over first pick or extra man! Looking at the quality available I opted for extra man.

This decision was swiftly put into question as Tom asked me to keep an eye on his phone whilst I was in goal in case his wife went into labour and he had to go!

As the game started though, my choice seemed to be validated as the player advantage meant  the whites were able to play the ball about and dominate possession.

It wasn’t long before the territorial domination led to a goal as a short corner was laid into Cush who powered it across goal and into the net.

Surely whites would push on and secure the two points with more goals?

Play continued in a similar pattern. The yellows toiled and tried to counter when they could. Jay running the channels and Andy, Chris and Nathan trying to support but finding it difficult to get up and down the pitch or get past Ed at the back.

Bren was back in his familiar role as keeper after some recent excursions out field. He reminded us of his qualities with a couple of outstanding reaction saves.

Whites kept creating chances but a combination of bad luck (one hitting the inside of the post and bouncing into Brens hands) and poor finishing (James going from Ronaldo to Rondon in the space of two weeks) meant the game, and tie, was finely balanced.

And the sucker punch came in the last minute as a Trent Arnold-esque quick corner was met by Andy’s 50p head and into the an empty net.

It left several whites looking to the sky screaming ‘F@!*’ and me in the duffers cup!

MOM goes to Cush who got a goal and pushed out excellently from the back.