17 Players turned up on this match night, which according to Gary's records, indicated that only Mine and Dave's match could fit such an occasion. The score from first leg was 5-3 to me, which only begged one question: Do I shut up shop and Park a bus, or do I push for another win? Having choice, I decided that either way, it would be advantageous to have the extra man. A brief summary of the picking: Both captains chose their respective family members, I chose the ever reliable Ken as goalie, Dave chose the two giants of Paul and Geoff to sure up his defensive line.

Both teams entered the field of play, and battle commenced!
On the whole, the game was very much an end-to-end affair, with both teams having decent chances and netting goals. I had started myself in a midfield role, with Ben up-top, Gary just in behind, Mark in front of the back three and Ali utilising his pace on the right.

Scoring commenced as following... Ben, as he did all night, held the ball up superbly, much like Emile Heskey in his hayday, Gary and Ali both taking advantage of this and receiving the ball in advanced positions, going on to get our goals. A mention also for Davey Woods, who got our second assist on the night with a pinpoint long ball to Ali, who turned and scored a cracker from the right.

Amidst the goals, the Whites did put us under pressure, with Andy Eyres, Blake, Dave and Andy M linking up well, and even Geoff put our defence under pressure when he was put upfront. By which time I had switched with Carl who performed admirably in midfield and Defence. Kenny was proving a wise decision as he did pull off some great saves during the match to keep us in it. However, the Whites had their goal scorers Blake and Dave who did put the Yellows under pressure on the score-line.

Final score though: 4-2 to the Whites. (Agg. 9-5)

My M.O.M. is a hard decision, but I would give it to Dave Woods, who, besides being the birthday boy, communicated well at the back, and delivered some great long passes up to Ben, Ali and Gary up top.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dave Woods!!!

P.P.S. Good luck to Dave in getting out of the Duffers.

P.P.P.S. I'd like to wish everyone at the club a Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year.


Cheers,
Neil.