Old Minchendenians 1 Knobs 4 - Report by Dave Jordan

Met late at 9.35 on a cold damp morning. Chris G nursing a hangover, Phil looking his evervescent self after his bout of Swine flu and Royston bringing both of his knees! Plenty of time to think about what lay ahead as we travelled over the border in to Londinium. We were met by what looked like some of the characters out of Lock Stock and 2 smoking barrels. The only thing missing were the "SHOOTERS" Bully was in a good mood surprisingly as he was sat next to Chairman Al in the changing room. We were told that we were playing 442 and that chairman Al would be making the changes. The pitch was a bit boggy, but flat which helped our supreme passing game. First 20 minutes we had all the game mentally and physically and our passing was sublime and they were chasing shadows and getting frustrated. Although their midfield was their strenght.They got their first on 30 minutes which was against the run of play. It was a long ranger which "swerved and dipped all over the place" so said Mark. Richard was playing like 2 men attacking at every opportunity and also having time to hold the ball up to make some good lay offs. Definitely my man of the match. He had a little skirmish with one of their defenders which ended up with a swollen eye the size of a golf ball.So they ended up with 10 men for the majority of the game which was their downfall having no subs to call upon. 10 minutes before half time Chris W finds himself in the box with the ball at his feet and calmly picks his spot to slot home the equaliser between two defenders and the goalie. Which was the least we deserved. A good constructive half time talk should have kick started the 2nd half, but they were playing some good football which made Mark work hard on the line. A great 2 legged save saw the ball go over the bar and some brave defending from Royston and Chris G saw off the oppositions attacks. Good contributions from Darren working well with Phil and John B combining well with Alistair saw some good attacking play down the flanks. No goals yet, but it was coming.The stand in manager made a double substitution with Dave and Brendan coming on for Richard and Darren. They found an 11th man from some where to fill in the back 4. We made a great run down the right with Alistair crossing the ball which ended up on the far side for Phil to chip it back for Matt to shoot, their goalie to save and John B to rifle the ball home at short range which gave us the upper hand. Ten minutes later Matty found the strength to nod on a lovely pass which found Dave motoring pass their back line to cooly slot the ball pass the keepers finger tips and off the post. They hadn't given up and were still playing some good football. We were standing as one resolute, concentrated and hungry to finish them off. Again we broke down one of their passing moves for Matty to play a through ball to Dave who bamboozled their defence to find himself on side in front of the keeper with 20 yards between him and the goal only to lob a perfect ball in to the back of the net. HE'S NOT A CENTRE FORWARD YOU KNOW. It was good night Vienna and no way back for the opposition. A long awaited win which puts us back on track for the league title. Everyone enjoyed the banter in the changing rooms as Alistair was threatening to "pull everyone off" not least of all their eleventh man who was towelling his scrotum only inches away!! A beer and some well presented sandwiches were consumed and we all drove back over the border to carry on the day. Dave went home for a wank (well deserved in my book) Then ended up on a drinking session with John B talking about their goals constantly. Next week MBNAZWYQTS. Enjoy your week ahead bonny lads.

Hugs and Kisses