Friday Night under the lights at Kings Park witnessed our best result of the season so far. Everyone was under pressure to get a good result against the League Runners Up having us only registering one point going into the game. Gaffer asks for intensity and all the lads put in a brilliant shift to destroy Mes Amis.
We start in the usual 4 – 4 – 1 – 1 formation of Sanju, Captain Stef, Dan, Scott, Andy, Jay, Knowles, Tom, Miles, Bruno and Michael.
We have Nathan, Randy, Mehdi, Jens, Rory and Forlan warmed up and itching to get on.
After what seemed like 20 seconds Mes Amis lob the ball out to Bruno who chests it down and volleys in a thunderous shot. It was hit so hard I am surprised the net did not break. 1 – 0. Bruno under instructions to shoot on sight and be direct sets the tone early. Lifted by this we don’t relax and everyone is getting to the ball first, hitting the opposition hard and going up and down the pitch collectively. This makes life very difficult for Mes Amis who look shell shocked. On this foundation Bruno finds space again and scores another excellent goal on the fifteen minute mark to make it 2 – 0. To their credit Mes Amis come back at us hard but Andy, Scott, Dan and Stef are tough competitors and they put in some great tackles and headers. To be fair our defenders have done well in every game so far. Tom and Knowles also get stuck in and we look very strong. Miles has another great game on the right bombing and Jay looks as composed as ever. A few more chances from Bruno and Michael before we make some changes. Forlan on for Michael, Jens, Randy and Rory on in midfield. All the subs do very well. Jens looks really good in midfield and his fresh legs and strength are too much for Mes Amis centre midfield. Forlan who looks like he has been on the protein shakes in the off season seems to be stronger than before. He makes some tackles and runs really hard. He gets what he deserves just before half time with a twenty yard run where three Mes players can’t seem to tackle him. He slots in and makes it 3 – 0. What a half. One of the Mes bench shouts out "they’ve done *”?! All and they are 3 – 0 up…" Mate I don’t think that is an accurate statement as we did at least three things!
At half time we agree to keep going. Mehdi comes on to the left and Nathan in the hole. Both do well. Once again Mes come back at us but our defense is unstoppable …. "This is Sparta style"…. Defending resolutely against 10 corners at least.
Michael comes back on and really has an excellent second half slotting in to make it 4 – 0. All our strikers have scored in the game and we have three of the best in my opinion.
Michael then has another strong shot and pings in a peach of a shot. It hits the post and Bruno taps in to get a brilliant hatrick hopefully the start of a few more.
Jay goes back on and plays well again. We have a free kick around 30 yards out. Jay shapes up to cross with his left. However, Randy who has been practicing on FIFA 13 grabs the remote control and gets Jay to have a shot with his right foot. In it goes 6 – 0 game over. A mini pitch invasion everyone is elated. Knowles has a grimace as he now owes Jay 500 notes.
A brilliant performance by everyone. The headlines indicate we were brilliant going forward, which we were, however, every player we used pressed and worked hard defensively. We must do this every game if we are to climb up the league table.
Manager’s Man of the Match – Bruno:
Everyone did well brilliantly, we showed so much character but Bruno’s first two goals calmed our nerves and set us on our way so thanks to him.
Brew House Man of the Match – Andy:
Brilliant defensive display, combination of bravery and reading the game so well, a great award considering so many us went out after.
Brew House Mug of the Day – Gaffer:
For a pitch invasion and pathetic scream after Jay’s free kick.
