Following a two week break, the remaining mini-season resumed with a game against bottom of the table Ely 2s.

Confident in our abilities, we allowed another group of players to head off on a trip to Scotland with the M1s. We knew we would be playing this early game with a bare eleven, and with one or two playing out of position. What better way would there to be to prepare than a late night out for a burger with a four pint limit enforced by the captain? The only issue was that he was there to take part… What was it in the end, seven? Anything after five doesn't count anyway!

A bare nine turned out for the warm-up, but we were never concerned… One missing player had an allowance and the other was the keeper; he wouldn’t need a warm-up anyway. Or maybe it was a strategy to provide some shooting confidence - after all, we were scoring more than usual.

The game started with a lot of possession and attacking from South in the first ten minutes with no real reward, the final pass being just out of reach or the shot straight at the keeper's chest. The first goal would make the pure hockey fan proud, with a goal similar to that of Argentina in the 2006 World Cup. That goal was finished by Cambiasso; ours had somewhat of a more glamorous name, with everyone on the team touching it at least once before Hollywood passed the ball into the far corner for his very first South goal.

1-0 after twelve minutes gone: this was going to be a walk in the park, with opportunities for everyone to score…

We started to play like that.

No matter what we did for the rest of the half, it was like the period before the goal - final passes going astray, touches letting us down, or taking enough time for a pot of tea rather than passing or shooting. We just weren't playing fast enough.

The manager had seen enough. A tactical switch from the Oven moved Steak out to the right wing, giving him a chance to earn himself a new name (better than Horny Harry, which was in fact made up by our "Vote Reader" having double checked the votes. When do we get the Engine back?) The switch paid off though, with a goal almost immediately in the second half just how it was planned, from a ball fed between the centre back and left back for Harry to finish first-time outside of the keeper's arc.

2-0, game over, eight more to follow? That’s what we tried anyway. Another flurry of short corners missed the goal, including one that was blown as Walshy finished into an open goal, denying him his first goal since October. He was rewarded a few minutes later though, putting away a rebound on the reverse stick despite the very loud cry from James. Goal poaching at it's finest, although it was a shame about his two open goals missed afterwards, which added to Dom's air shot after a Hollywood dribble that included beating just about every defender before putting it on a plate.

Thankfully, Opta doesn’t keep stats on Div 4NW games as they might have been a little embarrassing, with all the possession, shots and short corners yielding a mere three goals. Anyway, on to next week, for an even earlier meet for a 10am away game at the old enemy!