Bright sunshine greeted the M4s as they arrived for the local derby against Ely 3s. Within seconds of the pushback, Steed Junior slipped and cut his finger, leading to an immediate Lemon of the Match being awarded to Steed Senior for buying his son cheap astros!

The M4s started well, piling the pressure on Ely’s goal. Some solid work from our skilful midfielders, Harvey, Pashley, Creed, Dijkstra and Laurie Ho, meant we kept Ely in their own half and South were creating more of the chances. It wasn’t long before a breakthrough occurred courtesy of Pip Ho. A nicely slotted shot gave us a one-nil advantage going into the half-time break. Help also came in the form of Evans, Bridge, Ali and Thomas, doing a sterling job in defence.

After the break, unfortunately Pip received a blow to the eyebrow leading to an early retirement. Nevertheless, South continued to create chances, including a well-aimed shot which was deflected to the goalkeeper who caught it nicely between his legs. The keeper with embedded hockey ball wandered around the D helplessly. This was a tricky situation for our attackers, who were not sure whether or not to hit him where it hurts, but fortunately he quickly released the ball…and play resumed with the ball being scrambled into the net by centre forward, Paul South, only to be disallowed.

South goalkeeper Saint-Gower had little to do but made a few key saves during the match. With South still dominating play, the second goal came. A well placed cross fell to Pashley, who had no problem burying it at the far post.

Two further attempts on goal from Steed Junior left South searching for a third and decisive goal. The first opportunity came from a one-on-one with the keeper, with the undercut shot from the top of the D skimming the crossbar. The second came from a well-placed through ball from centre forward, South. The resulting dive and deflection from Steed Junior alas only resulted in a sixteen for the opposition. However, this period of attacking pressure resulted in a late bonus, and after having his earlier goal disallowed, centre forward South calmly slotted in a nicely weighted pass to give the M4s a well-deserved three-nil victory.

Have the M4s got their mojo back? We hope so!