An unfamiliar M5s squad with many new (and a few old) faces arrived at Long Road to find the M4s in the middle of their warm-up routine which rather bizarrely involved a large piece of wood. Maybe it was part of JJ’s strategy to punish anyone who arrived late or hungover?

The M5s however were far more preoccupied with what to do with the gazillions of subs that had turned up and how to avoid the distinct possibility of all nineteen players ending up on the pitch at the same time!

Last season’s Div 6NW ‘mid-tablers’ got off to a strong start against the 2017/18 champions, putting their defence and keeper under immediate pressure. Alas it was the champs who managed an early strike, to be followed by two more in the first half but nevertheless leaving the door open for an M5s recovery in the second half.

And it wasn’t long before Peter C made an incisive run into the M4s’ D ending with a perfectly weighted pass to the M5s’ skipper arriving at the far post to bury the ball in the back of the net with a ‘Barton-esque’ style reverse sweep. This stunned the champs but not nearly as much as it stunned the scorer!

Alas the revival didn’t last, and a combination of JJ’s drag flicks, some skilful finishing from Owen and John G (not the Greaves variety) and one for Mr Barton to get his 18/19 Goal King campaign underway sealed a respectable 6-1 victory for the champs.

There were numerous outstanding performances from the equally numerous M5s squad, but MoM was unanimously in favour of Nelson, making his debut in goal for the M5s.

There was a 4-way tie for LoM, but JJ and his plank took the casting vote.

The Perfect Pizzas lived up to their name and were devoured with the usual gusto.

Bring on the return fixture at the end of the season!