Most of the team started the day feeling fresh: up early, in time for breakfast and to be at the pitch on time. I, on the other hand, woke up to a video of an excited Harley Joe racing around H’s house and what some might call a slight hangover.

We assembled in the changing rooms, discussed tactics, came up with a master plan and had a whole team discussion as to whether it was cold enough for a skin.

We spent the first ten minutes of the game running around with most of the possession but doing very little to create chances. The turning point came when we won a short corner and I scored from a straight strike. We settled into the game after this and converted again after Jenny intercepted the ball, drove into the D, hit the ball to Hannah, who deflected the ball in at waist height. We finished the first half three-nil up after another drive forward by the midfield and a reverse sweep over the keeper by me.

The message from Paul at half time was clear: communication and keep moving the ball around. We had the better of St Ives in terms of fitness and needed to exploit that.

We did as Paul said and the second half came with five more goals. The defensive line of Ellie, H, Nic, Jenny and Lauren held the back to shutdown each of St Ives’s breaks and keep a clean sheet. Louise’s only touch of the ball was collecting it from the corner after it went off. Our fourth goal came from a shot in by Jess which I deflected on the reverse through the keeper’s legs. The fifth was another combination of Jenny taking the ball around four players and crossing it for Hannah to tap in. The sixth came from Dani, who pushed the ball past the keeper. Goal number seven was from another drive by the midfield, a cross in, a bit of a scramble and a slap by me into the goal. Rebecca rounded off the scoring after being set up by Hannah to make it eight-nil.

We put in a strong performance and the score reflects it. Jenny won Man of the Match for her distribution and hard work in the middle. Jess had two Lemon votes for a particularly dramatic fall (flailing legs and all), but the overall Lemon was me, as a result of a number of errors. The first of which was arriving hungover, the second was trying to kick the ball in to the goal instead of using my stick and the third was losing control of my stick and throwing it across the pitch after trying to make an abysmal tackle.