No preseason calendar would be complete without a trip down the M11 to Bishop Stortford. This annual pilgrimage gave the M2s a chance for new and old faces in the team to get to know one another. There is no better ice breaker than the undignified scrapping through the kit bag for the only polo shirt that isn’t a size 4XL.

Eventually dressed in a combination of men’s and women’s away kit, Captain Aston laid out his tic tacs for the game ahead. The M2s heeded his call to focus on ball retention except for the few minutes in which we were caught on the break to allow Bishop Stortford to take the lead. The opposition continued to look threatening on the break throughout the game, especially with their younger, skilful players being wrigley and difficult to tackle.

Sticking with the game plan in the second half, South were soon rewarded with a rocket of a goal from new recruit Jacko. South were having good spells of possession and earned several short corners, allowing them to try out their new drills. Pearson managed to rattle both uprights with the same drag before later scoring from his second attempt. South were eager to score an extra goal or two with the forwards all fishing for goals, but with no success, making them no fisherman’s friends. With ten minutes to go, the final short corner of the game was awarded to South which was slipped to yours truly to bobble past the keeper to close out my scorecard at South. The final score ended 3-1 to South allowing them to take the three points home as me-mentos. 

Disclosure - this match report was sponsored by Trebor shower mints.