The first match of the season immediately saw us break our record for most U18 players*, at a full 6 of our complement of 13, including (I think) 4 playing their first senior inter-club match. This bodes well because they all played brilliantly, so well done to all of them and thanks to our junior section coaches!

As for the game itself, some rejigging of Bury's teams left us unsure what to expect but the game started promisingly with neither side dominating and both sides probing for weaknesses. Unfortunately over the first half things slowly shifted in Bury's favour, eventually leading to a pair of goals slipping in during scrappy play in our D - and a fair few more calmly deflected by first-time (at senior level) goalkeeper Miles.

At half time we were frustrated but feeling good about the core elements of our play. It felt like we were doing a lot right but needed just a bit more consistency on passes and aggression pushing up the pitch once the ball did get past the centre line. Taking this attitude into the second half immediately yielded results with a number of strong pushes into the opposing D...just not quite into their goal. We persevered though, trusting that we just had to keep trying and eventually being rewarded via Howard finding a perfect touch on a lovely John Greaves hit across the D.

Unfortunately Bury fought back hard as we tired, managing to twice overload our defence in the last few minutes of play to widen the score gap again. But the first 50 minutes of the game tell a more interesting story so we won't dwell on that last part.

Man of the match went to Daniel Galantini for exemplary defensive wing play that saw him relentlessly moving up and down the pitch to support both defense and attack. Other votes and general commendations went to Dan Talmage for bringing the same energy to the right side of the pitch, Sandy for defensing good, and all of the first-time-senior players for their general great play. It has to be said that this was very much a whole-team effort though, reflected in the fact that the only lemon-worthy thing anyone could remember was Howard being a bit late.

* Disclaimer: I didn't actually check if this is true