A 0-1 loss was neither the anticipated result of today’s match, Pelicans being top of the league currently, nor was it a fair reflection of our performance. This was one of the strongest team performances of the season and certainly is one of which the whole team should be proud.

It was not a promising start to the game, though. Despite being the youngest member of today’s team, and spending a significant amount of time in the gym, upon arrival Mr Nori did not hesitate to inform as many people as possible that he was a little tired. Soon, though, further weaknesses appeared in our ranks. Mr Anns decided to take regular breaks from his stretches to attempt to cough up pieces of his lungs. Soon afterwards, a small pebble proved sufficient to sour the air further, managing to roll the ankle of Mr Jones – a bitter turn.

But then it was time for the match. As our starting eleven were roused by words of encouragement from Mr Dias, Mr Jones and Mr Pashley readied themselves to play through their injuries. A few weeks ago, Mr Pashley was forced off the pitch with an injured hamstring. This injury reared its ugly head once more, though, during the first half.

Seeing the ailments of our squad seemed to motivate us, though. But some seemed to take it too far. To finish one of our early ventures into the opposition D, Mr Nori tried to even out the playing field with a decapitation attempt on Pelicans’ centre back. Luckily, he was able to duck out of the way in time.

The first half action continued with a series of Pelicans short corners. Mr Anns was not too happy when a potentially raised hit from one of the corners hit his foot. The aggrieved defender pleaded with the umpires, but likely was not helped by gesturing to his head; this shot was no match for Mr Nori’s prior effort. Ultimately, another corner was taken and another shot was hit. No foot was there to block this time, though, and Pelicans claimed their goal.

During the half-time team talk, we said our goodbyes to Mr Pashley. Mr Anns’ lungs seemed whole once again, though. His team talk focused on how well we had performed and urged us to continue our efforts. We may be seven places lower down in the league, but our performance strongly suggested we truly had a chance to come away with at least a point.

Our ears still ringing with this encouragement, we began the second half with the same drive as we played the first. Mr Nori’s wish of reducing the Pelicans numbers came true, through in a far safer manner, as their striker was forced off the pitch with his own hamstring injury.

As the second half continued, the match flowed freely. This appeared to be more to the benefit of the visitors, though. Certainly, there only appeared to be one forward on the pitch complaining about receiving passes into space. But Mr Bottomley’s laments aside, the less structured nature of gameplay seemed to suit Pelicans more than CSHC. We were lucky that the Pelicans striker’s shot came off the back of his stick as it cannoned into the top corner. During the match teas, we heard rumours that this earned the striker his own Lemon of the Match vote…

As the game continued, fatigue played a key part. Pelicans rained more shots onto Mr Lye’s goal. Luckily for the other ten players on the pitch, they seemed to aim dead centre. So Mr Lye was able to continue his excellent performance. 

Considering our opposition have scored five or more goals in a match ten times this season, only conceding one today is a feat for the whole defence. And no one should be more proud than Mr Gibson. His dominant performance earned a deserved Man of the Match award. Although, as suggested on some of the polling cards, the whole defence should be proud of the collective performance. 

There should be no suggestion, though, that today’s performance was due to the defence alone. Perhaps the team performance of the season will remain the victory against Cambridge University. But this must come a very close second.