Derby day was upon us. Brooklands against Bowdon – a timeless classic in the northwest but would Seb forgetting his hairband ruin the day? Or would it be our missing fresher, who’s flat mates “turned off his alarm clock” (Shukla, 2021)? Thankfully, the team overcame these adversities and won 5-4. Three games three wins – up the Brookies!

I’ll keep my commentary for the first half short and sweet. We were brilliant. Mr Khares pulled a tactical worldie and Bowdon simply couldn’t handle us. We romped to a 3-1 lead at half time with two goals from young Louis and one from Artist.

The second half started well with a Bowdon own goal (sorry Darius). The rest of the second half was as dreadful as Dr Murray on a night out in Fallowfield. What I mean by that is just as we cruising at 4-1, living la vida loca and having the game of our lives (minor exaggeration), things took a turn for the worst. Maybe it was “the most obvious green card in the world” for Craig Getty, hitting the ball away as Bowden looked to break from a sideline (Tomkins, 2021). Maybe it was Louis thinking he was a bit of a legend just because he had scored two goals at this point, seemingly forgetting how to defend for a few minutes. We’ll never know… but somehow Bowden weaseled their way back into the game and the score was 4-3.

At this point I imagine you’re on the edge of your seat. Well don’t worry, if there’s one person you can count on to save the days it’s Jeffs. Only joking! After some tidy interplay between Whitehead and Seb down the right Brooklands won a short corner.
The stage was set. The opportunity to put the game to bed, to have a 2 goal cushion and for Louis to get his hattrick. The stakes couldn’t of been any higher. GOALLLLLLLL. He’s finally figured out to score from a drag flick! And with his third of the game, the Brooklands Massive (Rusbridge, Lavers and Aidan) roared from the sideline. 5-3 to Brooklands.

Sadly, the game did not end there though… Bowdon again… “weedle weedle, pry and needle” (Peep Show, 2005)… and a back post tap-in gave the home side a glimpse of hope. 5-4 to Brooklands.
I’m happy to say the game ended there! The boys certainly showed some maturity to control the game after that and slow it down. Although, it should be said that Darius laying on the floor for 5 minutes ‘injured’ did help with that.

Scorers: Louis (3), Artist (1) and Bowden defender (1)
MoM: Alex Hirst
DoD: Candy & Shukla

Squad: Turner, Cuttle, Virabi, Tomkins, Jordan, Lingham, Hirst, Bansal, Artist, Getty, Yates, Dudley, Whitehead, Candy and Jeffs.

Supporting: Brimac x 2, Yates x 3 + dog, Nickys x 2 + dog, Rusbridge + dog, Cuttle, Thorney, Scooper, Aidan, Bansal and Mossy