The Magnificent 12 overcome Scouseland Students

The message from the captain was to man up and seize the opportunity - Carpe Diem to those that were available and to make it hard for those unavailable to get back into the team by going out and making a statement. Due to availability a couple of players had to play in differing lines but with a simple shape and a simple philosophy of keeping the ball away from contact (the fundamental principle all season) we set about chasing 16 students around the park. We started off well with a strong crowd of 3 watching and not anticipating the Christmas card special that was about to ensue.

Unfortunately we coughed up a forced pass from the back and Alex was caught one of one but was unable to keep them out. This did not knock his confidence and he continued his good form by proceeding to pull off some good saves throughout the game. One of the reasons why we have such a good defensive record. If we could eliminate the mistakes it would be fantastic. In the absence of Siddy who was sorting the pies for the visiting Geordies at Old Trafford (they do not know what a sandwich is never mind a prawn), captain Dazzler was calling the shots and started getting the team passing as they should. With Anton and Duds dropping into midfield it meant that our forward line was to be led by Nenah, Kyle, Matt, Robbo rotating hard and fast. This also meat that our leading goal scorers were playing slightly deeper than planned. However we followed the process and started frustrating the opposition so much that they decided to start tackling players with or without the balls in a manner that would have been more in keeping at Twickenham. A number of cards ensued for both verbal and physical abuse with the Brooklands players looking on with a bit of amusement.

The inevitable happened and of course we scored from a short corner after fooling the runners with a mis-trap for Duds to fire in just after half-time. With the call to keep implementing our process we started gaining the upper hand and a quick breakaway allowing Nenah to utilise his technique by using the covering defender to act as a rebound box to deflect the ball home. A frantic few minutes ensued with a couple of chances to put the game to bed but this team are now starting to learn to cope under pressure and comfortably saw the game out whilst the students decide to implode.

As a result we have gone to the top of the league

MOM was Duds

Next week we are at home, well sort of. Armitage at 1215 push back