Florist expanded their unbeaten run to 5 games as they push towards promotion and possibly a title winning season.
Mann started in goal, with Morris as usual in defence, however, this time he was joined at the back by Tom rather than James Slater. The inform brothers of Jack Carter and Morph, in their last games for the club for the foreseeable future, were in midfield, while James Slater got his long awaited chance to lead the line. Manager Charlie Carter decided to start himself on the bench due to pre-match respiratory hedonism.
The Floristers got off to a strong start, inspired by the confidence of recent results, against an unknown Orlando Pirates outfit.
They forced a corner early on with some good team play and when James Slater floated a ball into Nick Morris, the towering defender, for the second game in a row, scored from a header. This one was however even better than his one the week previous against Obi Wan Kenobi Nil, flicking the ball across the goal into the far corner, leaving the Pirates goalkeeper with no chance. Morris well and truly silencing his critics who believed he had lost his eye for goal.
Morris was involved in the second, when his ball down the left found James Slater, who was pulled down for a freekick. Slater took the freekick and found Jack Carter on the left, who hit it first time to find the back of the net.
Florist were not to be stopped in the first half and when Morph found James Slater, he added a goal to his two assists, turning two players before burying the ball into the back of the net, proving that he deserved his chance up top with a classy goal.
Jack Carter would add his second when Tom Slater’s efforts were denied by the Pirates defence before the ball came to him to slot home.
Florist went in 4-0 up and the game all but over.
They continued in the second half to play some fantastic possession football, but with the game put to bed there was not so much desire. This allowed Pirates to get into the game, which was consolidated when Mann, who had just made a very good save, spilled a well hit low shot, that could of been closed down, into the back of the net.
Then James Slater was to have his finest moment in a Florist shirt so far. Picking the ball up in his own half, he drove forward, riding challenges and beating two men, before ending up clean through on goal to punt the ball past the goalkeeper. A remarkable goal to make it 5-1.
Florist’s possession was unrivalled by Orlando Pirates, but lazy defending from a corner, allowed the Pirates forward to finish deftly across goal, past the unsighted Mann, into the corner.
They then added another when a hard driven shot, which Mann got an arm to for what would have been a good save, unfortunately bounced into the goal.
These goals seemed to give Florist a wakeup call, who pulled themselves together again, before another lovely team move saw Slater in on goal for his hat trick, but he unselfishly squared the ball into Morph for a tap-in and his 6th goal in 3 matches.
The referee blew for fulltime and another Florist win, who move onto 16 points this season and are well and truly in the hunt for the title.
