In what would prove to be the biggest win the the recent seasons of Mighty Weekender history, the men in red took on City Reserves. City had drawn with Athletic Reserves the week prior, so the Weekenders knew they were in for a tough battle. Couple this with the unavailability of several key players things looked grim. Inspiration came in the form of former skipper, Weekender Life Member and warhorse Kane Thomas, whose presence on the sideline gave the red men a spring in their step. Aaron Lower once more donned the superhero outfit that is the Weekenders keepers jersey. Gerry O'Donnell and Scott Allan started at centre back with the ever reliable Andy Manoussos and Tim Waite as fullbacks. A three man central midfield of Geoff Smith, Ross Kinnerley and Tarf Pohio were supported by Matt Cackett and Zeb Small. Nav Prasad ploughed a lone furrow up front. Sam O'Leary and Jeremy Davidson ensured the Weekenders had depth on the bench.
The pre match instructions left the Weekenders in no uncertain terms as to what their roles and what was required of them. The team would have to be disciplined and the need to keep the shape was key. Thankfully the message was heeded as City threw everything at the red goal. They struggled to break through the 2 banks of defence that was put in front of them. City lacked patience to keep building the pressure and resorted to long range shots if they couldnt find the killer pass. Anything that did manage to get through was dealt with by Man of the Match Lower.
A major turning point in the game was the ref correctly sending of a City player for giving him a mouthful of abuse. Any ideas the Weekenders may have had that the game would now be easier were quickly dismissed as City continued with there onslaught.
The second half proved to be much of the same. The Weekenders were running out of steam after all of their hard work. Luckily a Ross Kinnerley corner was tunred in to the City net by a City player, this proved to be a massive boost for the struggling Weekenders. A second goal was scored, this time by Kinnerley who followed up on a Sam O'Leary thunderbastard (thanks Football365). O'Leary controlled a ball just in side the City half after a clearance from a corner and hit a shot so violent onlookers were amazed the ball didnt burst. It deflected off a City player, who was lucky to survive, on to the crossbar, dropping for an alert Kinnerley who buried the ball home.
The Weekenders then saw out the rest of the game in relative ease, taking out a magnificent victory. A win that was well deserved as the entire team played well and stuck to the structure required.
MOM
3- Aaron Lower
2- Ross Kinnerley
1 Sam O'Leary
Mentioned in Despatches
Gerry O'Donnell, Tarf Pohio, Tim Waite, Scott Allan, Andy Manoussos
