The mighty REAL DONDONALD faced the only team to defeat them in the league this season.... IRONSIDE, only this time it was at "The Home of Football"....REAL came out the blocks like a team on a mission, a point to prove, one of their best starts to a game this season, IT WAS A HELL OF A START!!!!!!!!!! within minutes REAL midfielders worked the ball well to AL-MAJALI who looped a cute ball over the defence for his partner GYLES who struck just wide....The REAL machine looked well and truly oiled and up for this game with penetrative sexy football, a confidence, a swagger which spreads right through the team....ALDERSON and HOOPER strong in the middle of the park linking well with the creative duo of wide men HAYES and HARVEY....with only 7-8 minutes gone REAL had a strong claim for a penalty kick turned down, superb passing between HOPKINS and HAYES on the right, HAYES then finding HOOPER who in turn fed ALDERSON, who then played a through ball to HARVEY, HARVEY found the clever GYLES pulling wide to the left of IRONSIDES goal, GYLES now in the box twisted and turned then was brought down cynically, yet the Ref waved play on????.....still all could see a goal was coming very soon, and on the 12th minute it came from GYLES after tidy work from WILLIAMS controlling a big goal kick, WILLIAMS quickly saw ALDERSON in the middle of the park, ALDERSON turning and sliding through GYLES who scores from those passes for fun, GYLES pulled his marker out of position to the right of the area then shot with power past the goalkeeper... 1-0!!!!.......REALS second came only 10 minutes later from M-O-T-M HOPKINS, HOPKINS and HAYES ('Jimmy') again working the ball very well down the right hand flank, HOPKINS overlapping JIMMY, the clever JIMMY playing a measured pass back to the marauding HOPKINS, HOPKINS finding GYLES inside, GYLES gently setting the ball nicely for HOPKINS to strike home from just inside the box... 2-0...REAL celebrated in a brilliant fashion to match a brilliant goal by their Right Back!!!.........IRONSIDE came close to pulling a goal back from a corner kick, pulling out a tremendous save from BIG BEN RADFORD, away from that IRONSIDE never really offered much in this 1st half, just big punts upfront to their number 9, as much as they tried, when allowed, they couldnt find a way past the central defensive pairing of NUTTALL/WILLIAMS, NUTTALL a big presence, a driving force, solid defender, loves a header...... WILLIAMS another big presence, a naturally strong man, calm and very good on the ball for a so-called defender, passing it out of defence with an ease and accuracy which is infectious throughout.......a special mention for HOOPER, who came in at CM for the unavailable JAMES, HOOPER showing again what he has to offer this fantastic team when called upon, the kid was up and down like a new brides nightie ha, tremendous workrate and simply distributing the ball well from the engine room, also having a shot saved by the keeper midway through the 1st half...REAL totally bossed the 1st half....with 30 minutes on the clock the lively AL-MAJALI burst through to the by-line leaving several defenders in his wake, as he swivelled back to come across goal he was tripped and won a penalty for REAL, however AL-MAJALIS penalty kick just went wide of the left hand post.....still just 9 minutes later AL-MAJALI put REAL 3-0 up by rounding the Goalkeeper after being put through by HARVEY who collected a ball from the efficient PEREZ, REAL went in at Half-Time in confident mood! ......The second half immediately exploded with good hustling from GYLES on the IRONSIDE Goalkeeper who had a ball nervously passed back to him, GYLES squared the ball to AL-MAJALI, AL-MAJALI then hitting the bar with a beautiful curling shot, GYLES very unlucky not to score from the rebound........REAL continued to pass and move with aplomb early in this second half, the tempo still high, still on a mission......WILLIAMS found himself on the edge of IRONSIDES box from HARVEYS corner kick, the big centre-back struck a fine left-footed volley which came back off the upright, another warning for IRONSIDE.....then came another piece of magic which was very unfortunate not to end up in a goal for the home side....those two (AL-MAJALI/GYLES) linked up very well again for the upteenth time....AL-MAJALI one-two with GYLES, GYLES backheels it, AL-MAJALI just blazing over.....then moments later it was GYLES who came close to scoring again, HOOPER being the ball winner in midfield then providing the opportunity for REALS number 10, REAL had a lot more attempts to increase the scoreline but were constantly denied by some disgustingly bad offside decisions...AL-MAJALI went close again but for some brilliant defending by IRONSIDE, the lead up to that chance saw JIMMY, ALDERSON and the deeper lying GYLES exchanging 6-7 excellent flowing passes between them, also WILLIAMS went on a determined and very skillful run which saw him literally go from one end of the pitch to the other and nearly setting up a chance, confidence written all over it!!!!!!.....strangely way after the hour mark REAL seemed to ease of the gas a little which proved costly, and to be fair IRONSIDE had changed their tactics a little in the second half with a different CF, i must say IRONSIDE showed a little creativity and heart in their desire to come back, sloppy organisation by REAL from an IRONSIDE free-kick allowed them to pull a goal back in the 73rd minute, this goal only increased their desire, but at the same time REAL continued to play good football, not once looking for the long punt up to "Those Two", not once panicking.......however REAL and their manager were made to sweat a little in the final 10 minutes or so as IRONSIDE scored from a penalty (to make it 3-2), the penalty kick was initially saved by RADFORD, the big fella showing great agility to get down swiftly to his right to tip the ball onto the post, however REALS players stood and watched allowing IRONSIDES penalty taker to react first and follow up to tap in the rebound (which infuriated RADFORD), bizarrely in the build up to the penalty awarded NUTTALL was blatantly fouled by the centre forward, to which the Ref waved play on, WILLIAMS then in turn bringing down the player who was bearing down on goal, WILLIAMS received a yellow for his troubles and was lucky to escape the red some may have thought...a short while later RADFORD went into the book for dissent...some crazy decisions by the Ref in the final 10 minutes led to everything going IRONSIDES way.....STILL THE MIGHTY REAL DUNDONALD STOOD UP STRONG.........."IRONSIDE may have beaten REAL once, but not twice"
The Game had some bad feeling and a little confrontation between players in the closing end of the 1st half, and then midway through the 2nd half......
A PIVOTAL WIN FOR THE REAL DUNDONALD, made sweeter by the fact the league leaders "Croygas" played their last game and dropped even more points AGAIN (since REALS heavy 1-4 victory at their ground on Dec 16th 2012 they have NOT won a game..... predicted by Oral WILLIAMS)
TODAY SAW REAL DUNDONALD GO IN A VERY GOOD POSITION TO BECOME CHAMPIONS....still nothing is won just yet!!!.....a long way to go
B. HARRIOTT
