After weeks of inactivity due to the weather, there was actually some Sunday morning football at long last,.for players and spectators to enjoy. Perhaps enjoy is too strong a word though, as the blustery wind and a pitch in need of the mower made accurate passing difficult. Also with neither side having played since before Christmas, the match was understandably rather scrappy. With the wind at their backs Red Star never the less took the lead after 25 minutes. The Stock keeper's goal kick went straight to Ross 'The Boxer' Mills, who headed the ball goalwards. Chris Charlton produced a well placed header over the advancing keeper. His first goal for the club. The Royal's reached the interval with a narrow one goal advantage. As the second half progressed ten man Stock started to put more pressure on the Red Star defense and nearly equalized after 69 minutes, This followed indecision by the Royal's rearguard, but fortunately the ball struck the foot of the post and was cleared. Stock with the strong wind behind them put Red Star under a lot of pressure, but the home side defended well as a unit and kept them out. With five minutes remaining the home side secured victory. Brad made a surging run from the half way line holding off a couple of Stock players before cutting into the penalty area. He then showed good awareness to square the ball to Chris Charlton who scored from close range. Conditions meant that this was never going to be a classic encounter, but everybody involved kept battling throughout to secure victory. Well done everyone and a special mention to Daniel Latham who took over in goal at short notice when our two regular keepers became unavailable, and produced a top class performance. Result Red Star Royal's v Stock United 2 0
