MOM: Paul Stark

Goal Scorers:
Oliver Pearson 30
Olivier Jolly 75

A second victory for Sporting and there was
a tangible buzz pitch side on a day when we
turned out our biggest squad to date.
Confidence was further boosted when it
became clear that our opposition was at
least two men short of a full side. We feel
your pain lads…! Nevertheless we opened
proceedings on relatively shaky ground
despite our numerical advantage, and
struggled to find a rhythm for the first 20 or
so. Matters were further complicated by a
truly characterful / dreadful pitch,
waterlogged at one end and like the Gobi in
the middle, with unmown grass and the kind
of bounce that would have flummoxed even
Wayne Rooney.

We soldiered on and eventually began to
fire, our first goal coming courtesy of a
maizy Huttbeast run down the right wing,
followed with a beautiful cross that Ollie P
could not fail to nut in from close range,
nevertheless composed under pressure! Half
time 1-0 Sporting. In the second half I felt
that the team really played well and much
more cohesively, with some standout
individual flair. Special mentions go to Martin
Hill who showed the kind of dogged midfield
display that is going to push us upwards,
Stewart Nicol who was standout playmaker
of the team with some great positional
awareness, and Olivier “cheddar” Jolly – is
there anywhere on the pitch this man cannot
play?! Our second goal came courtesy of
some great link up play. Eggleton played
onto Nicol who found Jolly on the break,
running onto a ball in the right hand of the
box to put it past the keeper at a tight angle.

We could have had a lot more… Jules nearly
headed in another fine cross from Hutton,
Eggleton did the hard bit and then fluffed his
lines, and I recall another stonking free
kick… Sporting has some pretty handy dead
ball specialists so look out the oppo from
around 30 yards. Overall we played well all
over the park, if fair to say we could have
been more clinical. Welcomes go to Chris
Paxton in midfield and Malte Claussen at
right back. Charlie Thorp must also get a
mention for turning up, stating very clearly
he had no intention to play, and then leaving
10 minutes later in a haze of post-lash
fumes. Good lad.

Cheers to Changi for a good game with no
subs.