This pitch had more water on it than the lakes in lake gardens. However, it would take more than a pitch that looked more like a swamp to deter the Asterix Reds from playing.
We started well and within a minute got the scoreboard ticking over: big Shaun Sweeney - with his second touch of the ball in an Asterix Reds shirt - netted from close range. Not long later, after some determined work down the right, Tom Sarginson got his name on the score sheet. Tom was to continue to trouble the opponent's defence all game, linking well with the strikers and frequently creating opportunities to score. To be fair, on another day, we would have scored a few more. The large puddles in the goal mouth acted like an aquatic Peter Schmichael snaffling anything goalbound that wasn't in the air. I reckon there were at least 5 or 6 six shots that beat the keeper only to be held up in the water garden that was the opposition goal mouth.
To their credit, KL Soccer Coaches did create some opportunities of their own, mainly with balls down the middle. They came closest to scoring after one such ball beat our defence, Anthony - standing in as keeper - came running out only to beaten by the striker. Andy Johnston put a big sliding tackle in which pushed the striker wide. He then evaded Anthony's second dive at him. With the striker clean through on goal, Bunmi made a great goal saving tackle to keep us two in front. It was some splendid 'all hands on deck' defending and did the job of maintaining our two goal lead admirably.
We continued to push on and created more chances. Unfortunately, the monster from the deep that seemed to be living in the opponent's goal mouth kept us from scoring more. We were awarded a pen late in the half (for the record let it be know that Stuart Cavens is claiming that he won the penalty for yet another assist. Yawn.). Anthony - insisting on some reward for playing in goal - ran out of his goal to take it. He still had to barge big Stu Cavens off the ball, but up he stepped and slotted it into the corner. The ref blew his whistle for half-time just after and we went in holding a comfortable 3 goal lead.
In the second-half we played toward the end that was less water logged and our football improved. Our midfielders and strikers linked up well and frequently got behind the defence. We scored four more with 2 more from Shaun Sweeney and one a piece from Terry Harris and Stu Cavens. Our goal was rarely troubled and we kept a moral boosting clean sheet.
Andy Johnston provided the entertainment by completing a swan dive into a large puddle, tripping over an opponent whilst going up for a big header. It was a dive Greg Louganis would have been proud of and earned a 5.6 for difficulty and 6.0 for artistic expression from the judges in the stands.
All in all this was a good win. Despite the conditions, we played some decent football up front and if it wasn't for the monster in the deep that kept stopping our goal bound efforts we would have scored a lot more. We were committed in defence and kept a well earned clean sheet. Our spirit on the park was excellent and it was a thoroughly enjoyable run out.
Next week, we take on Liverpool Supporters Club. We've done well against teams below us this season but as yet we've not beaten any of the teams above us. We need to change that against Liverpool on the weekend. Let's go out there with a lot of desire and belief and get a very important 3 points. A win would put us right in the thick of the title race. I asked for 5 wins out of 5 in March. So far, we've won all 4 of the games we've played and have scored 17 goals and kept two clean sheets in the process. Let's complete the job by putting Liverpool away on Saturday.
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