Bar Flies 0 - 3 Asterix Reds (SSLKL Premier Division)

A brace from Ian Quirk and a goal from Bunmi Sudiya were enough for
Asterix Reds to notch up another comfortable victory over a depleted
Bar Flies. The 3-points moves us further up the table and keeps us
very much in the race for the title.

Bar Flies started with nine men and after about 15 minutes added a
tenth. By this time we were a goal up. After Bala advanced the ball
down the right Ian Quirk picked up the ball in the inside-right
position and skipped inside the challenges of a defender to make his
way into the box. He moved the ball nicely onto his right foot to
avoid the challenge of the keeper and slotted into the empty net from
a tight angle. We dominated and got our second just before half-
time. Bunmi Sudiya burying a header on the follow up after his shot
hit the bar. Ian Quirk got his second with a header early in the
second half which killed the game off. We continued to play the game
at the Bar Flies end of the pitch but didn't hit the net again. 3-0
is how it ended.

This was not necessarily one of our best footballing displays but
still was a good workman-like performance. Even though Bar Flies were
a man down, we still had to win the match and we did that very
comfortably. Not for the first time this season, I was disappointed
with the conduct of the Bar Flies players. They fell over and
screamed like schoolgirls at the slightest hint of contact. More
worrying they constantly kicked and put in some awful tackles from
behind on our players. The ref was clearly biased. The trigger for
Bar Flies to receive a free kick seemed to be that one of their
players simply needed to ask the ref for one. The ref took no action
on their players - not even a yellow card - for tackles that would
otherwise warrant a straight red. On the flip side of this, I want to
compliment the Asterix Reds players for their conduct. We didn't
react at all to the provocation of the Bar Flies players or the
referee's bias and got on with the game. This required significant
restraint and is testament to the strength and temperament of the
Asterix Reds this season. We know we'll encounter situations like
this again this season. Let's make sure we continue to react in the
manner we did yesterday, ignore the distractions and focus on winning
the football match. Well done all those who did this yesterday.

These three points keep us very much in the hunt for the title.
Amongst the other teams in with a shout for the title in action
yesterday, Vikings lost and BMFC's game was called off so we gain 3
points on both of these teams. We're now 6 points behind the leaders,
Mancis, on whom who we have a game in hand and play next Sunday. A
win on Sunday would put us three points behind Mancis with a game in
hand. We also have one of the best goal differences in the league.

I'm very happy with the way we've been playing well this last month or
so. Yesterday's victory was our sixth in a row. Our confidence and
belief, as it should be, is very high. As we enter the home straight
we need to maintain our focus and keep churning our victories in our
games this month. As long as we keep doing this, we'll be top of the
league by the end of April.