SOLID BUT UNSPECTACULAR STAR MARCH ON…

After 3 weeks without a game there was a sense of anticipation amongst the team this week at finally getting the chance to give the Cat-Sitting,Kickboxing and Deciding on Baby Names a miss and playing some soccer.

Giving the league a break we were in cup action against the ingeniously named Borussia Thorpmund from the league below. In our two league games against Thorpmund last season we put in possibly two of our worst displays losing 1-0 away and drawing 2-2 at home, results which looking back ultimately cost us the title and so the management duo of Webster and Gridley were keen to place the importance of the right result this time in what could possibly be our best chance of some silverware this season given the fact that Huntsman surely won’t drop any points in their remaining games (Cue Jedi mind trick hand waving)…

With Jason still occupied with his 3 week house move (presumably into a castle) Auger continued at centre back where he has been excellent in recent weeks and with Deano back from his wedding in the isle of Bob Marley (congrats mate!) the team was at full strength.

The early stages of the game were pretty even although we gradually started remembering how to play and began pinning Thorpe into their own half without really threatening their goal. As the game wore on though Thorpe’s extra man in midfield and Deano’s extra wedding cake in Jamaica began to tell as Thorpe began to string a few passes together and find a little too much space in the centre of the park for the late arriving manager Webster’s liking. A Mourinho style change in formation was needed and it came in the form of Sam pushing into centre mid to do Dean’s running and leaving three centre backs cleverly placed at the back. See Webster does earn his wages some times.

The change seemed to work as soon after we won a corner which Grids took short before bamboozling the full back and delivering a super ball with his wooden foot for hungry Auger to bundle home from close range. This seemed to relax the team and we soon took control of the game when we doubled our advantage a few minutes later when Coley found Gridley inside the box and he made no mistake slamming the ball into the top corner. 2-0

Half time arrived with a reminder not to get to comfortable seeing as we were in exactly the same position in the league last year only to draw 2-2 and so we started the second half in the same way we finished the first with some sustained pressure on the Thorpe goal. This eventually paid off as an inswinging Gridley corner was met with force by the rapidly greying head of Adam Auger for his second of the game and Star’s third. 3-0

Soon after a long clearance from Shaun’s flipper eluded the Thorpe backline for Grids to run through unchallenged and coolly finish using his peg leg to good effect for the second time in one game, probably a new record. 4-0

This goal knocked the stuffing out of Thorpe and had a detrimental effect on the standard of football for the rest of the half with the only real highlight being some comedy finishing from the team’s two top scorers Coley and Tony who seemed to be holding their own competition as to who could produce the worst miss, with Coley probably just edging it due to the sheer number of poor attempts at the title!

Thorpe to their credit did continue to try to play football and forced Matt into a couple of excellent saves before finally forcing the ball home to once again deny us a clean sheet and provide themselves with some consolation for their effort.

So a 4-1 win and passage into the next round although we never really hit the heights we have done this season we never really looked like losing although if we are to win the cup and eternal glory we will surely need to put in some better performance’s than this one. All in all though better than having no game and watching T4 although probably not worth missing The Championship for.

Overall not our best display we never seemed to get out of second gear but lets just make sure in the games when we need them gears that we use them.

Oh and did I mention that Auger is going Gray?

Brag x