So with the traditional call of 'Come on you Green men' usually from Thomo was called by 'The Monk', the 3s got off to a good start creating some chances that just fell short, tackles flying in everywhere some harsh and some a bit over the top did stop the game from flowing. Ryan Polley and James Holland playing up front for the first time couldn't really get in to the stride of the game due to the height of the oppositions defence. After about 15 minutes or so, a throw on deep into Cars half was given (should have been a foul), the throw was taken and fell nicely to the away team.  A quick cross was headed out and fell twenty yards to their captain who hammered a volley past 'The Monk' sending them 1 up. One or two free kicks were being drifted in by Wellsey but nothing came of them. Lee 'The Monk' Mesure had another great game in goal pulling of some outstanding one on ones and calling players back when needed. Nick Denny had an important game marking Henrik Larsson's younger brother who was a danger out of the game.  At this point of time the 3s were looking strong and weren't being pushed about as easy as the away team thought. A chance fell to Polley who rounded the keeper and drove the ball into the area but nobody managed to get anything on it. Jack Goodman put in some great play and with Dan Blight covering him gave him the chance to manoeuvre around the pitch. With half time lingering the lads pressured their back four and were unlucky not to equalise.

So the lads took to the pitch for the second half and maybe a game plan was in store, Earl and Wellsey worked well together keeping their strikers at bay, Earl dropping off 'The Skipper' just in case of mistakes but all went as plan and with the two Nicks having a blinding game as well it was looking strong. Nick Ruthen was chancing all with some aero dynamic clearances that even shocked us, scissors kicks, drop kicks (not the wrestling type), full twisting summersault back-flips but hey they all came off, Matt Dudley worked his socks off on the right and Chris Warren (Wozza) was causing trouble on the left until he was whip-lashed in mid-air and landed ten metres down the pitch but up he got and carried on. It didn't take to long to bang in the equaliser and with Stationers frustration getting to them it helped us greatly. A lovely bit of play on the right from Dudders, Blighty and Nick Denny led to a cross field ball from Wellsey looking for Wozza but didn't make him but made the keeper who fumbled very similar to David James, luckily on hand was Wozza to mug the keeper and slot home, 1 all. More chances came our way with Matt Dudley coming close to the winner but the keeper pushed it over the bar, Ryan Polley just smashing wide, a few more blunders from their keeper could have caused major upset with two more catches going awol, 'The Monk' made a few more important saves especially a one on one that he managed to reach with his left foot to keep the 3's in it.  With about ten on the clock the 3s were being pegged back, a scramble in the area was cleared and from outside the box a shot which looked like it was flying over, took the keeper and the defence by surprise luckily rebounding off the centre of the crossbar and landing to one of our defence. With five minutes to go Michael Winnister made an appearance for James Holland, Winnie took to the right and Dudders moved upfront, there was a nice bit of play down the right hand side including five members of the team but nothing came of it. So with the ref having a fairly difficult game he blew the whistle and 1-1 it finished.

GK; Lee 'The Monk' Mesure, LB; Nick Ruthen, RB; Nick Denny, CD; Chris Wells (Capt.), CD; Earl Davis, RM; Matt Dudley, LM; Chris Warren (Wozza), CM; Danny Blight, CM; Jack Goodman, CF; Rayn Polley, CF; James Holland. Sub Michael Winnister.

Man of the Match
Another difficult one, Gooders had a fierce game getting everyone lifted, 'The Monk' for some important saves, Nick Ruthen with his acrobatics, Wozza with his goal or Matt Dudley's quite amazing flick????? I'm going to give it to Nick Denny this week as he played an easy game of football with some little passing which led to some lovely play and some defending that led to certain players not getting a look in.

This week, we were down on the attendance side, maybe 6 or 7 showed up to watch.

Chris Smith