Silver Linings and Dark, Cold Clouds

We may have been beaten by Beeston but t'wasnt the beasting they could have beset.

So, away at Beeston in the dark and the cold for a 3pm start. No subs, a GK who has failed to bring straps for his kickers (sorry) and keeper hand-pads marked "large". Which I've never needed. Ever.

Expecting a heavy attack did us well and the four man defence (Ian Wilson playing off L-R Craig, Mike and Mick) came under pressure early on and managed to pull ten minutes without leaving the keeper under significant pressure. Two lucky shots finished from tight to the base line left heads unnecessarily down and led to a flurry of goals through the first half, finishing 5-0 going into the dugouts. Nevertheless, this was going better than expected and playing a team with four or five rolling subs, we went into the second half confident that as defensive games go, we were doing well. Great stuff from Mackenzie in pulling back to help the defence and maintaining a constant presence in the outfield.

Aside from one goal against in the second half, the M5 did well to slow down the attack, and hats off to the midfield who fell into form in the second half to put the Beeston GK under pressure on multiple occasions. Particular mention to Mr Bridges for pulling right and revealing that his right side shot is lethal and to Tom Smith (MAN OF THE MATCH) for constant commitment to the challenge and for placing multiple well timed shots through to Dan and Ryan upfront.

Great work as usual from Aaron on the right and Tony on the left meaning Beeston came away most likely disappointed with the second half performance thanks to a solid defence.

Special mention to Mike Bettridge and Craig Ffitch, who having put in 70 solid minutes protecting the GK then had to put up with him for a further four hours at the President's Dinner.

Unfortunate that Sutton Coldfield 9s are unable to field a team this coming Saturday so a week off for most of the lads. That's a partic ular shame given how gelled things seemed to be getting in midfield. No heavy boozing boys - need you back on form for December 9th.