On a gloriously sunny day at The Silhillians, the 2s looked to kick-start their season with a new-look team, combining a mixture of old and new! The Chairman had answered a Friday night SOS call with a late drop out, and was buoyed by the knowledge he would be playing alongside a fellow 1st team players from 15 years ago, Adrian "HK" Stapley who had transferred back to Sils after a few years with Olton.

Add in youngsters Noah Hartland and Zach Dovey, alongside the other juniors George Walsh and Michael Masterson, and the team looked well balanced with Mark Ison, Steve Trivett, Christian Gregory and Mark Barton forming the spine of the team in front of Ben Rice in goal.

The key member of this team though was Tom Cloke, who played at screen, and was given the task of cutting out the supply to the two England Over 60s players in the Stourport side - Dave Knott and Tom White. He did this absolute aplomb, and this provided the ideal platform for Mark Ison to pull the strings in front of him to help expose the space in the visiting team's defence and maximise the willing running of Stapley, Hartland, Dovey and Masterson.

The first goal was a classic Stapley finish - Zach Dovey created space at the top of the D to get a shot away, but Stapley latched onto this in front of the keeper, then turned and slotted the ball into the bottom corner. The second goal came a few minutes later with Noah Hartland forcing the ball home after a scramble in the D following a strong run down the right by Masterson.

Sils took a 3-0 lead into the half-time break with Dovey again showcasing his fine array of skills, to leave the GK sprawling as he rounded him and left himself the easiest of finishes having been put in the clear by Ison.

Stourport had a stronger start to the second half, but the defence managed the increased pressure well, and the fourth goal game 15 minutes into the second half, Stapley getting his second, once again turning home from close range. Hartland got his second after an excellent run down the left by George Walsh released him, and then Sils scored 2 further goals, all from the top of the D; Steve Trivett with a usual PC rocket into the bottom corner and George Walsh also picked up a goal that his performance deserved, skipping inside from the left of the pitch to fire home from the top of the D.

Zach Dovey continued to plague the away team's defence and was up-ended a number of times, including once when he potentially could have earned a stroke if the ball had not fallen to Stapley whose shot cannoned off the base of the far post (hat-trick avoidance if ever we have seen it!)

Stourport's direct play did eventually lead to two consolation goals in the dying minutes as they were able to exploit the tiring legs of the Chairman, an injury picked up by the excellent Cloke, and a couple of decisions going their way. Their first was a straight strike after the Sils defence had to go down to 4 players after an early break at a PC, and the final goal of the game came from a goal mouth scramble where Rice, having made the initial save felt a little aggrieved to be unable to move after the Stourport forward fell on top of him!

All around though, a welcome return to 3 points after the disappointment of the previous week, and an exciting glimpse of the future with Zach and Noah really impressing.