Small Pitch, Large Scoreline

Our first trip to a ground that we had heard a fair bit about ended in a comfortable victory this morning.

As expected the pitch was very small (we didn't expect it to be marked out for Rugby with blue football lines) and therefore it was an unusual game. We started with a 442 formation for the first time since a time that I can't remember, but in all honesty it was more often than not a 424. Despite some slight uncertainty it did work on this occasion.

We were never really that concerned about the size of the pitch as it played into our hands with Sam in the team and his long throw, which he had to tone down a bit here, was a very effective weapon.

It took just 6 minutes for us to score as Joey nodded in at close range from Sam's throw in.

A few minutes later it was 0-2 and it was the same players involved but with roles reversed. Joey clipped a ball for Sam to run onto and although it was hardly the sweetest of strikes he found the bottom corner.

Another Sam throw in saw us make it 3 after 16 minutes. This time Grouty headed home well for his 7th of the campaign.

Just before the half hour mark it was effectively game over as Sam threw for Joey who controlled well and fired into the far corner with his left foot.

Then we had a bit of a sloppy spell and Gordon's got one back with a finish into the top corner.

We restored the 4 goal cushion on 39 as Grouty clipped a ball in behind for Sam and despite the ball getting away from him a bit he was able to round the keeper and squeeze a shot past the defender on the line.

The second half saw a deterioration in the quality of the football, but we still managed to add a couple to our tally. On 62 Gilo's scuffed corner was cruyff flicked on by Oli and the ball fell to Joey who completed a perfect hat-trick by poaching home right footed.

Our 7th was the pick of the bunch from our point of view. Jay and Grouty exchanged passes on our right with the former delivering an accurate cross for Sam to volley into the bottom corner and complete his 2nd hat-trick of the season.

Gordon's got a consolation after Wicksy's precise cutback from the byline found a Gordon's player unmarked and he coolly fired past a helpless Ryan in goal. Ry had earlier made an instinctive save to keep the goals conceded at 1, but could do nothing about this one.

So overall a bit of a weird game on what is essentially a kids pitch. It was never going to be pretty, but we got the job done and made it 5 wins from our last 6 league outings.

MoM: Sam - on most days Joey's hat-trick and assist would have earned him the MoM, but Sam was involved in 6 of our 7 goals, netting and assisting 3 apiece.

Thanks to Rich, Wicksy and Baulds for running the line.