It was a game of two halves

We sense it is going to be a difficult weekend when it gets to Friday afternoon before we know that we are playing and have a team. It was even more difficult this weekend, when we didn't know until 10am on Saturday that we had any goalie kit!

But out of the lock-up, slightly tatty, slightly smelly and slightly two left footed came a colossus. There’s a new goalie in town, folks. Putting all hope of scoring glory to one side, Jon took one pace forward and donned the helmet and pads and stood indomitable in front of goal.

How could we not be inspired? Although starting with only 10 men was a bit of a disadvantage. We all played with one eye on the car park, hoping for the arrival of our centre-forward.

And it was a game of 2 halves. At the back we had the mature and experience of our 6 adult players, whilst up front we had the 5 keen and fit youngsters. Tring have many talented players and we were soon under the cosh. Some nibble ball control and running into space soon saw us stretched thin. The defence was under pressure and Tring were relentless.

But at the back, Jon was having an epic game – you would not have guessed that this was his debut performance in goal. We battled hard, but inevitably Tring got their first goal and was soon followed by their second. I feared the worst – this was going to be a long match. Half time was a long time coming, although we had more time in their half and even secured a short corner (less said about how that went the better!). 2-0 behind at half time

But strangely being 2 behind seemed to settle us (or maybe they settled back too). We suddenly seemed to have more time on the ball, our passes seemed to connect, our defence seemed more assured. Even their “Tr1nger” (bouncing the ball along on his stick - you don't do that in Div 9!) failed to make an impact on us. Up front our youth contingent were making some great combinations and really giving Tring a hard time - we have got some excellent talent coming through and some of the players up the club need to be looking behind them as their places will be up for grabs soon! Another short corner was won and we sent in the big guns. Goal! A great hit by Warbs and we were elated. A final warning for Dave and a short corner was once again resolutely defended.

A final score was a 2-1 defeat , but we definitely won the second half and the team did what it always does, battles to the end, supports everyone, plays fair and had great fun.

There can only be one MOTM : Jon (the only one who fit the helmet) and a (almost) unanimous DOTD : Dave (looking cool in a sweater).

No game next week as we have now played all 15 in the league followed by a week’s break – time to rest those aching muscles!