Having played only 5 previous league games, and lost them all, it was nice to end the night as victor and climb the league from bottom to a lofty 19th.

5-0 Down from the first leg, I chose first pick over extra man and selected a team that I hoped could restore at least some pride.

The game was even throughout, with both Blake and I making several saves to keep our respective teams in the match and with 15 minutes to go, a 3-0 lead for my whites allowed fleeting thought for an unlikely comeback.

Sadly it wasn’t to be and Gary W managed to rally his team to bringing the score back to 3-2.

Some real hard work from both teams, Rueben chasing every ball including those that went out. Jay having both feet hacked leaving him limping later on. Jonny with a special strike hard and low and Andy E with his left foot blast.

Nick pinging the ball onto pitch two, Cush jumping and ducking at the same time, defied gravity and I, for good measure, arrived using my son’s gloves (picked accidentally) and managed to throw two balls ‘out of play’.

Great goals from both teams notably the quick passing move that secured the third and ultimately winning goal. Neat pass from Jay and smart finish at the back post.

Great to see Blake and Paul back on the pitch. Paul being my selected MoM. He was his usual solid self, clearing with head, leg and possibly an arm??? Jonny’s shouts of ‘you should have a hernia more often’ was a sentiment of skit and applause for Paul’s excellent performance on the night.