Hesketh A 1 Old Bolts A 4

The long trip to Southport itself can usually provide enough detail for a
match report but aside from some rather picturesque diversions courtesy of
Will's SatNav system (Preston does look lovely at this time of year), there
were no speed tickets issued or loss of players to report.

The A team were again fortunate to field a side containing the young and
exuberant talents of Fenners, Sheeney and Davies. Granted, they had all been
out until 5am but apparently when you are that young, it does not matter.
When you are as old as the rest of us, you can not actually remember if it
mattered or not, just that it is no longer possible.

OK, that is the depressing part done with, let us talk about the exquisite
football being played by a rejuvenated A team. We are going through a period
where everyone is enjoying their football, everyone wants to be involved and
crucially, everyone believes that we can win. We started off well against a
reasonably strong Hesketh side. Within minutes Old Bolts had capitalised on
the main weakness within the Hesketh back line (namely, they could not run)
and Ellis was released down the left and squared for Mitch to add to his
seasons tally.

Hesketh were rattled by the ease in which Old Bolts had scored and forced
themselves back in to the game. In fairness, any pressure that Hesketh
applied was dealt with ease by the magnificent back line of Ishaque, Davids,
Fenners and Lynch. Which is effectively experience and leadership
sandwiching two absolutely quality defenders. Despite this magnificent
defence, brilliantly marshalled by Will, Hesketh did manage to equalise.
Quite how the referee knew the ball had crossed the line is a mystery and
rumours that he was the father of the Watford / Reading referee have yet to
be proven.

Annoyed with the loss of the lead, Old Bolts struck back with a long
clearance finding Ellis in plenty of space and a couple minutes to control
his breathing and find the net to make it 2-1.

The half-time team talk picked up on the cliché that the next goal would be
crucial and so it would prove. The ubiquitous Mitchell slipped a through
ball to Jordan, who took time out from his head-band adjustments and filming
for the eagerly anticipated Karate Kid IV epic to coolly slot the ball past
the Hesketh keeper.

With Sheeney and Jack running midfield and taking it in turns to cancel out
the threat of the Hesketh players, Old Bolts really began to turn the screw.
Mitchell again unselfishly played an inch perfect pass through to Ellis to
allow him to take his second of the game and to round off the scoring for
the day.

It was a great performance against a side that we have traditionally
struggled against. These are great times for the A team. If we can build on
these performances and ride the loss of some key players over the coming
weeks, then at the very least, we will not need to worry about relegation.

It is impossible to pick out a Man of the Match performance this week.
Everyone played excellently and this reflects a solid team performance.
Perhaps it should go to Will, not because he was the best player but merely
because he must be gutted after Portsmouth's capitulation to the mighty
City. I can only imagine what he must be going through right now.