Adam Bradbury writes:
Tis the season to be Reccy....
We must have been very good boys this week as Santa came up with the number one present on our list.
The King's Road boys were at the Marshes menacingly early in monogrammed livery. Meanwhile the Hackney cru rolled up in customary disarray and missing a few regular reindeer - Joao (Portugal), Ben (knee), Dan (shopping). But we were happy to share the sleigh with David, back from Uni, Tino, back from some place where there's no internet or phone connection, and Connor - back from a visit to hospital having some bad teeth pulled. (Oh the symbolism.)
Turns out he spent the downtime watching videos - not of his past performances, but It's a Wonderful Life and Scrooge - morality tales that show how badly life could turn out if the protagonist were to take a wrong turn.
Well he whose name is Joseph must have chosen the path of righteousness. Yes lord. Not only did he open the scoring after a lovely floated ball from Joe Haley unlocked Sloane's defence; but he effectively sealed a big fat roast parsnip of a win with the goal of the season - a 35-yard free kick that blazed like a shooting star around the wall on which Sloane were hanging their stockings and into the top corner of the net.
And beneath that star, wrapped in a game of skill, pace and relatively little mouth, we found 3 little points.
It was a golden goal that had subs, spectators and some shepherds who'd drifted into the neighbourhood flocking onto the pitch to kneel at Joseph's feet. What's more it re-established our two-goal lead. Not before time too, as a powerful header from a corner gave Sloane their third and showed they're not ones to jump on their donkeys and head for the inn at the first sign of a deficit.
At 3-0 we'd been well in control. But our charitable side (hey, it's Christmas) allowed Sloane's slick passing and pace to leave their footprints in the virgin snow of our advantage.
Charity must have got hold of Nev the ref too. Why else award us a goal for a ball that dropped over the bar and behind the net? It didn't seem in the true spirit of Christmas to accept.
A couple of late tackles saw Liam and Chris join a growing injury list - so the 3-week break ahead is a sweet satsuma in the seasonal stocking. By the time we re-start in January, with big beards and paunches under our red tunics, let's hope Liam is back to the fitness that today saw him occupy the attentions of 3 defenders at a time, as he skipped and sidestepped 50 yards to add a third goal to his and our bulging sack.
Wish it could be christmas every Sunday.
Team:
Max Bland (1), Adam Bradbury, Chris Chambers, Joe Haley, Joe Grubb, Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano, David Bent, Tino, Tomas Winter, Liam Greenaway (1), Connor Joseph (2), Jimmie Lloyd, Aaron Gayle.