The season opener!!

The new season began with a home tie against Sidmouth.

With Cameron, Noah and Joey all out with injuries a team reshuffle was required, prior to a ball being kicked in the new campaign. Fortunately Max demonstrated the spirit required for a successful team by putting himself between the posts.
The game kicked off and City took control immediately, the new strike partnership of Josh and Dylan soon justified the selection when Josh got to the bi-line and cut the ball back for Dylan to slam home. 1-0 and well in control. Two further chances fell to Dylan when played through, but a touch of early season rustiness kept the match at 1-0.

Sidmouth rarely ventured into City territory, but midway through the half they went for route one, bypassing the midfield and 2 touches later it was in the bottom corner. Max was unfortunate as he got down well to get his fingers on the ball, but not enough to stop it going in. It was 1-1 with the blink of an eye.

However City kept in control for the remainder of the half and deservedly went in ahead as Dan set up Dylan for his second of the game with a powerful shot from just inside the Sidmouth box.
2-1 at the break to City.

The half time talk once again reminded the team of the need to communicate with each other. We need to hear those City voices.

The second half began well and with a reshuffle of moving Josh into a central midfield position and putting new man Brandon upfront. City remained the team most likely to score and it wasn't long before Brandon floated over a lovely chip onto Dylan's head for his hatrick. 3-1 up and cruising to the first three points of the season.

With each half of the match now extended to 40 minutes, the players started flagging with twenty minutes to go (unlike the Sidmouth linesman who had been flagging all game). This gave Sidmouth a couple of late opportunities to make a match of it, with their best effort hitting the underside of the bar and going out for a throwing.

3-1 it finished and congratulations to all the players, with a special mention to Max for going in goal, Pacey for an excellent debut appearance and Dylan for his hatrick.