Hertford VI 3 - 1 Southgate Adelaide III

With 7 wins and 21 points earned on the field, this is already a record season for the 6s. We have reached a dizzy 7th place (out of 13 surviving sides) in the table, though the gap to the top 6 is pretty formidable, so let's set our sights on holding on to 7th.

Fielding a strong side against an Adelaide line up that was badly short of pace, we quickly took control with a disciplined and patient first quarter, keeping good defensive shape and playing a good short passing game with plenty of width. As so often, we created some good opportunities but were either off target or not clinical enough in loose play. Ian finally gave us the lead after some neat work down the right. After that we got a little over-confident and sloppy, and Clive had to pull off a blinder to block Adelaide's best chance of the half just before the break. They continued to press us hard after the restart, but gradually ran out of steam as we got back to basics and began to work through the gears in midfield again. All the best moves came from width. Ian doubled the lead with a tap in from Ewan's cross after some sweet combinations with Aodhan and Dave on the right. Tom got the goal of the game, again after a string of passes in the left hand corner between Tom, Chris, Adam and myself had pulled the defence our of shape, opening the way for a drive to the top of the D and a crackling shot into the corner of the goal.

We kept up the pressure, again getting a little too confident, and Adelaide kept players up the pitch and left us stretched at the back on numerous occasions, so no surprise that they pulled one back with 10 to go. There were no further scares.

Andy Benson's return gave us some welcome punch up front, and if Ian got the glory, it was persistent work from all the attacking midfield (regularly including Graham) that earned the win.

However, additional thanks to Ian (and family) for a very welcome hot tea on a bright but chilly afternoon, and to Tom and family for providing us with our biggest crowd of the year to share his moment of glory.