Happily the weather was on Saturday was lovely and SatNav had not failed me. All too often these small events might have been the highlight of my day; today however was to prove altogether different. Not only did a full compliment of 11 players arrive but so too did our newly recruited and very able goalkeeper and a much sought after left footed player, things were looking up. Furthermore, we had balls, cones and kit, anyone who didn’t know better would think we were the business.

This state of affairs did not dwindle as you may have expected but instead the form of the OM Football team was quite special. Early on in the first half a beautiful ball through from Kabwe was met by a perfectly timed run by Black and finished in style across the face of goal and in off the post. More chances followed and the only damper came in the form of a return goal by Foresters, which was, if we are honest, the result of some miscommunication on our part.

The second half saw us heading down the hill and with the wind. Chances were plentiful though goals were less forthcoming; with Hughes and Kabwe being charitable and not finishing a plethora of opportunities. Hughes did however manage to find the back of the net with two and so at 3-1 the game descended somewhat into farce with the OM team gunning for goal and forgetting their defensive duties altogether until we were abruptly reprimanded by a second goal from the Foresters.

A good result for the Nice n’ Casuals with the Old Boys match on the 19^th we are on the up. Final Score 3-2. Man of the Match- Dan Black

And so this, an historic day, came upon us. A day on which we might see ourselves rise as new champions or discover that we are in fact, as we had all suspected from the start, distinctly average. 10 men in all arrived at Aldenham School, North London. Not the 11 that you might hope for in a football team but certainly better than it could conceivably have been. We were greeted by a highly professional looking outfit, cones and bibs as well as a full squad of 17 men; it was not looking good for the Old Marlburians. To our surprise at this point another team appeared, as it turns out the highly ‘professional looking outfit’ had cocked-up a little and double booked themselves. Not to worry, it was, after all, a pre-season friendly and so we agreed (most sportingly) to two games of 25 minutes each way.

The first against the Old Cholmeleians was going very well, surprisingly so, at half time it was still nil-nil but then one very good goal was followed almost inevitably by two more rather soft and avoidable ones. Our fitness or lack thereof was showing through. With only three shots, only one of which was on target, the prestige of the Nice n’ Casuals was in doubt. As a first outing in the Arthurian League things were not looking good.

Final Score 3-0. Man of the Match- Chino (the player we borrowed)

A good break whilst the other two teams did battle gave us time to restructure into a more balanced if somewhat unorthodox 4-5-1 formation. And so the time came to face up to the afore mentioned ‘professional looking outfit’. A much better performance from the casuals with flowing passes and driving runs was soon rewarded with a strong goal and much celebration. Azis and Fletcher playing higher up the field showed great skill and class whilst Hare performed almost flawlessly in his role as captain and defensive mid-fielder. The second half saw much of the same though this time sadly a goal from the Old Aldenhamians put us back at 1-1. I should mention that the OA goal was very off-side but then they had said the same about ours so perhaps all was fair in the end.

Final Score 1-1. Man of the Match- Alex Azis.

Player of the day- Joe Hare shares the honour with J J Hetherington who stepped up to the plate and made some heroic saves during some nail biting goal mouth scuffles.