Two weeks in a row against Wallingford… last week their 4s, this week their 5s. Clearly, they just can’t get enough of us. And once again, we were blessed with the coveted 16:15 slot, a prime time for those who enjoy playing under the floodlights of impending doom and gloom!

This week’s pre-match excitement included the news that our number-one defender, Pask, had done his back in, leaving us with a bare 11. Perfect. Unfortunately, we also missed our regular keeper, Matthew, but were lucky to have Callum back between the sticks, which was reassuring.

Wallingford won the toss and generously handed us pushback. Lovely. We started with a few promising passes, but before we could even settle in, Wallingford had won back the ball, side-stepped past Sam, then Mark, then Barbie, then Tony, and… bang… past Callum. 1-0 down in under a minute. A BIG tactical wake-up call! Yikes!

Thankfully, we responded in kind. Some solid defending between Tony, Barbie, and Mark, excellent running in midfield from Isaac and Adrian P, and it wasn’t long before Isaac set up Josh to equalise before he popped in another for good measure. Not to be outdone, Adrian Plant added a third. Half-time: 3-1 up and knackered, with no subs in sight.

The second half started brightly, with our twin wing-backs, Sam and Addi, working their socks off and winning us a short corner. A quick huddle and a well-drilled variation from Mark to Aidda, slipped right to Adrian P., and boom… 4-1 up. Wallingford managed to claw one back, making it 4-2, just to keep things interesting.

We battled hard, with Dan, Josh, and Aidda passing and firing off chances. With six minutes to go, we took a short, causing chaos and carnage in the D, like a pinball machine, but with more shouting and carbon fibre crunching. Eventually, Josh decided enough was enough and smashed in a reverse for his hat-trick. And that was that, a 5-2 win, job well done.

A solid performance, a well-earned win, and, most importantly, no doom for us! Being the only Yateley team to win today! Until next week, Sonning 5s at home!