Date - 23/02
Venue - Fields Park
Crusaders v Crickhowell
Conditions - Fair To Middle!!

Having Lost 15 games on the bounce the lads were in desperate need of good performance and a win to lift the spirits. The Crue's have never beaten Crickhowell in their time in the GC so it's fair to say they are a bit of a bogy side for us. Having lost his Right hand man to a "Day in the House" and the other committee members to the Cup Game at the Welfare the Guvnor had to call on 3rd team manager "Temps" to help out!! We struggled to get a bare 11 last week with injuries and No shows and with the Peanut Hugging on this weekend I felt we would struggle to raise an 11!! However, we managed to get 14 with Temps putting on the Hooves for a potential GC Debut at the tender age of 36!! Dan "Playboy" Morgan also subbed along with Evan(back after a weekend in London)!! No Huw "Bobby Charlton" Mosley this week as he got himself tickets to watch the Welsh RUGBY side play the Italians so in came the returning Pezzie AKA Callum Best to replace him!!

The Lads started really well and within minutes we were awarded a free kick just outside the box! Up Stepped Shane "Borat/Splinter/Rat/Bandy Legs Bowen to take the kick, he blasted it well over the bar but the ref decided he wanted it taken again as the wall moved before the kick was taken. The Next effort had the keeper beaten but the Ball crashed off the Bar and was scrambled away! The were however rampant for the 1sts 20 minutes, a Beckham like pass from Scott "The Grinder" Gilchrist put Dan "Flash" Morris through 1 on 1 with the Keeper and he cooly slotted the ball home to take his season tally to 10! Within minutes we went 2 up, again Dan was put through 1 on 1 and he finished well to beat the advancing keeper! The Crickhowell players didn't know what to do, they turned up expecting a stroll in the park yet found themselves 2 down after 30 minutes!! It could have been worse but the Ref made a few decisions which were bizarre to say the least!!! Dan was brought dow n in the Box and the Ref said he dived, he was also through on goal only to be pushed in the back which should have been a free kick to us but he gave hand ball against us and Booked Dan in the process!!! It must have been a new whistle coz he was using it as if it was on a Free weeks Trial!! At half time we came in 2 up and apart from a few half chances Crickhowell were not in the game!

We couldn't have asked for a worse start to the 2nd half, within a minute the Ref gave Crick a Penalty for a Foul committed by Randy Simpkins. Most thought he took the ball but "The Whistler" gave the Pen anyway!! Up Stepped the lad to take it, he struck the ball well towards the keepers right but it was saved well by Phil "Crump" Morris. The Crues were then given the run around by Crick but some solid tackling from Captain Fishcake and Callum Best meant the lead was kept for the 1st 15 minutes of the second half! Then the Crues scored a 3rd through Dan "The Hitman" Howls a solid tackle on the keeper saw him net from 6 yards into an empty net! This goal was desperately needed to settle the lads down and put Crick further away from the points!! Then came the 2nd Penalty for Crickhowell, the Whistler decided he hadn't used his new toy for over 3 minutes so blew for a tackle that would not have warranted a free kick yet alone Penalty! Crickhowell decided to use a differen t taker for this Pen and he slotted home past Crump! The Ref the Sent off Dan Morris for a tackle that was not exactly career threatening!! For the last 23 minutes we knew we would have to battle for each other and our backs would be firmly against the wall!! Crickhowell went for it with 3 up top but they were unable to break through the solid back 4!! We created a number of other chances against a slow Crickhowell back 3 but didn't take them until a free kick was sent into the box(Far post) in came Dan "Playboy" Morgan to head home and make the score 4 - 1. A great header at the far stick from Dan!! The lads seemed to get a second wind and The Hitman decided to go on a run starting from inside his own half he pasted 2 Crick lads as if they weren't there before out pacing the back 3 and beating the keeper with relative ease to make it 5 - 1 !! We were in CRUES control now and with only minutes remaining there was no way we could let this lead slip, was there???? Cric khowell got the ball into our box and their striker hit an absolute pearler which was top corner bound until Crump flew through the air like Salmon and tipped the strike wide for a corner which led to nothing!! The Whistler still felt the need to add on 5 extra minutes though as he's not used his new toy enough in the 90 minutes and his Mrs obviously didn't allow him to play with it at home!!

Final Score 5-1 to the Crues, an excellent result and a solid, battling performance from the Crues the passing game was a pleasure to watch.

Man of the Match - Fishcake/Pezzie/Hitman, these were the pick of the bunch but all the Lads were solid on sat!!
Dummy of the Match - Dan Morris for Getting Sent Off!!