Opening onslaught from the Madgies

The Madgies turned up at the new venue of their debut 7-a-side season to be greeted by fireworks. Literally. Thrown over the wall and exploding on the pitch halfway through the game preceeding ours. 'Keeper Carlos Gris was unusually silent as he took up his position at the Exposed End, protected by merely a six-foot wall and his cat-like reactions. Thankfully, it was the closest he would be to the action for most of the game.
 
As soon as they kicked off, The Madgies revelled in the extra space of the enlarged pitch. Slick passing set up opportunity after opportunity as we overwhelmed what will surely be one of the weaker opposition teams we face.  
 
Only a reckless gambler would have placed their money on Dallender to open the scoring but, sure enough, he surged into the box and showed our forwards the way after yet another shot hit the woodwork. The floodgates were open.  
 
From here, reports vary. It might have been eight, it might have been nine (the ref was more interested in commentating than counting: "No sliiiiiiiiding, no sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiding"!), but Dallender, Bird (3), Richardson, Fleming, Barker, Robinson is probably about right. Of course, all of it would have been for nothing without the stirling work of Doyle and Westmore shoring things up from the back and seamlessly transforming defence into attack.
 
The night was not without its downside, however, and Gaffer Aspell will surely be pondering long and hard over how Richardson managed to miss an open goal from 2 yards, and later miss the ball entirely with an 'optimistic' attempt at an overhead kick. He may also be concerned about the fact that Gris, magnificent with a number of close range stops, succumbed to a Seamanesque lob that was fortunately disallowed. Certainly, the night finished on a sombre note as midfield creator Barker fell awkwardly and was stretchered off with suspected knee-knack. We're awaiting results of the scans. 
 
All in all though, a solid start to a season in which The Madgies have strong hopes of going one step further than last year's runner-up spot. Well done lads.