Whittlesford entertained Newmarket Town Stiffs at the Lawn and made two changes to the starting line up. Martin had finally accumulated enough Cambs FA bonus points to cash them in for a one-week holiday! Marlon returned in place of Turner whose elder brother Marco (‘the veteran’) also came in to the team for Conan.
For the second week running the Lawn witnessed another ten-goal salvo. Martin sat on the sidelines smiling through gritted teeth as Shrew notched four more goals (to add to last week’s hat trick) and Shane and Marlon shared four more as the home side ran out 8-2 winners. The home side dominated the first 45 minutes against a Newmarket side that was dangerous going forward but was arguably more dangerous at their own end. The first goal arrived when a superb four man move involving Dazzler, Weeman and Tobinho was finished on the run with a sweet first time strike from the left edge of the box from Shrew. Marlon almost immediately added a second when he latched onto a long ball from the back, his lobbed shot just drifted wide of the left post. Another good move down the left gave Shrew another shooting opportunity; he again took it early on the volley and was unlucky to see it come back of the left post. He was not to be denied for long as he raced away from the trailing defenders from Marlon’s pass before shooting powerfully past the keeper. Newmarket then hit back with a good move down the left before their number ten cut inside and hit a powerful drive that fortunately for the home side continued to rise above the bar. The home side then added their third from a Weeman long throw which Shane converted with a header, via the underside of the bar, following Marlon’s back header. Not to be outdone Shrew then completed his first half hat trick when he neatly finished from the edge when the home side failed to clear. The visitors hit back when Sam missed his kick, with the slight suspicion of a dodgy bounce, when he rushed from his area to clear a long hopeful ball down the left. The attacker made no mistake to reduce the arrears to 4-1. This respite was only temporary as a diagonal ball from left to right was ignored by all the defenders, as the keeper called ‘a free header’, Shane nipped in to round the keeper to clinically add the fifth. The visitors went close just before the break when a good move down the right resulted in a dangerous cross flashing across the face of the home goal. Their number nine also tested Sam when he acrobatically volleyed a diagonal ball from the left hand side of the box.
Half time 5 v 1 – Swanny won the hamper and announced that he would be giving it to the love of his life (I’m guessing Weeman or Swanny’s mum!).
The home side started lethargically as Newmarket enjoyed their best spell. They created three decent half chances with good moves down the right. The number ten missing narrowly with a shot across the goal with one, another saw a header just over the bar but the third required a smart save from Sam when the ball bounced awkwardly in front of him. The home side however scored again when Shrew cleverly lobbed the keeper from the left edge following a good pass from Tobinho. Newmarket, to their great credit, then hit back with their best move of the game, again down the right. The forward then cut in before hitting an unstoppable finish with his left back into the right corner. The home side then replied in kind with their best move of the match down the right flank involving Shouey, Tobinho, Shane and Dazzler. An excellent cross was headed by Marlon, from the spot, back to the right corner leaving the keeper flat footed and helpless. Marlon added the eighth as he ran on to a through ball down the right channel before blasting a shot into the net via the inside of the right post. Van Cart then must have thought the game was safe as he introduced all three subs; Leeinho taken by surprise entered the fray still wearing his scarf, gloves, wellies and a mac! Big Ben again made a big impression this time on the Newmarket left midfielder who ran into one of his specials! There was just time for Shane to spurn his hat-trick chance, when he hit the post from about a yard (taxi for Roberts!) as a cross ran across the goal.
Supporters M0M – There was again a clear winner this week, despite an excellent all round team performance, thanks largely to his four-goal salvo this week’s winner is Mark Johnston. Personally, I would have gone for the Dawson’s, Tobinho for his on-field efforts and Mel for her work off the field including lugging in a couple of the advertisement boards!
The 1st Team do not have a game next week but the stiffs have a top of the table clash with CUP so we are expecting a bumper crowd boosted by the first team squad. |
