On a very chilly, grey afternoon, Whittlesford welcomed highly rated Lakenheath to The Lawn for a league fixture that was much anticipated, if only for the return of 'old boys' Lee James and Mat Bonner.

The home sides afternoon started badly when, in the warmup, Conan pulled up with a knee injury. In came Ed Gallagher to pair up with Mark Turner in central defence. New boy Joe came in to join Hugh on the bench and Shane returned up front.

The opening exchanges were brisk and with total committment being shown by both teams, a close hard fought game was on the cards. The large crowd were not to be disappointed.

Lakenheath started with some neat, quick passing movements, with Hunter looking particularly dangerous running from deep and Finney showing deft touches. They managed to force several corners and were unlucky not to force the first goal with some decent half chances. The home defence battled hard and eventually began to get a good foothold in the game.

Breaking quickly from deep, using the pace of Mark Johnson, Shane and Martin, Whittlesford started to cause several problems for the opposition. Mid way through the half, a corner was forced after good work from Newman, wide on the right. The delivery was first class and met purposefully by Mark Turner, after an excellent late bending run from the edge of the penalty area. Apparently, this goal was Marks first at Premier League level for 20years.

The goal gave the home side an enormous boost, and energy levels appeared to surge. Tackles began to really bite, and workrate increased dramatically as confidence and belief returned to the team. The latter stages of the half were evenly fought with neither side offering too much in the way of attacking threats.

Half time 1 v 0

So as not to disappoint the PO, i had a lovely brew at half time.

With one or two minor details discussed and sorted out at half time, the home side took to the field knowing that Lakenheath would come at them hard in the opening exchanges. They were not disappointed. Lakenheath pressed hard, and started to create chances , which fortunately they squandered. Whittlesford dug in, but started to be pushed very deep inside their own half. This in turn created huge areas in midfield that the visitors started to exploit. Some desperate last ditch tackles, a couple of fine saves from Sam Johnston, and some poor finishing combined to keep the score one nil until just over the hour mark.

Lakenheath pressed down the right hand side, and after breaking several challenges the visiting number six drove in a low drive from close range to eventually break the resilient home defence.It was nothing more than their play deserved at that stage of the proceedings. 

Rather than protecting the point, I made the decision to 'go for the win'. I subbed a very tired Nicky Barker (who worked tirelessly) and brought on new boy Joe up front to join Shane. This meant that Weeman was moved into a more central role and the very dangerous Martin Turner came out wide. To be effective with this system, we had to break at pace and get the ball forward to this four man attack. This we did with amazing success.

With fifteen minutes to go, a quick incisive break led to Mark Johnson playing Shane through with a beautifully weighted pass. The finish was clinical. A couple of minutes later, excellent work from Martin, released Joe one on one with the keeper. He sat the keeper down with a clever jink only for the ball to be robbed from his foot, by a desperate last dich challenge, just as he was about to pull the trigger. Credit to Joe for not dropping his head, as he was inspirational in the next move. After battling for the ball wide on the right, a clever ball from the striker released overlapping fullback Daz Chamberlain who burst into the area. His clever ball square was met perfectly by Shane to make the score 3 v 1.

Lakenheath started to mix it up a bit, and one or two tempers were beginning to fray when they were given a lifeline. A poorly struck goal kick was intercepted by the visiting midfielder. His return pass split the home defence and the striker finished well to reduce the deficit. A short spell of intence pressure ensued with the home defence desperate to protect their lead.

With minutes remaining, a clever quick break out of defence found the visiting defence over committed up field. The ball was laid into the path of Shane who carried the ball forward at pace and finished sublimely into the far corner for his hat-trick. This was the killer blow as Lakenheath appeared shell shocked and deflated. Injury time was successfully seen out and the elation and relief was very evident at the final whistle.

I had a few words with the team before kick off concerning attitude and belief. The performance against Fordham, though successful, was extremely poor and worrying. The performance against Lakenheath was poles apart. Without several key players, the team showed grit, determination and heart. The players who have come in have rolled their sleeves up and given everything they have to offer. You can ask no more! Players who are suffering a loss in form have shown how hard work can transform their game and bring rewards.

Training is for all players. Tuesday nights at seven. Please make the effort to attend as hardwork can often lead to success.

Fortitudine vincimus. (By endurance we conquer).