Saturday the 3rd of December saw Southgate’s Mens 3s welcome H&W to Snakes Lane on yet another fine afternoon for a bit of stick & ball.

With the possibility of Gate’s 3s having to play with 11 outfield players, due to not having a keeper available, we were all up to the task. However, much to most peoples surprise, we managed to gain ourselves a M1s player/ coach to fill in for us. Yes, Kwan Browne was kitted up & was ready to show his qualities in a position we’ve never seen him play before.

The first half got underway & was pretty even for both sides. 1 point was all that separated the two teams, so taking 3 points was a top priority for Southgate.

H&W had half a chance when their centre forward crashed a ball in to our D, missing everyone & Kwane hoping to watch it out for a sixteen, shielded it to see it roll over our baseline. This did not happen. It bounced straight off the post & stayed in play. But with quick reactions, Kwane kicked the ball back to their winger who was standing virtually on the baseline & tried to score a wonder goal, to which he gave us a sixteen we were all waiting for 2 minutes ago.

First half ended 0-0. Second half got underway & again, similar to the first, both teams found chances they most probably would’ve scored on another weekend.

Man of the match, Will Wright danced into H&W’s D, with a lovely pair of handles, span 3 or 4 of their defenders inside out, and then slotted a glorious middle middle goal to make it 1-0.

Shortly after, Gate had a short corner converted to double their lead & had a comfortable 2-0 to sit on. Jackson, with a powerful pushed aerial, took a deflection that flew into the roof of the net.

With not long left to go, H&W broke down our left side & played a lovely ball Erling Haaland would dream of & there stood one of their players to calmly slot what was only a consolation goal, ruining a very cold Kwane’s clean sheet.

2-1 was how the game ended & was a very important 3 points for the Men’s 3. Onto this Saturday, weather dependent, to hopefully grab another 3 points giving us a positive end to the first half of the season.