The game started and we were soon on top with some sharp tackling in midfield and defence, and good running up-front. St Mary�s could not get their foot on the ball and, with almost every header going our way, we stared to build pressure. A succession of long throws down the right from Dave brought us an early reward as Dan managed to get his head on one and flick it into the mixer. Aaron was there to wrong foot their defence with a wild miskick followed by a good finish to put us 1-0 up and increase Aaron's lead at the top of the goal-scoring chart.

Perry then aggravated the calf injury he picked up from last week and Donovan came trundling , sorry, I mean running on to take up a left-back position with Stacker moving to midfield.

After the goal the rest of the first half was fairly even with nothing too clear-cut from either team. Mozzer was looking very solid on crosses and the rest of the defence closed-up shop with Stimo and Bowman never looking like they were going to lose a header.

The second half started in much the same way as the first but we could not crank up the pressure as the fitness of a young looking St Mary�s began to show as they picked up more of the ball. St Mary�s certainly had the best of the possession in the second half but could not break down our determined back five. Kelso and Donovan watched the flanks well, and crosses from the wings were rare with St Mary�s forced to come back infield and pass across the front of our defence. From a St Mary's goal-kick, Dan won his umpteenth header of the day and sent the ball back into the path of Hollo. Ian flicked a perfectly weighted pass on to Aaron who did the business again with a nonchalant flick past the keeper... 2-0 and game over.

It was time for Jeff to add some guile on the left and he replaced Stacker. Jeff immediately got clattered and gave us all a good laugh, so thanks Jeff! St Mary's turned on themselves with an impressive display of self-destructive swearing and abuse which was music to Shene ears.

The rest of the game passed without major incident apart from Dave Rowe managing to head the ball from St Mary�s six-yard box to somewhere near the half way line, a Donovan special that saw their nippy forward cut down to size (and Donovan�s arse to ribbons), an excellent challenge from Kelso that saved a certain goal, and Dan taking a sitter off Ian�s foot. It probably saved Hollo the shame of blazing over the bar anyway.

All in all, a very good performance, though special credit must go to Aaron for his two goals, Dan Sheriff for bossing the midfield, and the Bowman/Stimpson axis that again proved too strong for the oppos. Four wins from the four remaining games, and a few draws for the teams around us, could see an interesting finish to the season...

Wearmouth