The first 10-15 mins were close, but we scored from a corner (which were all well organised and always dangerous deliveries from the boot of left back Theo St Dennis), then Becket pulled one back, but we were back in front before half time with a penalty despatched by Alfie, subsequently controlling most of the play.

It was 3-1 soon into 2nd half, then with things still fairly well balanced, Issac (our top CB and VC) was injured, so we reshuffled and put Omar Altaleb on in midfield, who then really settled things with his composed, signature toe-poke from just inside the box after a Scholes-esque burst from midfield....and you could see the delight at the three goal cushion and togetherness as it was this that inspired the team to come together and high five in celebrations (and an uncharacteristic celebration from the manager on the sidelines)...this was the moment they knew they had got through!

Alfie finished up with 4 (we got 3 penalties, he scored 2 of them), Omar 1, and Coby Ingram got the other 2, one of which was probably the best finish of the game...although by that point Becket had stopped playing.

We are into the quarter final!

The improvement from the last game (a 2-0 loss) felt significant, they looked really, really good. Evan Scott was brilliant in midfield alongside Will Green who also plays an intelligent, more defensive passing game, which allowed Alfie to move into that 10 role (where he caused complete chaos for the opposition). Also special mentions to Alex Montgomery, Leo Lulham and Angus Teng who have made the positions of GK, CB and RB very much theirs with their consistency and quality. Also Ollie Souslby and Kheone Dharby who adapted to new roles as left and right midfielders as part of the new formation.

Really pleased with the conduct of the whole team, led by the examples of Alfie and Isaac, who were actively respectful and polite to everyone along the way from bus driver, opposition, ref and myself and Mr Gregson. I know I say this every time but genuinely a privilege to manage! 

Their 2nd goal was offside and I (also linesman) missed it because I was too busy calling Omar out on his positioning, so really should have been 7-1, which was also the score in round 1.

Looking forward to the quarter final, which is likely to be against Toot Hill.

It will be a tough game, but without a doubt one in which the team can expect to be competitive and has every chance of winning if they can repeat this performance.