The good news was it was considerably warmer than last week, the bad news was it was also considerably wetter too. Lots of rain before and during the match made for difficult conditions, with the goal-mouths quite waterlogged and the rest of the pitch very heavy, but it was playable. We had a full squad of 10 Vikings, with Harry recovered from his bout of flu.

The Pumas were a physically big team, and very effective going forward, considerably better than Altrincham’s Panthers who we played a few weeks ago. We conceded a very early goal, and struggled to recover from that.

The Vikings plugged away, and never lost heart or gave up, for which I am very proud. We were soundly beaten by a good team today, but ironically our goal was the best of the day, and probably the most pleasing goal of our season so far. Tom, Xavier and Charlie passed the ball superbly to create the opening, and Charlie ran clear of the Pumas defence before smashing home an excellent rising shot.

Tyler had a difficult day in goal, peppered with shots and the goal-mouths were a mess, but he made some good saves and his distribution was good too. The defence were worked hard, our opposition passed the ball well and were capable of shooting from anywhere, but our back line never lost heart and actually grew stronger as the match progressed. Izzy put in another really strong performance, she was again in contention for player of the week as was Aaron, who has such good timing to his challenges. Sam and Luke ran their socks off, chasing, closing down and making important tackles. It was good to have Harry back, we really missed him last week, he added bite to both defence and midfield and is so committed.

Xavier put in an excellent performance in midfield, and played a big part in our goal, as did Tom whose passing ability is fantastic and is never afraid to get stuck in. Lewis was another contender for player of the week, putting in a huge amount of effort and running whether in midfield or in attack, always looking for the ball and to be involved. Charlie produced another special finish for the goal, which capped a terrific performance for our no.8, both as striker and in midfield when required.

Charlie was given our player of the match award, not just for the goal, but for 45 minutes of determination and effort. Altrincham’s Manager nominated Tyler for his award.

Our confidence and competitiveness grew stronger as the game progressed, despite the scoreline, and that is encouraging. The last 15 minutes was our best of the 3 and that is great tribute to the players’ character. We’ll work to cut out the mistakes, we will aim to be a bit stronger and quicker in the challenges, and we’ll keep enjoying our football.

Thank you to the supporters for turning out on such a foul morning.

Rob H