Team, Sejersen, Waite, Wrigley, Eriksen, White, Dehombreux, Ledbury, Lewis, Bentham, Harbusch, Gutierrez

Subs, Francey, Taylor

Scorers Gutierrez, Lewis

Vets 1 went into this game on the back of two wins and no goals against, and clinging to the hope of a return to the top flight of Belgium Vets football. Despite recent set backs we find ourselves still second in the table, five points adrift, but with the leaders still having to come to us. Pre-match talk centred around the returning Vets legend 'King Kenny' Francey making a guest appearance, having braved the journey from deepest dark Wales.

Seriously, Captain Ledbury had come up with a cunning plan, to finally win the toss and have us not kicking into the sun for the first time this season. The omens were not good, as Paul W practised in the changing room with the Skipper. The plan was for us to warm up at the opposite end of the field, and thus.........yeah right! Anyway he lost the toss (again) and the opposition duly elected to change ends, and we were back to our familiar role directly facing the sunset. The skipper also elected to keep selection secret until we were on the field. I suspect this was to keep Gerd Harbusch and Mad Mike on their toes, as king kenny lurked in the background.

The effect of having Vets 1 all time goal scorer on the bench together with the slimline Taylor, had the desired effect. After just six minutes or so Vets 1 raced into a 2-0 lead. Firstly Mad Mike lashed in an unstoppable shoot, and we were 1 -0 up after a couple of minutes. Then a few minutes later Brian Lewis raced into the box and coolly slotted home 2 - 0, and it looked like a riot was on the cards. Unfortunately that is where the goals stopped, despite the usual shouts of its 0 - 0!! and lets keep our foot on the pedal. In fairness the rest of the half saw Vets 1 create chances and look very good in patches, but our opponents with whom we had drawn 0-0 in the away game never gave up hope and played their part. They never really looked like scoring, apart that is..when one of the defenders decided to try and beat the attacker just outside our own box and promptly lost the ball. Eriksen was caught flat footed and like a rabbit caught in the headlights as the attacker raced through on goal, only to lose his nerve, when he saw Tommy bearing down on him. Half time 2 - 0.

At half time, the hard working White was replaced by Slim Neilo, as a direct swap. The second half saw some excellent performances, but Ledbury and Dehombreux in particular stood out. (maybe it was because they were so poor in the first half)......only joking guys. Someone once said "the next goal is the important one" and that was indeed the case. We looked like we would score next as we applied pressure to the Auderghem goal. We were not having it all our own way though. Paul twice cleared goal bound shots off the line. Add to that, that our opponents also missed a penalty, following a hand ball, and it could have been a different story. Tommy was also called into action and had to dive at the feet of the on rushing striker.

Midway through the second half, Gerd made way for Kenny, and I almost welled up in the nostalgia of it all. We immediately started pumping balls high into the air, and Kenny did not let us down as he duly won the headers. Mad Mike was terrorising the defence on the left and on the right, Jez so nearly produced goal of the season. Jez tackled the defender outside the box and then ran on and unleashed a fantastic shot that just whistled past the upright......tendonitis my arse!!!! He has clearly been practising when not in the family gym with inbuilt sauna. We are still waiting for Jez to invite the boys to one of his candle lit suppers, followed by a sauna and wife swapping party.

As the game came to its conclusion Vets 1 always looked good for the three points, despite the opponents chances. Good solid performances all-round, with Wrigley and Gutierrez standing out. This win made it three in a row, with no goals conceded and a return to our early season form. Anyone looking to win a few quid towards their end of season dance tickets, would be well advised to stick a few quid on Tommy for player of the season. The bookies have him at even money, but any more clean sheets and those odds will shorten again.

MOM Eriksen (Did he bribe Tony's children into voting for him with the promise of post match crisps?)