FANTASTIC FIVES GO TOP

"We've got 13" we said. "That's a good team".

But there were 11 at the start... and 10 at the end... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

The 5s took to College Meadow at a chilly 4pm, with a gentle rain making playing conditions perfect. The comeback of the century had provided the warm-up - now for the main event.

Old Bords were not the physical Vets side with whom we'd battled in previous years. Instead, a team of skilful silverbacks and future stars took to the field. However, they were powerless to stop a slick passing movement down the field, four players, maybe 8 passes, and Zac in position to calmly finish into the open goal. Add an Omar short corner to the mix, and the 5ths were 2 up and flying.

But then, tragedy struck. A lazy tackle from your intrepid correspondent, and a short to OBs. The ball skipped up. It hung. It was struck, BANG, into Ant's face. Some claim a hollow thunk rang out across the field.

In truth, it was a relatively minor injury, but heads are heads, and bleeding heads shouldn't stay on hockey pitches. Ant went off to enjoy the delights of Lewisham A&E, and we defended out the half.

The second half was always going to be tough, but when the going gets tough, the tough pass the opposition off the pitch. And so we did, with the brilliant forward triumvirate of Oli, Zac and Omar bagging one each. A momentary lapse gave Old Bords a deserved goal, but the match was ours.

As Oli remarked at the end, selfless play gave us our goals, and a couple more passes in the D would have probably have got us more, but it was fine performance that justified our ascent to the top of the league. As long as 11 turn up, we'll graft to stay there.

MoM: Dan

Massive thanks to Golbey for umpiring, and resisting the temptation to bring his taser.

Match report by Joni Coleman

Photography and motivation to buy a short corner mask from Ant White.