This weeks match report has kindly been submitted by Andy "Glass back" McKenzie.

The Venue: Blackpool Road

And so Excelsior lined up with Steve Downing in goal, Dezzy Warrel, Andy Mck, Scholesy (in body) and Neil across the back. Across the midfield Mercer started on the right, Fiss and George in the middle with Lizzy on the left and upfront Wazza and Andy Willacy started off.

The match started off slowly with both teams playing direct and only Excelsior were making the effort to get the ball down and start playing football. The football started to pay off as chances were created leading to a goal disallowed for a dubious offside flag and another chance falling to Andy who fired over the bar following an unfavourable bounce. Finally Excelsior broke the deadlock and some individual work from Wazza at the by-line saw him cut back in to the box and fire past the helpless Skye goalkeeper. Some more neat football led to a breakaway from Excelsior seeing a fantastic save from an Andy Willacy header followed up by George being thwarted from another good save. Half time 1-0 to the Excelsior.

The second half started with good pressure from the Excelsior forwards leading to a loose back pass allowing Wazza to slip in and calmly bag his second of the day. Excelsior’s third came from Andy Willacy who found himself clean through, steadied himself and calmly scuffed the ball through the goalkeepers hands. These two quick goals broke Skye’s resolve and Excelsior’s fourth was not far away as a Skye defender handled in the box allowing Wazza to slot home the resulting penalty in off the post for his second hatrick of the season. Soon after, more sloppy defending from Skye allowed Wazza clean through again as he calmly rounded the keeper for his fourth.

Four nil up and cruising Steve Downing decided to ring in some changes bringing in Ben for George, Sean for Andy Willacy and Geoff for Lizzy. Ben soon took off where George had left off by getting straight into the game linking up well with Mercer down the right as more chances were created. Finally Mercer ‘the rat’ managed to grab his goal as he slid the ball through the keeper from a narrow angle saving himself from a lambasting (look it up Willacy) off the waiting Excelsior players queuing up to tap the ball in. Some good work down the left from Geoff and Wazza led to a ball whipped in from wide beating everybody eventually reaching Fiss who teed himself up to volley in Excelsior’s 7th – “Get in you bastard” was the cry from the captain. The game wasn’t finished there as more tired defending led to a shot blocked on the line by a Skye defender as the ball was adjudged to have hit his arm, definitely a penalty but was it a red card? Well ‘Colin’ seemed to think so and had it not been for some persistence from BOTH teams the Skye defender could have been walking. No card was the end result, although to be fair to the defender, the ball seemed to strike his arm inline with his body and it didn’t look an obvious sending off offence. Sean unfortunately dragged the resulting penalty wide of the keeper’s left post.

To sum up the game was won by a cracking midfield performance. The entire team defended as a solid unit and the ball was won consistently by George and Fiss in front of the back line and expertly distributed to Mercer, Lizzy, Wazza and Andy Willacy who could have perhaps made more of their chances. Holario had very little to do in nets but still managed to find time to skin an opposing striker and take a boot to the dish. There wasn’t a lot at the back for the Excelsior defenders to deal with but nevertheless a clean sheet is not to be sniffed at.

MOM for me was Wazza – wreaked havoc on the Skye defence for a full 90 minutes, battled back to win the ball when needed and played intelligent balls through the middle.

Shout of the day from Fiss: “This gay bastard is trying to pull me pants down”

Other performances of note include Fiss and Georege who were unrelenting against the skye midfield. Winning balls in the air and gave absolutely nothing on the floor the pair managed to get the ball down quickly and get the team playing football.

A winning mentality has been the key in recent weeks with many players at the top of their game. A good squad morale is key to a successful season and people are going to be disappointed to start on the bench and come off when they are playing well, but there is a long season ahead and everyone needs to make the most of their opportunities.

Any way, ratings as follows (baring in mind 6 is average, you know, didn’t have much to do etc): -

Holario – didn’t do much but did what was necessary – 6
Dezzy Warrel – solid game, good distribution and one header – 6
Scholsey – not sure how much of the game he will remember, but kept the football ticking at the back – 6
Neil – Cleared his lines, tackled well and showed good composure – 6
Mercer ‘the rat’ – back to his best raiding down the right wing - 7
Lizzy – good performance down the left hand side getting the better of his markers on numerous occasions – 7
George - Solid in air, ruthless on the floor and some intelligent passing - 8
Fiss – solid along the floor, excellent distribution and a well taken goal – 8
Wazza – Unstoppable, different attitude to last season – hence different player. Four goals enough said – 9
Andy Willacy – Excellent work rate through the entire game-7
Sean – unlucky with some refereeing decisions and missed a penalty, still to see the best of him – 6
Geoff – got invovled straight away but suffered with much of the play heading down the right flank - 6
Ben – instantly got involved in the game passed and tackled well – 7.