Andy Mac has kindly submitted his version of events from Sundays game:

The First league game at the new ‘stadium’ and the order of the day was three points for Excelsior as they faced Frenchmans Cove, unbeaten in there first four starts with for wins.

And so Excelsior lined up with Ross in goals, Daz Worrall at right back, Neil David Harrop at left back and Nico and Andy Mck in the centre. In midfield Mercer started on the right, Jeffrey on the left, with the reliable combination of George and Fiss in the centre. Up front Andy Willacy got the nod ahead of Sean, partnered by the in-form Craig Worrall.

The game started off at a good pace with both teams trying to take advantage of the big pitch. Exclesior made the most of the early possession spreading the ball around well with the midfield trying to find their range with a view to threading the ball behind the Cove’s defence. Thwarted by some questionable flagging from the opposition’s linesman it would only be a matter of time until Excelsior opened the deadlock. Eight minutes into the match Mercer broke free down the right and squared the ball across the face of the goal where Neil David Harrop calmly slotted the ball home beneath the oncoming goalkeeper with his right foot. Five minutes later a Cove move broke down and the ball was swiftly moved across the midfield to Mercer, just outside the centre circle in his own half, Merce threaded and inch perfect pass through to Wazza who bagged his first of the game. Wazza’s second was shortly to follow as a Cove defensive error let the big man in again to calmly round the keeper for his second. Two up and the football was looking good from Excelsior, with the trouncing of the week before firmly out of their minds. A few glimmers of Cove attacks led to a couple of saves from Ross and a penalty shout, which was promptly turned down by the ref. After 30 minutes of play the next moment of controversy was to fall when the hardworking Andy Willacy took advantage of some slack defending, rolled the ball goal bound only for Wazza to knick it on the line. Wazza was adjudged to have been offside by the linesman and the referee agreed. Moments later Mercer found himself clean through, but failed to round the advancing goalkeeper, missing the chance. A dodgy ten-minute spell was to follow from The Excelsior as the formation started to become a little shabby; this led to a booking for Fiss following a reckless tackle against a Cove midfielder, desperately trying to break up the play. Fiss was lucky not to have walked 4 minutes later with another bad tackle in front of he Cove’s crowd but was spared the early shower by the ref. This bad passage of play led to Cove scoring a goal as Excelsior failed to adequately clear their lines and a loose Mercer pass was played back in to the box for the Cove’s number 10 to roll in across the face of the keeper, 3-1. Just before the interval Andy Mck won the ball in the centre of the park and lifted the ball over the Cove’s defence for Wazza to run onto and clinically finish high into the net from a tight angle, another Wazzle hatrick.

After some words of encouragement from the Excelsior Gaffer, Stevee D, it was the Cove who started the better of the two teams, seemingly benefiting from the breather. The offensive play was in the main restricted to Cove shooting from distance by way of Excelsior’s solid defending. The large pitch was starting to take it’s toll on some of the Ex men, leading to Andy Willacy (who had just taken a shoe to the dish) to make way for Sean Lonsdale, Wazzle to make way for Scholsey and George to make way for Ben. With 30 minutes of the game remaining it was up to the subs to get out there and prove themselves. The fresh legs seemed to work and With Jeffrey now up front, a good flick on from Sean saw him clean through only for him to slice the ball wide. Two minutes later Jeffrey returned the favour for Sean flicking on to put Sean through on goal to bag his first with a neat finish over the advancing keeper. Sean screamed in glee as the ball nestled in the back of the net shouting “I’m back” as he ran away in celebration, his new boots sparkling in the morning sunshine. Excelsior began to find their feet once again, playing some intelligent football down the left and right flanks. Not so intelligent however was Scholsey’s vicious tackle on the advertising boards – tantamount to vandalism really! With the Ex men down to 10 whilst the Ginger one wiped the blue paint of his knee cap, the Cove started to find a little more space, putting the Excelsior defence on the ropes. Again most opportunities were taken from distance without Ross having to make a save. With Scholsey back on the pitch Excelsior picked up the pace once more and Fiss slid Scholsey in down the left and an inch perfect ball between goalkeeper and defenders found Sean who converted for his second, 6-1. With only minute’s remaining Sean found himself clean through again but this time his effort was stopped by a good save from the Cove’s keeper. The Cove’s resolve had been broken leading to an assault on Steve Mercer. A bad tackle from behind followed by an attempted throttle – the defender was booked and then subbed - The Rat had his man! The referee blew for the final whistle and the game ended 6-1.

MOM was an extremely difficult task to pick, but for me it was probably Wazza. Sounds like a copout but another three goals and all of them expertly taken gave the rest of the team the confidence to settle down and do their stuff.

Shouts of the day include: -

1) Frenchman Cove’s Defender: “ Will somebody smash that number 6”
Scholsey: “Why, can’t you do it yourself?”

2) Sean: “I’m back” – following his first goal of the game.

3) Andy Mck (Following Scholsey kicking the advertising boards): “Did anyone see that fat ginger lad kick the advertising boards?”

4) Various member of the Frenchman Cove Crowd Directed at Steve Mercer, following a fracas with a Cove defender: “Get up Max Branning”

5) Screams at various points during the game from the Cove when Excelsior strikers shot after the ref had blown for dubious offside flagging: “THEY’VE DONE IT AGAIN REF”

6) and Mercer’s retort: “Yeh, that’s why you’re losing 6-1, cause we keep kicking the ball way!”

7) The ref to Frenchman’s Cove after the game (following a load of abuse off them): “ You lot can’t play football for shit!”

And finally, the ratings…..

Ross – dealt with most things well, could’ve used his hands more – 7.

Dezzy Warrel – Defended well, couple of mistimed clearances and a loose header, unusual for Dez but solid nonetheless – 6.

Neil – Got into a good position for his goal, with a neat finish and defended well – 7.

Nico – Read the game well and distributed the ball well – 7

Mercer – Ste up a couple of goals and kept the football ticking nicely in midfield – 8

Jeffrey – Worked hard in defence won a lot in the air down the line and could have scored – 7.

Fiss – Worked hard as ever, kept the ball moving well and didn’t lose a tackle – 8

George – Didn’t lose a header all game, distributed well around the pitch - 7

Andy Willacy – Worked hard all game won plenty of headers and unluck not to be on the scoresheet (twice) – 7

Kraig Warrell – Expertly taken hattrick, not too much aside from that – 8

Sean Lonsdale – Proved himself with two neatly taken goals in 30 mins.

Scholsey – Played well when introduced, superb ball for Sean’s second goal.

Hopesy – Good solid performance, strong on the ball and instigated some good passages of play

Andy Mckenzie