By Scott Allen

To hear the celebrations from the New Arquois dressing room at the end of the game tells you something about what this victory meant to them. There's nothing like being magnanimous in victory, and New Arquois were nothing like magnanimous in victory. Normally teams want the ball more than their opponents however they wanted to kick us off the park.

Whilst it wasn't a poor performance from British United, we have played worse and won more convincingly, the start/stop whistling of the referee didn't help our play.

The game didn't start well. From the kick-off New Arquois won a throw; it was quickly taken, and with everyone still asleep, the ball bounced favourably for the home team, and New Arquois were ahead with us hardly touching the ball.

However, our response was swift. Some neat interplay in midfield and good work between Alex and Kenny (which was to be a feature of the first half) saw Kenny steal in at the back post to equalize. Things got even better a few minutes later as a brilliant ball from Kenny the right was sublimely controlled by Alex and he calmly buried the ball in the back of the net before he could be closed down. It really looked as we were going to take total control of the game but the tackling now began to focus on our legs rather than the ball. However, that didn't stop Alex from scoring a third as he chased down a clearance from the keeper and slotted the ball into the open net.

We continued to create chances for Alex and Kenny and it appeared that we would soon have a fourth. But as the half went on we began to loose control in the midfield and New Arquois came back into the game. The referee's decisions also started to get a little more bizarre as Miquel was penalised for attempting to intercept a throw-in and he seemed to think that the opposition kicking Gonzo was somehow acceptable. The tide really turned when we failed to deal with second ball from a corner. The ball came out to the edge of the area and New Arquois had the time to pick his spot in the top corner.

Half-time: New Arquois 2 - 3 BUFC

Following the half-time team talk from Lee, we came out for the 2nd half with "we cannot loose this one" ringing in our ears. However, we never really created any chances in the second half. James was booked when he complained after Gonzo was taken out again (one of the perils of talking French I guess). There was the opportunity for Josh to make the tackle of the day, which did deserve a yellow card. We never really got a hold of the game in the second half.

From another dubious free-kick the ball was played towards our box. A nine-iron from Tiger Woods couldn't have found its target better, and from the subsequent header New Arquois were level.

We tried to hang-on until full time but long balls into the box, although stoicly defended, were always a danger. With less than two minutes remaining, New Arquois broke again and James missed his last ditch tackle. However, Dave was able to block the subsequent shot and it appeared that we would hold for a draw. But it was not to be, the referee brought play back for a foul. New Arquois scored directly from the free-kick and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Final score: New Arquois 4 - 3 BUFC

MOM:
Scorers: Kenny, Alex (2)
Legs left at the end of the game: 211/2
Yellow cards: James, Josh