NO JUST DESSERTS THIS TIME

Shelf Panthers 4 Thornhill 11

Last year’s fixture between these two sides saw the epic Kendalls Cup clash, when Shelf pulled off a sensational victory after the management rashly instituted an incentive scheme involving vast quantities of post-match ice-cream.

What would the secret weapon be this time round? Speculation was rife when a bottle of Scotch whisky appeared amid the players’ half-time drinks, though it was claimed that this was merely a raffle prize for the parents.

With Luke and William away on international duty, both sides agreed to start with ten men and, despite playing up the slope in the first half, the Panthers went ahead after ten minutes. Robert’s perfect through-ball found Tobias powering through the centre and he swept his shot past the keeper.

A minute later, Thornhill were level. Cameron acrobatically tipped a shot against the bar but had no chance as the rebound was tucked into the empty net. The visitors – a neat passing side who quickly turned defence to attack – really cut loose after that and by half-time they were 6-1 up.

Despite conceding five more goals in the second half, Cameron put in another fine goalkeeping performance to win the Man of the Match trophy.

There were other positives too. Scott made two perfectly-timed last-ditch tackles to prevent what looked like certain goals. Tom blasted a free-kick against the bar. And Dylan took on the mantle of the absent William “On Me Head” Baker to win the Chocolate Award for the most headers.

The Panthers also had three good second-half goals to celebrate. Tobias’ second of the match, in the 49th minute followed another typical surge through the middle.

Then in the 56th minute Robert’s pace took him clear of the defence and he steered a great shot into the net. A minute later, he sprinted down the right and fired home from a tight angle.

Finally, a word for a couple of Thornhill’s more vocal spectators…

On second thoughts, we’ll leave words like that to them and politely suggest that they might like to read up on the FA’s Respect campaign.