Purley (H): 23 February 2008

Now then, listen carefully, because it gets a bit complicated this week. We were a bit short of players, right? But then Desperados had their game cancelled and a few players available. But then we found out 1 or 2 occasional 'Dogs wanted back in the kennel too and - well, goodness me, suddenly we had an embarrassment of riches. The spectre of that rarest of rare Bulldog tactics - the rolling substitute - even threatened to raise its unfamiliar head, until fatigue and minor tweaks ... but I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

So a promising looking CombiBulldogs XI started with high hopes against perennially strong opponents from Purley. Not surprisingly, we took a bit of time to settle, especially at the back. GBB made two separate quickfire treble saves which no-one in an orange shirt seemed to notice, then a nifty one-on-one job when their forward looked odds on to score, this time drawing admiring cries of "Get up, you lazy *******" from his defenders. Huh, there's gratitude for you. But then we got up the other end and, bang, boom and hey presto - suddenly it was London bus time. Having waited over 3 games for a Bulldog goal, Rajan scored a beauty, Max added a second and then, dang me, with all the passengers already safely on the earlier buses (enough with the public transport imagery, thanks, I'm lost - Ed), Rajan added yet another. HALF TIME: BULLDOGS 3 PURLEY 0

Could we keep it going? The half time Bulldog faces - part disbelief, part knackered - suggested troubled times ahead. But with Neil, Rajan and Max playing so well up front, surely we had more goals in us. First, however, our defence would need to continue to do its stuff. At various times throughout the game we played 4 different pairs of fullbacks - combinations of Nigel, Colin, Martin L and Paul Bussetti. And didn't they all play well? But even so, Purley pulled one back with a well-struck shot from the top of the 'D'. But then Rajan eased our nerves with his 3rd sweet finish of the day, only for Purley to get another smart goal to peg us back to a nervy 2 goals clear. The tension rose: our capacity crowd of 9 (Paul Mangat, one other person I didn't quite recognise, 5 noisy parakeets and 2 unimpressed pigeons) could scarcely stifle their yawns. Rupert, Kevin G, Peter and James (fresh from the neighbouring football - don't ask) were towers of strength in midfield and, little by little, the time ticked away safely. Purley simply couldn't break through again. FULL TIME: BULLDOGS 4 PURLEY 2

Oh frabjous joy! A Bulldog win at last! Huge thanks to the Guestperados who gave everything for us to such good effect - Colin, Kevin, Martin, Neil A and Rupert: take a bow, boys. And well done Rajan for proving that a being a Bulldog is indeed not just for (before) Christmas: always great to have you with us; and to Paul B for another fine cameo appearance.

As for Purley - top blokes as ever and thanks for another good game - how nice it feels to beat you, for once. I've just Googled 'famous residents and Purley', so now conclude confidently: Bernard Ingram (formerly of 10 Downing Street), Francis Rossi (...are Status Quo still going?), Dot Cotton, Derren Brown, 'Terry and June' - your boys took one helluva beating!

Winston of the Week: keep up, dammit - the boy scored a hat trick, for goodness' sake. Well done again, Rajan.