v Kenley (H) 22 November 2008

So how many would it be this week: 7, 8, 9 - or ... yikes! Well read on, and you just might be a bit surprised.  Not for the first time this season, it looked good on paper: 7 or 8 regular Bulldogs to be bolstered by the comforting presence of Jiji, Tom G, Kram and Harminder. And with 3 of our young tyros all yapping for their chance to be our junior rolling sub on a freezing afternoon, there was no lack of optimism.

To begin with , it looked ok. Yes, we creaked a bit now and then at the back (...force of habit?) but, hey - those horrible mis-hits and unlucky deflections and other misdemeanours in our D didn't happen. And before we knew it, we started to look a bit useful ourselves. Jiji was, well, Jiji, while Tom G and Harminder brought the best out of Peter and Satbir in a refreshingly robust midfield. Ian G and Kram made thorough nuisances of themselves up front and, at the back, Nigel and Mike T at last got the chance to remind everyone - including themselves - just how good they are when they're given reasonable support around them.  And behind all that, the GMB was in one of his cussed, muttering to himself, goalframe tapping, 'Blimey! What's he doing there? Don't ask - just let him get on with it' moods. So far, so good - but could we do the unthinkable, from an unusually promising position of:

HALF TIME: 'Dogs 0 Kenley 0

A keenly contested first half gave way to an even more keenly contested second half. Both sides showed plenty of ambition up front, but both defences and goalkeepers were getting their angles and interceptions right. All our 1st half performers, bolstered by canny cameos (don't push it - you're almost readable so far this week - Ed) from our rolling young trio of Richards C and S, and David, kept up the good work. Then, another wicked aerial bomb from Jiji fell dangerously in their 'D' and Ian got a bit of it, to Kram and - bing bang bosh! - 1-0 'Dogs! Kenley were too good to take this lying down and back they came at us. The GMB, by contrast, decided more than once to take it lying down as the ball hit him. But we threatened to bag a 2nd on more than 1 occasion and hey, this was exciting end to end stuff. Then - talk about vintage brandy at the end of a banquet - Paul Mangat came on for someone or other for the last few minutes. Kenley huffed and puffed from all sorts of angles but our kennel would not be blown down today.

FULL TIME: 'Dogs 1 Kenley 0    

How about that! After weeks of misery where, for want of 2 or 3 extra players of quality, we had been routinely and regularly hammered, we showed that, we could play, after all. Make no mistake, this was indeed the regular 'Dogs, bolstered by some more than handy players, not a completely different side. Kenley were - as ever - a very good side and must have been pig sick to lose this one.  Great company afterwards, too - thanks and see you at your place early next year, guys.

WINSTON OF THE WEEK: can't possibly pick out any one individual from a such a good all round team performance, so the winner was ... NPL Bulldogs! (...and doesn't that sound good?)