MATCH REPORT - MERDEUX ON THE MELCHESTER EXPRESS

Merdeux 0 - Melchester Rovers 5


"The Cat's" eye view of the Rovers in action

Melchester Rovers extended their run of away victories last night as Petr "the Cat" Krupicek kept a clean sheet while the front line ran wild.

Rovers set out their stall early, when directly from the kick off top scorer Colin Kimbrell shot just wide from the centre spot. Having gone two games without scoring, New Orleans' most talented soccerguy was keen to find the net, and after a jittery start soon put the reds ahead with a mazy run leading to a shot in his favourite top 90. However, for much of the remainder of the first half the score remained at 1-0, as the trauma of the last two games seemed to discourage the Rovers from playing their usual free-flowing game.


No wonder the opposition were scared

Eventually scorer turned provider, as Kimbrell went on another run before laying on Veggard for an easy tap in. It was the 2nd half, however, which provided Melchester with a new goal hero as James Pagliaro, in only his 2nd game in the famous red and gold stripes, pounced on a poor clearance by Merdeux to sidefoot home the 3rd goal of the evening. Now brimming with confidence, "The Pagster" linked up with Christian Zschzachzch from a throw to head home his 2nd.



Midfield General Matt Smith negotiates a wet patch, not for the first time in his illustrious career

At the other end, a watertight defence, superb goalkeeping and a couple of horrendous misses by les bleus d'merde ensured complete shut out, and it was hard not to feel some pity for the plucky losers when Veggard completed his brace with a fierce low shot in the closing overs to take Rovers to mid table, but put Merdeux bottom.

After tearing up what appeared to be a job application for McDonald's, a delighted Roy Race enthused, "This is just the result Rovers needed. The narrow pitch, and the walls around the ground, meant we didn't have to run very far to get the ball, which perfectly suited our style of play. Oh, and the fact that Merdeux were rubbish."

Bizarrely, Roy Race opted to watch the game muzzled and hidden in a barbed wire cage

Rovers face another rubbish team (Palermo, played 4, lost 4) at the weekend, well aware that these are the kind of games they must win in order to avoid being the best team at being rubbish in Div 2.

'Mon the hoops!