Mongooses Cruise to 5-0 Win

Mongooses 5 - 0 Old Cranleighans OC Warriors

This was a very entertaining and dare I say even at times festive performance from the Mongooses, resulting in a comfortable win against local friends / rivals Old Cranleighans, on their pacey new(ish) pitch.

Half an hour before pushback we were contemplating defensive chaos, with our star keeper Fynn T running late from a previous game and we faced the prospect of a first half with an open goal. We were saved by Lee Creaser, who happened to be on the sidelines in a parental spectating capacity, and who by good luck had his kit in the car and was available for the first half – much appreciated. OCs were on board with our plan to switch when Fynn arrived and in the end all worked out well at the back.

Meanwhile, there was plenty happening up front. We welcomed back Dirk Smeed, who announced his comeback with a signature piece of finesse, to put us ahead from a short corner. Our other four goals each had its own individual magic… one being a real oddity (see below!). 

Dave Pinder put a first time ball away to complete a delightful four-pass move from our own half; Michael Quintana, arriving just in time from the TV studios, tucked in a great finish from quite a sharp angle; Chris Ralphs latched on to a cross-D missile to produce an unstoppable flyer; oh, and then there was the penalty flick. There wasn’t a lot of pressure on Chris R as he stepped up to take the flick, with us already 4-0 up and looking solid. Hard to describe what happened next… I think the keeper moved to rapidly his left, expecting only a split second of reaction time and went to ground; but the flick had been miscued and was crawling along the ground like a purposeful but unhurried snail finding its way home; when after what seemed an eternity the ball finally arrived at the goal-line, it was too late for the keeper to manoeuvre himself from his grounded position and he could only watch in horror as the ball trickled over the line to take us to the final score of 5-0!

Lots of good performances round the pitch this week from the Mongooses. Credit to OCs too for fielding a development side with a lot of young players who gave a good account of themselves. And the umpires for keeping the natural Mongoose exuberance under control – including SHC’s Alex McKee – many thanks.

POM: Dirk Smeed