The Cowboys clearly wanted to stake a claim on this new season, but the Red Star manager claimed to have smelled cup silver in these Lockleaze hills and he wasn’t to be disappointed.

Red Star started with a 7 pass sequence that eclipsed all of last years stats in an instant. Things were looking promising and they continued to impress with everything but finishing. The gaffer rolled his dice around the half hour mark, putting Alex up front after a five decade wait. He repaid the gamble with a cool finish under pressure.

1-0 at half time and with energy levels needing careful management, Red Star elected to circle the wagons and defend their precious lead. When Waj added a second after a tidy cut back by Alex it looked like they’d made it to the promised land of the next round, but when the Cowboys pulled one back with 5 minutes to go things were briefly on a knife edge. This was soon blunted though when a clear penalty was missed by the otherwise solid ref and confusion and disbelief brought the game to a standstill. The ball (technically still in play) rolled lazily round the 6 yard box until a Red Star player tidied it away into the back of the net. It is of enormous credit to the Cowboys that they swiftly and unilaterally agreed that a goal should be given. That effectively was the end of the contest and a merciful final whistle confirmed the result soon after.

Excellent performance from Red Star, solid in all departments and optimism high for the season ahead. Fantastic to be back playing on a very good pitch in a well fought footballing contest.