This game  was  originally an away fixture for Red Star but switched way back in September when the bowling green turf  of Cribbs was unavailable . The relentless heavy rain over the past 2 weeks put the game in doubt again but as other fixtures started to get cancelled due to waterlogged pitches the Saltford groundsman worked his magic again and the game kicked off without any problems.
After the first 10 mins the crowd of  4 could see  there wasn’t much between the 2 teams. Red Star eventually started to get on top , with some nice play down the wings and had the better of the chances ,one of which was put away by last year’s Golden Boot winner Draner.
1 0 to Red Star at half time .
Red Star had the luxury of bringing on 4 pairs of fresh legs from the bench  for the start of the second half but it took a while for the new formation to adapt and this allowed  Cribbs to come back into the game  causing some problems and eventually their pressure paid off and they levelled the score . Red Star kept pressing  and  eventually this year’s Golden boot  contender Wajid and one of  the managers half time changes got on the end of a  ball from Neil to score in the corner .
Time to shut up shop for the last 15 minutes and take off a striker  and bring back on Simon to bolster the midfield . Unfortunately Simon had decided he was going for an early shower despite being told he would come back on (not for the first time). Luckily Gareth was on the bench to fulfil this role and Red Star saw the game out .
It was a competitive game played in the right way . Great communication from the Cribbs manager Dave  b4 the game  and the Ref was brilliant  . 4 games 4 wins
Wick away next – aaaaaaaagh

This fixture  looked in doubt from early on .Swift were struggling to raise a team, but fair play to Swifts manager Rich  who himself wasn’t available ,stuck at it and a couple of weeks of recruitment managed to get 14 players . The next issue was would the Saltford pitch hold up under a week of torrential rain . A big shout out to Saltford’s groundsman as the pitch was  really good considering .
The game kicked of without rain but with ominous black clouds in the distance .
Red Star started the brighter ,probably as many of Swifts players were still getting to know each other. Red Star pressure led to their first corner which was met by the head of right back Al ,scoring his first goal for the 45’s . 10 mins later a lovely probing run from midfielder Jon was ended when he was brought down in the box – no arguments from Swift as the  penalty was awarded . Jon converted his own pen from the spot .

2 : 0  at Half time . The second half started and Swift seemed like a different team and were putting Red Star under more pressure .Then the black clouds reached Saltford and the heavens opened . The rain was relentless as was Waj , a half time substitute ,who’s shoot on site tactic paid dividends and managed a brace by the time the final whistle blew. .Between Waj’s goals was a goal by Swift to make the score 3 : 1 ,. the goal it was a thing of beauty . A perfectly waited  shot from outside the box- bent into the top left corner of the Red Star net.

Everybody was drenched by now and  pleased the game was over and headed to the hot showers and the bar.
The game was played in the right spirit and fair play to Swift for getting a team together and the game on in the first place. . Good luck to Swift for the rest of the season .

The first game of the new season was probably the most Corinthian game we’ve played in a long time. When I thanked the ref at the end of the game he said “what for, I didn’t do anything, I only remember blowing for one foul “. Even before the game the communication with Bury Vets was good to the point where they even sent me their team sheet with all the players ages on. I’ve never seen that before, but I really like this idea.  Bury are new to the league this season and played the game in exactly the spirit the league is looking for. Both teams were very gracious in stopping play if a player was injured and very honest if the ref or lino had made the wrong decision in their favour.

Both teams were missing a lot of players but after 10 mins it looked like two evenly matched sides. Bury took an early lead but Red Star managed to get an equaliser and then go ahead. Bury came back again with an equaliser. Red Star hit the post and bar and Burys keeper made several good saves. With most of the play now in Burys half and with Red Star missing lots of chances, against the run of play Bury went down the other end and scored to go 3 2 up. It seemed every time they shot, they scored whereas we needed 6 chances for every goal.

Bury started to tire and picked up several injuries, I think they even had to reuse an injured sub, so it was no surprise that Red Star started to take control of the game and scored a third then a fourth. With 30 mins to go Red Stars manager bought on a fresh striker to effectively make a front 4, this was too much for Burys tired defence and Waj the fresh striker scored the 5th with lovely chip. The 6^th and final goal came after some great backing up from the right back Toby (first goal in forever).

A Hattrick for Gareth ,1 for Drakey, Waj and Toby.

Great game played in the right way – Thanks to Bury Vets – good luck for the rest of the season.