(4-4-2)

G Dawson, Evans (Cowdery, 60), Buongiorno, Smith (Griffin, 80), P Dawson, Danieli, Newman, Johnson, Gall (del Favero, 60), Ameri, Davis

CPR dominated the game from start to finish and got their rewards, although it has to be said that the Carlos Manucci squad was severely depleted.

CPR were boosted by the debut of special guest Nico Buongiorno, who had flown in from Milan and took his place at the heart of the CPR defence. He went on to show pace, strength and skill throughout the match, and even had a hand in the best goal of the game.

Carlos Manucci started with only 10 men but were expecting two more, so CPR were determined to capitalise right from the start. They got off to a flier when Steve’s long throw caused confusion in the Manucci box, Jason’s attempted volley came back off his face (!), but Amir followed up to slam the ball home.

The early goal rattled Manucci, but they steadied themselves well and could almost have equalised through a carbon copy of CPR’s first: a long throw which was missed by everyone, but fortunately a CPR boot got there first to clear the danger.

That was about the closest that Manucci got, however, because CPR were starting to raise the tempo and were spraying the ball all over the pitch to utilise the extra space. Steve and Jason were working hard to offer support to the front two, and Simon, Andy and Amir were having lots of joy down the right flank.

The second goal came about 20 mins in, when Andy found Amir in the box. Amir turned his man and cracked in a shot which came back off the post, and Chris was following on to tap home the rebound.

At that point the spirit seemed to leave Carlos Manucci, and CPR were really gunning for it. They had another effort ruled out for a marginal offside, but the third goal came on 35 mins, and it was a cracker. Nico picked up the ball on the halfway line, ran at the Manucci back line and then chipped a crossfield pass over the defence into Andy’s path. Andy took it first-time and it looped over the keeper and into the top corner.

By half-time CPR looked home and dry, but they resolved to keep going the same way in the second half. In actual fact they started less impressively, and Manucci managed to play the ball around a little, but they were caught 10 mins into the half when Simon’s long through ball left Amir in a straight race with the big keeper. Amir just managed get his head there first to nick the ball past the keeper from 10 yards out.

CPR wer hungry for more goals, however, and it wasn’t long before anothe came. Amir got his hat-trick when he was first to another long ball and again slotted it past the onrushing keeper.

By this point it was just a question of how many CPR would score: Chris Davis hit the post after a lovely turn and shot in the box, then Andy did likewise when straight through on the keeper. The sixth goal eventually came when the ball reached Teo down the left wing. He put over a high looping cross into the penalty box, and Chris met it on the volley to crack in a terrific shot which left the keeper with no chance.

With just 5 mins remaining, Teo was rewarded for his efforts when he was put through on the edge of the box and he curled a beautiful left-footer around the keeper and into the top corner.

Final score: CPR 7 Carlos Manucci 0

Match Reporter: Garry Griffin