pressed and were forced into some last ditch tackles. They were ably aided by strong running from Louis and hard work from Jack, who adapted well to an unfamiliar position on the left had side of the midfield. Makade was once again an inspiration in midfield and indeed it was he who found debutant Lewis with a fine through ball, putting Lewis in on goal, only for the keeper to pull off a point blank save.

0-0 at half time then and all to play for. Vernon were first out of the traps and after a period of sustained pressure, Jake once again pulled off a good save, bravely pouncing on the rebound before the striker could move in. As the half wore on, the Whites began to tire, which was hardly surprising since three of them had spent all morning at the city boys trials, and gaps began to appear in the defence. The deadlock was finally broken when the elusive Vernon forward sneaked in on the blind side and headed the opener from a corner. The Whites were finding themselves increasingly penned back into their own half and it was only a matter of time before Vernon increased their lead with another good goal by the rampaging Vernon centre forward.

The Clifton boys showed great courage and a never say die attitude as they stormed up the pitch and came close to pulling one back. Just when it looked as if all was not lost, Vernon scored their 3rd goal from a corner with a set play that! was virtually identical to the first goal. The defence were sure that they had the, forward covered this time, but once again he got away from his markers and coolly headed home from close range. Dylan came on and shook things up a bit and there was just enough time for Jake to make another good save and for Jack to hit the side netting and it was all over. I have to say that Vernon are a very good team, strong, committed and well organised.

They passed the ball well and have a centre forward who virtually guarantees them goals. However, for long periods of the match we were equal in most areas and I do not think that 3-0 is a true reflection of game. We were naive from a couple of set pieces and this is something that we must work on. These are the kind of matches we will learn from and hopefully this will stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.

Although the boys were understandably disappointed at the end of the match, they were still able to hold their heads high after giving everything against a team that is sure to be in contention for the division 1 title.

Man of the match went to Jake for some outstanding saves, whilst his brother Jack picked up the special manager's award for all of his efforts out on the left hand side of the pitch. Well done to both of you

Report by Neil Frazer