Unfortunately the Reds were without two of their players today. Craig & Ethan both unavailable. This led to the remaining 7 players having to modify their style of play. Teamwork & hard work was the order of the day!

Oli in goal, the tried and tested Ethan and Flynn at the back. Some changes in the midfield with Alfie on the right, Tai in the centre and Oli B on the left. Jack took up his normal striker position.

From the outset it was clear that the pitch was not in the greatest condition . The mud was clumping to the players boots and causing issues when playing passes. But it was the same for both teams.

We new that Hampton had improved since last season and we have previously drew against them earlier this season but at our full compliment and performance levels we should be able to perform really well.

The boys new we had to amend how we would play. Team work was the order of the day and ths took a little while to register with the boys. Alfie struggled a little on the right in the early parts of the game but grew into it and ended up giving one of the best performances he has ever given in a Pumas shirt, with pacey runs, tackling hard and supporting our defense at regular intervals. Well done bud.

Oliver & Tai were also tireless in the midfield. A Steller performance from Tai in the middle - he was our power today and his running with the ball was something that Hampton struggled to contend with. Oli's enthusiasm made up for any lack of experience or understanding. Some great runs forward and showed superb confidence despite being unwell in recent days - again well done bud.

Jack up front did struggle for long periods around understanding his positioning on this difficult pitch but with time grew into the game and applied real pressure to the Hampton defence culminating in Jack creating numerous chances from scratch and managing to put two of them away - well done.

Our defensive 3 - Oli, Flynn & Ethan really shone today. Flynn's through balls, corners and free kicks were delivered with great power, no mean feat in the difficult conditions today. In fact it was Flynn's angry through ball that Jack latched onto and slotted away to make the game 2-2.

Ethan's performance today epitomized the strength that runs through the core of this team. Cutting out through balls, ferocious tackling and really effective reading of the game to snuff out Hampton chances. This culminated with a match saving tackle near the end of the second period where Ethan slid in collected the ball, showed some close control and released the ball forward for the midfield to launch another attack. Great stuff!

Oli had a mixed day with some superb quality saves including a match saving stop in the last 5 mins. Unfortunately we had a moment for the Hampton second goal where an innocuous shot was about to roll straight into Oli's hands but flick off a clump of mud on the pitch which deflected the ball passed Oli's outstretched hand. Nothing he could have done about it. But a solid outing for Oliver as usual.

It was really difficult circumstances today with the pitch conditions and the missing players. I was immensely proud of the fabulous team performance that the Reds put in today. The work we have done in training on passing & teamwork came out in droves today. If I am honest I would say that the game could have been a 10-5 scoreline to us which is testament to the amount of really good chance we created today in spite of everything.

So although the result didn't go exactly the way we wanted I have to say that I was really pleased with the effort and desire the boys put into today's game - well doen to all - Go PUMAS!!!