Blues Cruise

An avalanche of goals including an audacious long range effort from goalkeeper Weaver got City's regular season off to the best possible start. Unlike the US national budget, their goal difference is firmly back in the black as they convincingly disposed of their opponents who had much fewer Y chromosomes than last week's rivals by a score of 4-22.

The ease with which Demarchi dispatched the first goal of the match was an ominous sign of things to come for the folks in white, although they put in a creditable performance to half time, the 3-6 score line accurately reflecting what had been a relatively close contest.

New recruit Zac Hirt certainly hurt the likelihood of City's opponents adding to their total, parrying the shots the whites could muster. Mike Weaver took up the goalkeeping challenge in the second half and provided an added dimension to the position, scoring a magnificent goal. Collecting the ball in his own area, he dribbled several players to beyond halfway and, ignoring the errant assertions of his bench that the goalkeeper is not allowed beyond the centre line took a few more steps before lashing a low drive into the far corner. As referee Finlay asserted: "the goal keeper can do whatever he jolly well likes", putting Jackson firmly in his place.

Laura scored a nice pair of children's boots at Rebel Sport during the week and used them to come to grips with her lack of traction. Unfortunately, the opposing goalkeeper couldn't come to grips with any of her shots on goal as Laura contributed amply to the inflated score board. The blues' other debutant in Punton began in style, taking advantage of the space created by Demarchi's ability to draw defenders and positioning herself well to fire home two well taken goals within the first ten minutes. She was typically modest afterwards, offering the formula "all you have to do is get in the right spot and it rebounds in off you" as the reason behind her success.

Karlee Robin also opened her scoring account and once it was open, deposited several goals therein. "My finishing was a bit off tonight" she said, sending a veiled warning to future opponents. After being about as accurate as Buddy Franklin for the first five minutes, Demarchi got into his stride, delighting the crowd with sublime foot skills and walking countless goals home. A late highlight was an effortless flick and shot on the turn which thundered past the hapless and by this stage disinterested keeper, although when he saw the highlights Gianluigi Buffon was heard to mutter that "even I would have had trouble with that one".

Rumours that Mike is going to Rebel against the slippery surface are gaining strength as he was seen casting a discerning eye over his teammate's footwear. If he can dribble an entire team and score from halfway in old cross trainers, he will be a formidable force when fitted with fairly frictional footwear.

All in all, a comfortable evening for the people who wear blue, who no doubt face sterner tests in the future.