Kensington Dragons U14B Eagles 9 v 1 Manor Youth at St Mark’s
So what did our boys have for breakfast?
Flicks and chips, passes spread far and wide, neat touches, deep crosses all bread and butter to an Eagles team beginning to feast on fifth-tier football.
And who to praise first? The lethal penetration of our hard running forwards (for one-nil) or the delicate artistry of our near-perfect 10 (taking his place in front of goal, setting up his easel, delicately preparing his brush before deciding, finally, where he’ll place the ball, for our second)? The cool, finishing for 3 and 4, or the subtle assists that split our opponent’s high back line time after time for 5 and 6 and 7?
No wonder the boys are drawing bigger support each game a vocal crew who now must think it’s like this every week. And as the game reached 8-1 (the goal against, a scruffy penalty for a crafty push) it seemed for a moment they might be right. But then a final, emphatic finish made it 9-1, and the older heads could wisely nod: it’s not like this every week you know it just gets even better.
And as the late autumn sun set over West London, we could, for the first time ever, peak out from those uneasy heights at the top of the league and those that chose to could recall days of rough justice on rougher pitches from the low foothill slopes of the Alperton Rec to the muddy banks of the North Brent Reservoir. And take pride.
With outstanding contributions from all three new signings, inspired performances to match from the rest, there’s a feeling that’s not all we can take this season. These Eagles can dare to dream.