FC Irlande - Matchday 2

FC Irlande 5 - 0 Babylone Auderghem

We got back on track with a resounding win in our first match at our new ground. With a good-sized crowd out watching and the sun shining down we dominated Babylone for the first whistle and gained some revenge for the demoralising 1-1 draw we suffered against them last season.

I lined up in attack alongside Sean, with Adrian playing on the right for the first time and the French duo of Charles and Yann shoring up the midfield. David was back in his favoured position, and new man Ori was on the left. We quickly began creating chances, and from a corner early on Christian flicked home with his head.

Adrian had been making good runs up the right wing from the beginning, and with plenty of space he floated in a deep cross that sailed over the keeper and into the net. 2-0. Babylone's goalkeeper showed up about halfway through the match to finally give them 11 men, and while it helped stem the tide, it didn't mean much extra work for Chris in goal.

In the second half we kept the tempo high and were rewarded with an early contender for goal of the season. Eoghan, on for Ori, fed me on the left win, and I lofted a ball to the edge of the box for David, who smashed home a fantastic volley off the underside of the bar. He then claimed a tenuous assist on the fourth goal as his pressure on their centre back forced the unlucky lad to hit a hurried back pass to his keeper, which went straight past him and into the net.

Substitute Mark Cryans grabbed a fifth, smashing home from close range after Babylone failed to clear a corner. With Charles and Yann winning everything in midfield we could have scored more, but in the end five nil was a very satisfactory score line, though in failing to get on the scoresheet I had to endure endless remarks about how four people are currently ahead of me in the goal scoring charts.

FC Irlande: Chris, Enda, Christian, Alec, Yann, Charles, Adrian, Ori (Eoghan), David, Sean (Mark), Ross

Goals: Christian, Adrian, David, o.g., Mark

Man of the Match: Christian - Won everything at the back and even scored with his head, which is surprisingly rare.