Reserves smash 9 for 2nd time in 4 days

The Mikes got their defence of the Smedley Crooke Cup off to an emphatic start, enjoying their second nine-goal romp in four days. Following the rout of second placed Oadby Town in Saturday's league fixture, this time Droitwich Spa of Midland Comb Division 1 were on the receiving end of another rampant display.

To their credit, the visitors kept playing football throughout the 90 minutes and the game was played in an excellent spirit. In truth, they were no match for the Mikes in this rich vein of form, and only some dogged defending and some excellent goalkeeping kept the score in single figures.

The Mikes front pairing of Tom Law and Johaine Thompson again helped themselves to five goals between them, causing mayhem in the visiting defence. This time Thompson claimed the hat trick, with Law registering a brace before being substituted.

Simeon Tulloch and Andre Gonzales both scored for the second match running, while substitute Darrell Francis notched two headers from set plays. With the score at 8-0, Andre Gonzales saw his penalty saved.

The only disappointment on the night was a nasty injury to Richard Dunleavy, who landed awkwardly challenging for an attacking set piece. He looks to have torn his ankle ligaments and faces a number of weeks on the sidelines.

Rob Clarke commented "to score 18 goals and none against in four days is unbelievable. The game was won again by half time, so the danger was that we could have lost our shape as we chased goals, which is where bad habits can start. This didn't happen, and we kept moving the ball around nicely. The strikers are also on fire, and look like scoring with every touch at the moment. It would have been nice to get double figures, but as a fully paid up member of the goalkeeper's union, their lad didn't deserve that. It's hard to begrudge him his penalty save after a the performance he put in. The only downside was Rich's injury. He was knocking hard on the first team door, so this is a big blow for him. At least with Jim Walker to oversee his rehab, he's in the best possible hands".

Fellow joint manager Mick Hawkins added "tonight was a first for me. Over more than five years in this job, I cannot ever remember naming an unchanged starting line up before! After Saturday's marvellous performance, they deserved to keep the shirts."

The Mikes are back in home league action on Saturday, when they entertain Banbury United Reserves (3.00 pm)