Manorbier continued their post-Christmas resurgence with a thumping win at home against Pembroke Borough, with an awe-inspiring display of total football and another clinical performance by their forward line.
The conditions for Manorbier's home game last week were in stark contrast to those that met them at Herbrandston.
A smooth, recently rolled pitch, a light breeze, and just enough cloud cover to take the glare from the winter sun. Perfect. Manorbier thus knew that they would be able to roll out their special brand of pass-and-move-and-finish, and the capacity crowd was treated to some scintillating play over the course of 90 dominant minutes.
Manorbier now have a pre-match warm-up routine that doesn't simply involve standing around and belting the ball at the 'keeper from 25 yards, and were consequently fired up and fizzing when the whistle blew for kick-off. Neat one-twos, crisp triangles, give-and-go... the training ground discipline was paying off on the pitch, and Boro found themselves chasing the long shadows cast by the falling sun as Manorbier clipped the ball around the park.
But for all the pretty triangles, Manorbier were unable to stick one in the old onion bag. So dominant were Manorbier, that they were playing as though they somehow expected the game to win itself. No-one was able to apply the finishing touch to all the good play, or the final ball was careless or the wrong option was taken on several occasions. It was only when Ricky 'the Rage' (who actually seems to have calmed down a bit these days) burst through to put Manorbier 1-0, then shortly after 2-0 up, that the scoreline started to reflect the pattern of play.
The second half promised to be one-way traffic to Boshville for Boro, and so it proved as Ben Hall showed why Manorbier paid a full £25 to sign him in the January transfer window. Excellent movement, great touch and calm finishing saw him bag a hat-trick which would have had Lionel Messi drooling.
The only low point during the second half was when Mike Brown perfectly flicked a cross into the top corner of his own net. It is suspected that too many hours on the Playstation may have weakened his wrists. He did, however, commit to do some strengthening work on them during the week.
Final score 5-1 to Manorbier.
The game, however, finished on a low note following a clash on the edge of the Boro box which left one of Pembroke's players with a suspected broken leg. All the Manorbier boys wish him a speedy recovery.