Monks 3 - 2 chelseaarsenal (390121779)

Due to an all-day shower, 2282 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Monks XI Arena. Sergio Legobien was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jorge Basso and Nicolas Sarver. Monks had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Lamb - Knights, Vaughan, O'Bryan, Nedwell - Owens, Cumberland, Wardle, Reid - Tang, Keats.

chelseaarsenal started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Butt - Jamison, Tycoon, Talak, Reid - Currie, Bould, Healey, Holton - Carney, Worrall.

S. Nedwell seemed highly inexperienced when, after 10 minutes, he was caught dilly-dallying with the ball and allowed B. Currie to intercept and strike home the goal for chelseaarsenal to make the score 0 - 1. R. Vaughan didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Monks, but J. Knights's shot went over the bar. J. Keats made a superb strike after 26 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. The crowd was on its feet 31 minutes into the match, as Monks's S. Nedwell found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a dash up the left side. He calmly put away the 1 - 1 equaliser. The referee showed Monks's E. Wardle the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. L. Carney had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave T. Reid from chelseaarsenal a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 36 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to B. Owens, but the Monks player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 2 - 1! chelseaarsenal's I. Worrall was shown a yellow card after 39 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, S. Nedwell of Monks spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. 42 minutes in, Monks's B. Cumberland received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. In a fantastic display of determination, chelseaarsenal's M. Tycoon forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. It was 2 - 1 at the break. Monks claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

With 58 minutes played, Monks's R. Vaughan almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. The visiting team's B. Currie was able to score the 2 - 2 equaliser with a header 69 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right. Monks fans held their breath as D. Tang scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2! After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, F. Bould got himself booked. The manager of chelseaarsenal was not happy. Monks had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

D. Tang performed admirably for Monks. B. Lamb on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating chelseaarsenal player was without a doubt I. Worrall. However, R. Butt made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 2.