I am firmly of the belief that 9am kick-offs should be illegal. I was expecting a shoal of bleary-eyed sharks to arrive reluctantly sometime in between 8:30-9:00 so was pleasantly surprised to find a team full of sprightly teenagers, on-time and raring to go.

Once again, the Sharks started fast, scoring a couple of minutes into the game as a dangerous ball was curled towards the back post by Harry Connelly to be clinically finished by Josh Smith who somehow got on the end of the cross within a crowd of defenders. The Albury intensity continued down both flanks, with a second goal coming quickly as Daniel Stovald supplied Ben Gregory to finish.

Ben Gregory, Daniel McGraw and Noah Davies were completely dominating the midfield and the Albury attack was incessant. It wasn't long before Luciano Gouveia assisted Josh Smith for his second of the game.

Centre back, Greg Walker was inches away from heading home a corner, but a fourth Albury goal threatened to turn the game into a complete riot, as substitute Daniel Egbe showed excellent power and agility to run onto a penetrative pass from Daniel Mcgraw and fend off defenders to finish past the goalkeeper.

Grayshott had very little possession in the first half and rarely threatened Dexter's goal, marshalled superbly by Harry Connelly, Gabe Fitzgerald, Greg Walker, Monty Byrne and Ali Jennis. With Ben and Daniel sitting infront of the defence, this was was barely penetrable and Dexter had little to do other than collect over hit through balls and gather long range shots.

Daniel Egbe somehow managed to hit both posts with a single shot and Will Parris had a shot blocked at the near-post, but a fifth Albury goal was nabbed by Luciano Gouveia to finish a completely dominant half of football.

Half time
Grayshott 0-5 Albury

The Sharks started the second half as superbly as they ended the first. Captain Ben Gregory curled an absolutely delightful ball through the Grayshott defence to find Daniel Egbe who fired home. Keen to challenge the players, we started switching positions and making frequent substitutions. It is really important that we find ways of helping our players become more complete players, however, on this occasion it did disrupt the Albury flow significantly and unsettled the team somewhat. A quick counter attack from an Albury corner allowed Grayshott to grab a goal, and only good defending from Ali Jennis and Monty Byrne and a couple of neat saves and blocks from Dexter Williams prevented them from getting more.

There were still good moments from the Sharks. Superb play from Harry Connelly, including a delicious Maradona turn, set up an attack down the left flank, allowing Will Parris and Daniel Egbe to combine well and Greg Walker and Josh teamed up well down the right flank to create a few chances. Daniel Egbe was rewarded for outmuscling a defender with a third goal, hammering the ball into the top corner to allay any fears of a Grayshott come-back. Egzy wasn't feeling 100% today but still somehow bagged a hattrick!

Will Parris got into an excellent position from which he forced a save and Josh Smith danced through the defence only to be denied by the goalkeeper. From the resulting corner, however, deja vu allowed Grayshott to score another very similar goal, something we will need to learn from.

In fact, Grayshott scored a third with the last kick of the game, giving them a slightly flattering score on a day where they were completely flattened by the sharks.

Final Score:
Grayshott 3-7 Albury

Scorers:
Josh Smith x2
Ben Gregory
Daniel Egbe x3
Luciano

Paul's MOTM: Will
Harry's MOTM: Ben Gregory and Daniel Mcgraw

Coaches reflection:
1. The Albury Sharks have outclassed all their opponents so far this season, playing a completely different brand of football. Although we weren't at our best today, there were moments of real quality. Ben Gregory, Daniel Stovald and Daniel McGraw were so confident with the ball at their feet, while Luciano Gouveia and Noah have such impeccable ball control and range of passes.

2. One of our "non-negotiables" is that Albury are first to every ball. This showed today as both Josh Smith and Luciano scored whilst being surrounded by defenders and Will Parris and Daniel Stovald kept winning headers against much taller players. This is having such an impact on the way we play as we are winning the loose ball almost every time.

3. While it is important to challenge players by playing them in unfamiliar positions, I think we tinkered too much today. The constant changes made it hard for the team to settle and adapt in the second half and i think the boys found it quite frustrating. This is something that we as coaches will need to learn from.

4. Despite steamrollering another opponent, some players weren't particularly happy with the way the team played. This is a brilliant attitude and demonstrates their elite mentality, always striving to improve.

5. Today was another example of why Ben Gregory is our Captain. He was a continuous vocal organiser and motivator of the team, positively demanding high standards and offering much needed encouragement. The whole game changes when he steps of the pitch and I would love others to start having the confidence to emulate his leadership skills so that they are visible across the pitch. At the moment, he is our talisman and I couldn't be prouder of him.

What a fantastic bunch of lads, they are almost worth being up at 6:30am on a Saturday for...