On the 2nd Saturday of 2019, the purples went West.

It was Chiswick R**** Football club and Old Meadonians, who were to have the privilege of hosting the OTFC 1’s on this windy afternoon. The Tiffs, still sore from their beating at the hands of Stephen Goodings (South Bank Cuaco’s MOTM); were ready to truly kick-start their 2019 campaign.

Some welcome changes to the side from last week, brought some much-needed belief and motivation for the game ahead. Ben Lamble, back from his Christmas hangover, would solidify the left side of the defence, whilst also providing an exciting attacking option out wide. Promoted Kieran Olives Whitaker would bring pace, technical prowess and some much-needed entrepreneurial ability to the Tiffs side. And finally, James Kimber.

Following an intense warm up of no-look passes, skewed shots and nursing Pryzm hangovers, OTFC I’s were ready. The game started slowly, with both sides managing to string together the occasional pass or two. However, it was ‘the good guys’ who broke the deadlock. Dave Bettis running onto a flick on, found himself one-on-one with the Meadonians centre back. A sublime piece of trickery, cutting in then out, gave him space to poke the ball into the back of the net. 1-0. The rest of the first half was relatively quiet, with the exception of occasional high-pitched shrieks from a wounded Rory Sadler.

The second half was a different game of football. Tiffs pushed higher up the pitch and started playing the total football that is not associated with OTFC. Playing out confidently from the back, with Forsyth, Peake and Hucks dropping into pockets of space in the midfield to pick up the ball and distribute it into the channels, allowed OTFC I’s to stretch the opposition defence. On the right, Bostelmann and Sadler continued to force the Meadonians left side, with Rory managing to get in consistently. On the left, interplay between Lamble and Kimber made space for Bettis and Hutcheson to run in behind. This opened up the pitch, and the goals just kept on coming.

Hutcheson scored a volley, Bettis scored a tap in, Owusu-Adu missed a one on one, Owusu-Adu scored a header from the resulting corner, Bettis scored a one on one and Jordan accidentally shinned the ball into the back of the net. 6-0 was the final score, Bettis with a hattrick and Owusu-Adu with a brace. An emphatic win. The first of many in 2019.

Mentions go to Ollie Robini for surviving another game of football on a hangover, Seb Rose for some good kicking, Tim Robini for his support and ball retrieving abilities, and last but not least, Dave Bettis for his magnificent hattrick. MOTM was of course an obvious pick, congratulations Dave Bettis Rory Sadler for another great all-round display of RWB football!