Falcons came back from an early setback away to East Phoenix to win 4-1 and return to the top of the London Unity League.
There was a bit of an injury crisis among the club's senior players. Ritchie and Kieran were both absent while Pete relegated himself to an unused substitute role. There was a debut for Jimmy who had impressed in training, while Chris made a welcome return from his travels up front.
The team started well with some early attacking threat but there was a momentary mix-up at the back which allowed the Phoenix striker time to shoot past Conal to give the hosts the lead on 15 minutes.
That scoreline could have been doubled had Conal not come off his line well and the importance of that save was heightened when Olu broke in from the left and hit a shot with the outside of his foot that fooled the keeper and sneaked in at the near post.
There were good chances for both teams throughout the rest of the half. The Phoenix keeper made terrific saves to keep Olu and Alex at bay. At the other end, Phoenix saw a goal ruled out for offside and a terrific cross and header hit the top of the bar.
Half-time, 1-1 and a fair scoreline on the play so far.
Elliot and Stevie came on for the second half with instructions to get the ball forward quicker and the team duly obliged, blitzing the home side over the first 15 minutes. Jimmy was rewarded for an energetic performance by ghosting in late to the box from a long throw and drilling in a low shot from 15 yards to put us into the lead for the first time.
Ten minutes later, the lead was doubled with a lovely goal. Alex whipped in a low cross from the right and Olu, who had just been denied, smashed in a shot with his right foot to make it 3-1.
The remainder of the game was reasonably comfortable with Brady, John and Alex putting in a dominant display in centre midfield that kept the opposition at bay. At the other end, Olu just failed to get his second hat trick in a month, firing wide after doing all the hard work, while Jimmy saw his header ruled out for offside. However, Alex wrapped things up with 5 minutes to go with the best goal of the game, curling a lovely effort into the top corner from the edge of the area.
Final score 4-1 and an accomplished performance that showed both determination and intelligence to come back from a rocky start.
Squad: Conal, Jack (Elliot 45), Paddy, Andrew, Jimmy, Olu, John, Brady, Alex, Chris, Francesco (Stevie 45)
Unused: Pete
Scorers: Olu (25, 60), Jimmy (50), Alex (85)
Subs: Stevie, Paddy, Ritchie
Scorers: Olu (15, 30, 70)