In a repeat of the scoreline when the two teams met in September, Falcons defeated AFC Muswell Hill 4-2 in north London.
With a complete absence of leftbacks, Jimmy kindly stepped into defence. Phil made his first start of the season in midfield while there was a welcome return for Olu, particularly with Chris and John unavailable up front.
We were kept waiting for a referee to show up and perhaps the long wait for the match to start had an effect on our alertness as the home team made the better start and were winning most of the challenges in midfield. With 15 minutes they took the lead when a peach of a cross was headed in.
Fortunately, that goal seemed to wake us up and it wasn't too long before Paddy got Falcons on even terms. Brady's throw was flicked on by Olu and, with the ball sitting up invitingly, the midfielder smashed the ball into the net from 15 yards.
Falcons got their nose in front just after half hour mark when a swift counter attack saw Alex's throughball find Stevie bursting through the Muswell Hill defence. He made no mistake, tucking the ball away to make it 2-1.
Further chances fell our way but there was an immediate strike just after the break. This time it was Alex breaking through on goal and, although his shot was probably the scruffiest connection he had with the ball all game, it was enough to beat the goalkeeper and make it 3-1.
Falcons should have had the game wrapped up over the next 15 minutes but a series of near misses and fine goalkeeping kept the scoreline the same. Then, in a massive stroke of misfortune, Jimmy sliced a clearance and the ball spun viciously into the goal for 3-2.
Fortunately, it didn't take us too long to restore the two goal margin. Pete's free kick from the left found Paddy leaping majestically to head in the final goal of the game and wrap it up at 4-2.
This was a strong comeback which showed significant character after a poor start. Special mention must go out to the front three who linked up tremendously throughout and made it very hard for the home team to get the ball out of defence. Thanks also to Jaime and his team for another well-contested game fought out in a really good spirit.
Next Sunday we host Leftfooters in the GFSN Cup. We then take a week off before returning to league action on November 12th.
Squad: Conal, Jimmy, Brady (Matt 75), Andrew, Pete, Phil, Duncan, Paddy, Alex, Stevie (Ben 80), Olu
Scorers: Paddy (25, 75), Stevie (35), Alex (47)