Team: Adams, Yearsley, Egerod, Brady (sub: Anderson), Griffiths, Villé, Hussain, Rice (sub: Fee), McGivern, Abramovic, Magaud

Maybe they just love Fatboys but the 1s were all at the meeting point in fine time. Everyone appeared fresh and raring to go – apart from Guy Fee that is, who hadn’t slept in two weeks, thanks to some nifty box work some nine months previous – determined to bounce straight back up to division one.

Auderghem had just arrived in the division from the other direction. On paper the 1s had to be favourites, and started confidently. Simon ‘prodigal’ Yearsley, recently returned from exile in remote Everberg, stole some early possession in midfield and fed Griffiths, who forced a corner. Two or three more followed.

Then the 1s joined Fee in slumber. The captain – expecting number three himself - hoped it might just be a power kip but unfortunately it lasted. Auderghem kept feeding the ball through the channels and although they weren’t creating any really clear cut chances there was a feeling that the pressure would eventually tell. RBB just could not keep hold of the ball, attempting over-ambitious long balls when they should have been calming the game down.

On their rare forays into opposition territory the forwards looked capable of producing something. Villé, who Yearsley somehow managed to persuade to elope from Everberg with him, was a danger. He smacked the bar from 30 yards with a free kick. The captain got goosebumps.

The shrill sound of the half time whistle was a relief to everyone – except for Fee who was desperate to stay out of the house for as long as possible. Adams elected not to make any changes but made his point. The 1s were not playing to the best of their ability. The failure was collective and if everybody could lift their game by 10 or 15% in the second half, if we could put our feet on the ball a little more regularly, the game was there for the taking.

How right he was. From the whistle the team shifted up a gear. Hussain, who funnily enough owns an automatic, began to see a lot of the ball with space in front of him, as Magaud, va va voom (well he is French), pulled their defenders away. Increasingly wary of the danger being posed down the left, Auderghem began to leave gaps. When the ball was switched infield Villé was in. He took the ball to the edge of the area, pulled the trigger, and with the help of a slight deflection, buried the ball low in the bottom right hand corner.

One nil up the captain decided to play it safe. He beefed up midfield with Griffiths, in Rice’s stead, and the attack with Fee. With the heavyweights on board, it seemed that defence was the best form of attack. The game was increasingly played in RBB’s half, but every time the 1s broke they looked like scoring. Fee was linking well McGivern, who rounded the keeper only to have his shot cleared off the line. AG hooted with derision on the sideline.

Brady had put in a commanding display at right-back, but when his legs began to disobey very simple orders he gave way to Anderson. A.A, a student by trade, quickly combined well with McGivern down the increasingly dangerous right, urged on by Maukisch who was prowling the touchline like a Colombian at harvest time.

For the last few minutes Auderghem began pumping ball forward. It was meat and drink to Egerod and Abramovic, both quickly becoming fluent in each others incomprehensible languages.

At the final whistle the 1s could justifiably say that they deserved it. Ville merited and got man of the match, just ahead of Hussain. As the chants of ‘top top top of the league’ rang out, it was clear that the second half performance was the one that will have to be repeated.

MOM Gaëtan Villé