TEAM: Kris - Dex, Nils, James - Kevin, Richard, Hodgy, Steve, Sylvain - Daniel, Michele

SUBS: Dries, Jean, Shinichi

RBB travelled southeast to face Tourinnois FC on their home ground, with all signs aligned for a tough and even game. Last seasons' away encounters against Tourinnois had been tight and physical battles on their rather small grass pitch, narrow as a St. Gilles pavement. Also, the opponents were ahead of RBB in the table, with the same number of points but a better goal difference.

Perhaps inspired by the surprisingly smoothly taken pre-game team photo (where even James managed to look into the camera), RBB started the game energetically by winning most of the one-on-ones. A couple of promising through balls were called off for offside, until Michele managed to stay onside following a perfectly timed pass from Kevin. With plenty of time, Michele showed his usual composure and placed the ball past the keeper with Italian elegance, 1–0.

RBB did not unwind after the first goal but kept pressing the ball into the home side's part of the pitch. A well-taken free kick from the left found Nils by the back post – the keeper managed to get his hands on the shot only for the ball to be reflected to Sylvain near the goal line. Easy finish into the empty net and 2–0 for RBB.

With RBB pressing higher than usual and keeping the midfield spaces shut, Tourinnois struggled to make more than a few successful passes in a row. Not long after the second goal, Michele got the ball in the center of the pitch, played a trough ball to Daniel, who lobbed it over the keeper into the top right corner from about 25 meters. 'Best goal of the season so far', was an excited comment our RBB Enquirer reporter might or might not have overheard from the stands – either way, at this point RBB felt like they were strongly in control of the game.

Tourinnois did get their chance to get back in it, however. Like in previous games, RBB conceived some free kicks in dangerous positions outside the own penalty box. One of these free kicks, from around 22.3 meters, resulted in the opening goal for the home side. The shot was reasonably powerful but well within reach for Kris in the goal. Unfortunately, Kris was caught off guard adjusting his hair and the ball slipped into the net via his hands.

Before the half time whistle, RBB darkened the home side's day another notch. Daniel made an interception in the midfield with a very un-striker-like sliding tackle and, while still on the ground, kicked the ball in the general direction of Steve and the opponents' goal. The Tourinnois keeper, as ever, was far out from his goal and got to the ball first, only to hit it straight at his own defender.

With the ball rolling towards the goal, Steve put all his effort into getting there before the goal line and claiming a goal in his milestone game – his 200th game for the first team. The general verdict in the stands was that Steve reached the ball several centimeters before for the line to score his 87th goal for the team. This was, without any doubt, exactly what happened. (The RBB Enquirer would like to thank Steve for his generous donation to our annual staff retreat fund).

During half-time, coach McGrath reminder the players that their performance was not as good as the numbers showed. They still needed to improve in order to make the play more versatile, with the main attacking options in the first half coming from counter attacks or through balls.

The second half continued like the first, with RBB pressing Tourinnois towards their goal. After a while of deadlock Michele delivered the ball to Hodge just outside the offensive penalty box, where he spun around neatly and shot the ball into the bottom right corner. A well-deserved goal for Hodge, who played his 258th game for the RBB first team and with that now leads in number of appearances for the first team.

After the goal, the home side's heads started to drop, with the same happening to the tempo of the game. RBB made two changes, as Dries returned to action after missing two games and Shinichi coming on as well, hoping to bring the same kind of energy as in the previous game where he scored his first goal for RBB.

Indeed, super sub Shinichi 'Solskjær' Takaga immediately started creating chances with his well-timed runs behind the opponent's line. First, he set up Dries with a low cross from the right for Dries to score his fourth goal of the season (6–1) and later Shinichi went on to fool half the home side's defense and cross the ball in a similar fashion to Jean Minne who had come on earlier. Jean was left so free in front of the goal that he, according to well-placed sources, actually had time to call his family and inform them he was about to score – and take a selfie – before he calmly tapped the ball into the net. 7–1 was also the final score of the game.

With seven different players on the scoring sheet for RBB, it was clear after the game that the result came through a strong team effort. Although the level of play was not significantly higher than in other games this season, RBB showed more aggressiveness and, above all, effectively utilized the goal chances that they created.

The team now goes on to face Auderghem Amb next Saturday on the home ground Rosières. This will be one to watch as Auderghem currently top the table, having won three games, drawn two and only conceded one goal so far.

MOM and Correspondent for RBB Enquirer: Daniel Donner