Team: Minne: Bernardo, Philpot, Thom, Hodgson : Springob, McGeehan, Novak, Billiet : McGrath, Van Dijck

Subs: Kellerman, Deroeck

The stakes were high, the pressure was on. Lose and the dream of a hat-trick of championship titles would fade, and the murmurs coming from the supporters that this ageing squad was past it’s best would grow louder.

The dark grey skies and the spitting rain set the scene for this top of the table clash. Having been outplayed in the away fixture, where RBBFC were pleased to walk away with a draw, we were resolute that today would be our day and the dream of another title would be carried forward to next week.

From the initial exchanges it was clear this was going to be a tough, keenly contested encounter. Tough tackles and battles to be first to the ball were the order of the day. 10 minutes in and Coin struck the first blow and we were one-nil down. A shimmy of the hips from Jean in goal, failed to deceive their striker who duly punished us. RBBFC knew that a draw would not be enough today, they had to win.

10 minutes later and Rbbfc drew level with a smart move on the edge of the box. Luka steered a firm pass into Nils's feet who laid off for Rich who took a touch, steadied himself and rifled it into the bottom right hand corner. Game on.

But before we knew it we were down again. A dangerous ball was whipped across the box and their striker finished at the far post. To keep the title chance from fading we'd have to come from behind again and score two.

Seasons hinge on moments like these. Could we dig deep, could we find a way back? It would take something special, maybe from someone special.

With Rbbfc continuing to apply the pressure, the ball fell to an all American hero, who summoned the collective technique of Coby Jones, Landon Donovan and Alexi Lalas. He executed and an exquisite volley. The ball shot past the keepers left hand into the bottom right hand corner. 2-2. The whistle blew for half time.

Enter John McGrath with both words of encouragement and tactical insight. As usual he provided an analysis of the oppositions weaknesses and told us how we could hurt them. Get the ball in behind their full backs and let our our two wingers do the rest.

Within a few minutes of the restart the ball was played into McGrath who'd obviously been paying attention. He clipped it through to Sioux, who dashed down the line before sliding it across the face of the box where the big man Billet dummied to shoot with his right and back-heel’d it in with his left. Va Va Voom.

3-2 and the Rbbfc were on top. Having pulled back from 0-1 down and 1-2 down you could just feel the momentum was with them.

Again McGrath released Sioux and this time he didn't need any help. A powerful run and a composed finish meant the Rbbfc were in full control. 4-2.

In the final minutes two errors provided McGrath with the opportunity to set up McGeehan and DeRoek to add the cherries on top. 6-2.

It's only a game and it's only amateur football, but we do it for days like these. It was glorious. Bring on the derby next week.

Reporter and MOM: Nils McGrath