We ended last year on a slightly disappointing note, losing out to Fleet Town on penalties in the FA Vase (the Hampshire club are still in the competition), having an off day against Harpenden Town and then only drawing against Dunstable Town after dominating the game.

This was followed by an underwhelming close win over neighbours Tring Corinthians in the St Marys Cup so our New Year prospects looked distinctly unpromising as our next opponents were the top two teams in our division. We excelled in beating Cockfosters 2-0 on Saturday but could we do it again 3 days later and inflict the first League defeat of the season on champions in waiting MK Irish and gain some revenge after they thrashed us 3-0 back in August?

Well the response from the players was an emphatic “Yes” we can and they did. This was no lucky win but a performance of character, determination and skill with some cracking goals to claim a well deserved victory which puts us right on the tails of the clubs above us. If we can continue this form and win our games in hand we could be in the play offs.

We made one change from Saturdays starting line up with Greg Deer coming in for Harry Beaumont with the returning Kieran Turner on the bench. We were missing Bailey Osborne and Dave O’Connor and Lee Stobbs were still on the long term injury list.

We nearly had a disastrous start when we failed to clear our lines but fortunately George Carbery was on hand to clear the danger. After that we played some great football and following a fine move Harry Shepherd shot narrowly wide. Soon afterwards Shep must have thought he had scored but a defender did well to somehow get back to stop the ball on the line.

We were lively going forward and Max picked out Harry Shepherd with a precise cross from the bye line but our leading scorer failed to connect when well placed. Soon afterwards Shep skilfully got past the defender on the bye line and forced keeper Tom Ladyman into a good save at the near post.

Our opponents are the leading scorers in our Division with 67 goals from 20 games (and average of 3.35 per game) so they are a force to be reckoned with. They were always a threat with Kyle Boyce firing a shot into the side netting and then MK Irish skipper and leading scorer Mason Spence forced Josh Amenganvi into diving save.

A free kick awarded just outside the area in the 36th minute gave us the chance to open the scoring which we gratefully took. Both Frankie and Max lined up but it was the latter who struck the ball superbly into the bottom right hand corner of the net with the keeper stranded. Score 1-0.

MK Irish had not created too much but in response to falling behind they stepped up their game and started to dominated possession but we defended superbly to deny them any genuine opportunities to equalise and we went in at the break still holding a valuable albeit slim 1 goal lead. HT Score 1-0.

After the break MK Irish continued where they left off at the end of the first half keeping the ball and probing for a weakness in our defence. Winger Kyle Boyce was sent away down the inside left channel but Mason Clarke came to the rescue with a magnificent challenge to add to the two key interventions he made in the first half.

MK Irish did manage to get back on level terms in the 63rd minute when the tricky George Shrieves clinically tucked away a fine shot from the edge of the area just out of the reach of Josh Ameganvi’s dive. Score 1-1.

However parity only prevailed for a minute as we regained the lead with a fortuitous goal when the goalkeeper dropped Frankie Hercules corner into his own net. Score 2-1. Four minutes later we placed an iron grip on the game with a 3rd goal again from another superbly struck free kick. This time it was Harry Shepherd from about 25 yards who left the keeper the keeper stranded again. Score 3-1.

With the opposition pushing forward they started to leave spaces at the back which we started to exploit. A fine run by Benji was halted when the defender basically took him out and it looked a nailed on penalty which bizarrely was not given. Another chance went unclaimed when Kieran Turner squared the ball to Benji Kakembo who would normally put that sort of chance away in his sleep. Noah Butler then hit the inside of the post and although we were doing a great job of holding our opponents at bay there was the risk that if they scored they would be right back in the game.

We put the game to bed in the 91st minute with a trade mark goal from Kieran Turner who after being sent away cut inside the defender and curled his shot into the far corner. It was a superb way to settle a tremendously exciting game. Score 4-1.

MK Irish did manage to pull a goal back 6 minutes into added time when Oliver Coleman converted a cross at the far post but it was too little too late. FT Score 4-2.

This was a superb result against a very good MK Irish side who in the opinion of the writer will lift the Premier Division trophy at the end of the season. Benji Kakembo was deservedly selected as the Man of the Match but this was an all round team performance as we looked defensively strong and well organised and we took our chances at the right moments particularly by bouncing back after MK Irish equalised with 2 goals in 5 minutes to put us into a commanding position.

We can savour the last 2 results for a few days but we need to repeat these performances in games coming up starting at home again on Saturday when Crawley Green are the visitors to The Michael Anthony Stadium.

Finally Max Hercules had to come off injured and Harry Beaumont picked up a knock in the previous game so we hope they are not serious and that they will both be back in action again soon.

TA: Josh Ameganvi, Mason Clarke, Dylan Fitzpatrick, George Carbery (Capt), Harrison Cornick, Frankie Hercules (Noah Butler 72), Harry Shepherd, Greg Deer (Harry Jones 80), Jack Harvey, Max Hercules (Kieran Turner 62), Benji Kakembo (James Sales 90). Sub not used: Harry Beaumont

Scorers:

TA: Max Hercules (36), OG (64), Harry Shepherd (68), Kieran Turner (90+1)

MKI: George Shrieves (63), Oliver Coleman (90+6)

Man of the Match: Benji Kakembo

Crowd: 130