Herne Bay Legends 10 – 0 Tenterden
C Sharp (3)
M Reuby (2)
D Tudor (2)
T Powell
M Radulovic
D Hill

This was the Legends' fifth game as we continue with our monthly rhythm of matches. The slightly later kick off had ruled out both Simon Beard, Dave Read, Darren Grunbaum and Matt Betts - meaning that we spent the back end of the week looking for players to complete the line up. It was consequently the perfect time for Conrad to make his debut in the team. It also meant that there was room for new signing Mark Reuby to join the fold. That made a squad of 14 on show, which for an over 45s game is probably about the right number.

We started with Richard Parker in goal, making his fifth straight start for the team with Kidd and Foad in front of him along with diplomatic-but-reluctant centre back Dave Close, and Martin Crane at right full-back.

In front of them Simon Smith, the heartbeat of team, along side Paul Pickup and Conrad making his long overdue debut. Familiar figures of Tudor and Sharp were in the frontline with Miki up top, replacing John Atkinson who had played for the first team earlier the same day.

With a reasonably established team Bay were immediately into their rhythm and playing the ball around confidently. It was clear that Tenterden’s over 45s, formed of a number of teams including decent ones like Rolvenden, had players that could do some damage and Bay had to be on their guard. They are also the first team in a while to come with a fully formed team of players all of whom were actually over 45 so credit to them. The possession was good and the passing accurate and it became apparent early on that the space down the wings would be an area of opportunity for the home team, with Kidd particularly relishing the time and space he had down the left. It took some 10 minutes of play before Bay started rattling the goals in and it was no surprise to see in-form striker Craig Sharp (14 goals in 5 games) open his account for the day lobbing the keeper as the ball bounced awkwardly in the area.

On the 20 mins mark, on came the lively Tom Powell proudly sporting a smart new haircut, along with Derek Hill and debutant Mark Reuby, a January acquisition. He started on the right in a one-for-one switch with Tudor but when he checked back to cross with his left, manager Kidd swapped him Craig Sharp and with two left-footers down that side of the pitch it lent a pleasing balance to the side.

But it was Paul Pickup who created the next goal, threading the ball through to Craig Sharp who finished well to double Bay’s score and his own personal daily tally for the day.

Mark Reuby then turned provider shortly before half-time when he swung the ball in with his left for Miki to connect to make it 3-0 at the break. Reuby was a constant menace down the left side and had a number of decent chances to open his account in the first half but didn’t quite get his shots off as he would have liked.

In the second half, the home side picked up where they left off as Martin Crane, back on at full back, swung in a cross for Mark Reuby to meet it perfectly just in front of the keeper and poke it past him.

As the fitter side, the traffic was now pretty much one way and Bay rattled in a number of goals in quick succession:

Tudor from a Smudge assist to make it 5-0
Tom Powell scores his first goal for the Legends from a Mark Reuby cross (6-0)
Tudor grabs his brace after another Mark Reuby assist (7-0)
Tudor then turns providers for Reuby to grab his second (8-0)
Craig Sharp completes his hattrick with another assist from Pickup (9-0)
And Derek – a former striker turned defender - reacquainted himself with the opposition penalty box for the final 10 mins of the game and stopped low to connect his head with a Conrad corner to make it double figures (10-0).

Overall another comfortable win for a 45s team that would compete in a 35s league, in my opinion. It would be good to find ways to see how good this team is, maybe by finding a more established 45s side somewhere else in the country. We’ve scored 39 goals in five games and only conceded seven which is a tremendous record.

In the meantime, it was fantastic to have Conrad back and it was a fantastic debut for Mark Reuby who scored two and made two proving himself to be a valuable left sided asset in the side.

We now have afew weeks off before we resume on 12 Feb against Whitstable at Sandwich Tech. We had a good game with them on a poor Bridge pitch so it will be good to see how both teams perform on the 3g.

R Parker

M Crane L Foad D Close M Kidd

C Sage-Hof S Smith P Pickup

D Tudor M Radulovic C Sharp

Starting from the bench: T Powell, D Hill, M Reuby
Result: Herne Bay Legends 10 – 0 Tenterden
Man-of-the-match: Player's vote: T Powell
Man-of-the-match: Opposition vote: -
Referee: M Takacs [90]