(Friendly) Sunday 21st September 1997

Green Lights (1) 2 (Taverner 22; McMurdie 81)
Broxbourne Borough (1) 4 (Goddard 31, 56, 69, 90)

Such was the late arrangement of this friendly that Green Lights started with only five of the side who took the field in the Fat Boys showdown. The game was switched at the last minute to Albany Park due to an oversight of the team manager, who took a chance that there would be a pitch available on the day at Enfield Playing Fields. As if!
The Lights started brightly (ho, ho, ho), having an equal share of the possession and creating a number of chances in the opening quarter. Broxbourne rattled Lee Mills right hand post before Moore landed a corner kick smack on top of the crossbar. McMurdie, having another excellent game in midfield, had the visitors keeper scrambling across goal to save from a free kick, the loose ball being hacked away in desperation.
Taverner - relieved of his refereeing duties (to the delight of those present) - took the opportunity to impress the manager with some fancy touches along the right hand touchline. His most deadly contribution to the game however, was in spotting a slip in Broxbourne's defence to break clean through and beat the keeper one on one. Delight, though he needs to improve his goal celebration techniques. Just a handshake? Not good enough.
Mills was having a quiet game in goal. Usually reliable, apart from a juggling act at a rather inappropriate moment. He could not be blamed for the equaliser which should have been a hoof into the gardens behind the goal, rather than a trot to the undergrowth to retrieve the ball for the restart. The half ended with Street making way for Stato,

Webster replaced Horslen at the break, and the goal chances kept on coming. Farenden, my man of the match for his marshaling of a new look defence playing out of their regular positions, let fly with a magnificent 25yd effort that dipped and thudded the crossbar. Seconds later Broxbourne took the lead for the first time from a quick break down the middle.
Skillett replaced Bunyan, and Oddell likewise for Santagata. Moore replied with another corner that agonisingly bounced off the top of the crossbar before going out of play. He was substituted, clearly aggrieved at his luck, to be replaced by new boy Peter Berry, who minutes later let in Broxbourne for a 3-1 lead. It was an unfortunate moment for Berry, but he was to have a hand in a late goal for Green Lights, going on a mazy run before feeding McMurdie, who scored from fully 20 yards off the post. Bromage sent the keeper full stretch to keep out his best effort of the match, followed by a cheeky Taverner backheel that nearly came off. Green Lights sensed a historic draw, throwing everyone forward for an equaliser. McMurdie slapped another shot against the bar after Stato took on the Broxbourne defence single-handed, throwing up his hands in disbelief. More desperation in the visitors defence, encouraged by those on the sidelines. And then, another clearance upfield, a cross from the right, and the match was as good as over.
In all, ten minutes extra time had been added, yet due to regular substitutions, Green Lights retained their fitness levels throughout. The practice sessions are clearly having some effect.

Green Lights

Mills; Bunyan; Burbridge; McMurdie; Moore (J); Farenden; McMurdie; Horslen; Bromage; Taverner; Santagata: Subs used: Stato; Webster; Berry; Skillett; Oddell

(Friendly) Sunday 12th October 1997

Green Lights (0) 1 (Bromage 90)
Zenon Rovers (1) 5 (Anderson (I) 18; Anderson (D) 60, 79; Ashton 70; Ralls 75)

Lawrence Hughes' Rovers caught Green Lights on the hop. With several Greens missing due to holiday, illness, work and just sheer lateness, Green Lights fielded no less than twenty players for this friendly. Indeed, the manager was absent due to illness, so team affairs were left in the (capable?) hands of his 13 year-old son Neil, plus top scorer Mr. Bromage - who also gave this exclusive match summary for the home page:

Fairly one sided throughout the first half, though Rovers had only one goal to show for their dominance. Peter Coath, late arrival from work, came on in the second half to bolster the defence and promptly wished he hadn't as the side conceded four rather quick goals. Making his debut in this match was Beardsley, fresh from ogling Enfield ladies in their match earlier in the day. Beardsley was awarded "prat of the season" in a Dulwich fanzine end of season awards, and certainly lived up to his title.
It was left to me to get the consolation goal, after good work from a corner that involved Mills on a foray in the opponents box, Oddell and Chris Moore, before I pounced on a loose ball to fire home from close range

Green Lights

Mills; Oddell; Stato; Moore (J); Farenden; Moore ( C); McDonald (P); Knight; Bromage; Santagata: Whitehurst. Subs used: Burbridge; Coath; Puxty; Butterfield (N); Donegan; Bubbles; McDonald (M); Maynard; Beardsley

(Friendly) Saturday 18th October 1997

Green Lights (1) 1 (Whitehurst 23)
Fruitbat Select (7) 12 (not enough paper to record them all)

The tannoy annoucer said it all when he announced the final score during the interval of the Heybridge Swifts game. 'Fruitbat's side won by 12 goals to one, with Fruitbat as ref... (slight pause)... draw your own conclusions from that one if you will.'
And who am I to argue? I saw the final third of the match, and in that time the referee was having too much trouble with the cut of his shorts to be bothered with small matters such as offsides and fair play. Not only that but -shock, horror, probe - there were two ringers on the other side who had apparently reached the dizzy heights of Isthmian Division Three. The cads!
Green Lights had a major selection problem from the start, Clive Butterfield was on the verge of naming five schoolkids in the side before reinforcements arrived, shortly before kick off. There were a number of notable absentees from the defence, namely, Chris Moore and Peter Coath in defence, McMurdie, Farenden and Taverner (as a referee) in other key positions, and their presence was greatly missed as Select took a quick lead. Heads dropped, and six goals quickly flew past custodian Mills.

Butterfield gave the side a rollicking for probably the first time in his managerial career before sending them out with an instruction to put a little pride into their performance. For at least twenty minutes it worked, till another landslide saw five more goals conceded.
Star striker Dave Bromage, by his own admission missed three - possibly four clear chances when clean through with the keeper to beat. Puxty, playing from the start, also asked to have his shot from the edge of the box mentioned for novelty value. Biggest surprise was the performance of manager's son Neil, who set Bromage up for a couple of chances. Clearly a boy for the future ('and much better than my big brother Spindle') he asked me to point out.

Green Lights

Mills; Stato; Moore (J); Burbridge; McDonald (P); McDonald (M); Hughes; Oddell; Bromage; Whitehurst; Puxty. Subs used: Butterfield (N); Donegan; Pryke; Holman

(Friendly) Saturday 1st November 1997

Hitchin Town Supporters (0) 3
Green Lights (0) 0

Best performance from the Lights for a long time, but nothing to show for ninety minutes of hard work. The returning McMurdie was instrumental in everything that the Lights attempted, and several forays into opposition territory promised rewards. That half time came with the game still goalless was some surprise, with the closest effort coming from Darren Webster's audacious overhead lob that was cleared off the line with Matty Whitehurst in close attendance.
Hitchin snatched the lead early in the second half when the Green's defence went AWOL. But it was still the visitors who dominated, and McMurdie went close with a header before seeing a shot partially saved by the home keeper, and the looose ball trickled agonisingly beyond the post with Dave Bromage unable to reach it. Jason Street then saw an open goal go begging after just failing to connect with a low cross.
Hitchin lost their composure for a spell, and referee John Taverner was given every opportunity to brandish yellow cards. Hitchin then settled again to grab two late goals and secure a win. Lawrence Hughes put in sterling work on the left flank, and the defensive efforts of Bubbles, Coath and Paul MacDonald didn't go unnoticed. Credit goes also to Chris Moore for another gutsy display at the heart of midfield.
Absent manager Butterfield would have been pleased with this performance, and must wish that he had such a full squad to choose from every time.

Green Lights squad

Mills; Moore (J); Moore (C) Burbridge; McDonald (P); McDonald (M); Hughes; Bromage; Whitehurst; Puxty; Butterfield (N); Bubbles; Coath; Farenden; Knight; McMurdie; Street; Webster

(Friendly) Saturday 13th December 1997

Green Lights (1) 3 (Farenden 43; Bromage 49, 71)
Hitchin Town Supporters (2) 7 (numerous)

Defeat number 15, but really, this was actually not the whitewash that the score suggested. With twenty minutes left it was anyone's game. Then the Green Lights went on another bender and slumped to defeat.

Manager Clive Butterfield was forced into a number of changes. Eight regulars had to withdraw from the squad due to prior commitments, and so Green Lights were putting out what was basically the reserves. Still, the ever reliable Mills, Burbridge, Farenden and Bromage were still there to bring a touch of familiarity to the side, and to the regulars on the side must be added Fruitbat, who took time out from rollicking the referees at Southbury Road and checked out on the current form of future opponents for his Sunday side.
Sad to say, the defence were still saying good morning to each other when the visitors breezed through the middle to score in the first thirty seconds. Ooops! Not the best of starts, and it could so easily have been two before the defence settled.
Hitchin's side consisted mainly of youngsters. Good - but certainly beatable, judging by the previous two encounters (2-4 and 0-3). On the half hour disaster struck as Green Lights went further behind, but luck was just moments away as Farenden, seeing the goalkeeper off his line, wellied the ball from fully 35 yards - 'more in hope than judgement' - and saw his shot bounce once in front of the keeper and through his fingers before rolling agonisingly over the line to cue celebrations of a silly kind from grown men who should know better.

Top scorer Dave Bromage was on a warning from the manager for his more recent goalscoring form. The lad responded in magnificent manner to pinch an equaliser on the break straight after the break. It was so quick after the restart that at the time there were two linesmen patrolling one half of the pitch (guess what half they were in when Bromage scored?). Not good for the credibility of the referee, that.
Talking of Hitler-type people, there were three referees in the course of this game. The second (Bubbles) must have been having a drag on a fag to miss Hitchin's third, and was that an offside for their next? Too busy puffing up the pitch to see that pull, sir! But by far the worst of decisions was the second of Bromage's goals. Quite a surprise to see the lad get away with it, but credit where it is due, he stuck the ball in the back of the net and asked questions afterwards.
And that was the end of matters. From a position where Green lights looked capable of forcing the issue and earning a draw or even more, fatigue set in and heads dropped as goals flew past Mills in a five minute spell. An injury to Mills was a blow to the side, but Brian Burbridge proved more than capable as a stand-in keeper.
A side is only as good as its reserve players. Lights' youth squad lent a hand in the final phase: Jamie Mills (10) and Neil Butterfield (13) performed admirably, and Jamie even used a body tackle at one point to dispossess an opponent and set up a scoring chance. Neil came on shortly before man-mountain Bubbles collapsed like a wet fart and had to be helped from the pitch for a quick drag.
So a fine performance from the reserves. All we need now is the full squad - plus a few fixtures - hopefully in sunnier climates than Enfield on a wet & windy Enfield morning. Any takers?

Green Lights squad

Mills (L); Moore (J); Berry; Burbridge; Hughes; Bromage; Puxty; Skillett; Butterfield (N); Bubbles; Oddell; Farenden; Street; Webster; Mills (J)

(Friendly) Sunday 1st February 1998

Green Lights (1) 2 (OG; Oddell)
Dagenham & Redbridge Supporters (4) 9 (Lots...)

You've got to admire the style in which our opponents arrived for this one. Four Ford cars screeched to a halt outside the stadium and all the occupants dashed off to relieve themselves up against the old swimming pool wall - a classic entrance if ever!
On the pitch though our visitors were not quite as fleet-footed, and it showed when they gave the Lights a goal to be getting on with - a low corner scudded into the box, and Keith Knight got the faintest of touches before a hapless D&R defender sliced it into the net. The usual collapse followed, with a 1-4 half time score being the outcome

Clive Butterfield made half-time substitutions (how many times has that been written?) but more goals slipped past the ever busy Mills. Gary Oddell slid in a consolation goal with some ten minutes to go, before the historic moment arrived when nine-year-old Sam Coath came on for his debut appearance. Although only a token gesture on behalf of the manager, our visitors took this new threat seriously enough to appoint a sixteen-stone brute as Sam's man marker for the rest of the game.
With Chris Moore and Phil McMurdie missing this was always going to be a tough game. Lawrence Hughes played with a knee injury sustained whilst video taping an earlier match, whilst Gary Oddell allegedly "popped" his own jaw back into place during the second half. Oh well, back to the drawing board Mr. Butterfield.

Green Lights

Mills (L); Moore (J); Coath; Street; Bunyan; Knight; Farenden; Hughes; Reed; Bromage; Wortley. Subs used: Puxty; Butterfield (N); McDonald (M); Oddell; Webster; Coath (S);Whitehurst; Donegan; McDonald (M); Horslen

(Friendly) Sunday 22nd February 1998 (Match report by Dave Bromage)

Turnford College (5 ) 13
Green Lights (1) 1 Reed (pen) 15

Turnford were a far superior team in terms of talent than the Lights and the scoreline reflected that. However, with no Green Light actually having a really bad game, there were a couple of positive aspects to come out of the game.
Turnford play every Sunday and have a team of players, most of which are very talented. Another excuse for manager Clive Butterfield was that he was missing the nucleus of his squad. Long term casualties Phil MacMurdie (knee) and Chris Prodromou (groin) were still out, James Moore had flu, the MacDonald brothers Paul and Mike were off doing something altogether more interesting, along with Matt Whitehurst, and Brian Burbridgre and Laurence Hughes were playing football for their Sunday teams. This was not the end of the list by a long chalk as Pete Coath, Chris Moore, John Taverner, Keith Knight, Nicky Fartarse and Bubbles were also unavailable for selection. Coming into the side were ex-Hendon winger Paul Fisher and debutant Mark Smith, while Jimmy Smith, Rob Hague and Robin Pryke were on the bench. With the gaffer fearing a mullering of the highest proportions, he pushed stand-in captain Dave Bromage into the middle of the back four with Dave Farenden.
The Lights held out well for four minutes before a delightful piece of control in the area allowed a Turnford forward to give his side the lead, firing in off the post. This should have signalled the opening of the floodgates, but amazingly the Lights fought back and won a penalty after tricky Gary Oddell was felled in the box. Paul Reed stepped up and was relieved to see his weak penalty go under the body of the College keeper. However, it was a mistake by Reed which gifted the hosts the advantage, when he returned a Turnford cross into the danger area and a predatory forward bundled the ball home.
The home side should have had a penalty when Bromage tripped their captain just inside the box, but the referee didn't see it. In reply, their skipper, Walls, got his own back with some neat skill and good cross which was headed in for the third.
Between the sticks, Lee Mills had a reasonably good game, but his fumble led to the fourth, and ex-Light Rob 'Spindle' Butterfield was involved in the fifth before half time.

The second half went even more pear-shaped as goals were leaked at regular intervals, as Walls, Walsh and Jaggs took their pick. Things got ugly with the score at 11-1, when the Turnford keeper, who had been mouthing off for the duration of the second half, very rarely staying in his area, and Darren Webster squared up to each other. After a bout of eyeballing and shoving, it flared into a more serious punch-up.
One or two home supporters came off the sidelines to get involved but second half referee James Moore handled the difficult situation admirably, and ordered both offenders off the field. Turnford added two more, including a penalty after Farenden had brought down their nippy winger, and had a 14th disallowed for offside as the final whistle blew.
Results-wise, things have started to go downhill a bit recently with 41 goals conceded in the last four games, but nevertheless, when the full squad is available, things should hopefully pick up.

Green Lights

Mills, M Smith, Bunyan, Bromage, Farenden, Reed, Webster, Fisher, Wortley, Street, Oddell. Subs used: J Smith, Hague, Pryke, I Doneghan, Puxty, D Doneghan, N Butterfield.

(Friendly) Saturday 1st March 1998

Hertford Town Supporters (13) 17 many!)
Green Lights (1) 2 OG; Webster

Cheating against the Green Lights. What's the point? The hosts fielded Hertford first teamer Jarrett, as well as another couple of Hertford reserves, two St. Albans reserves and a Watford Youth player. The final score came as a bit of a relief as the half-time score of 13-1 made it seem as though a record defeat was on the cards. Fortunately, Hertford took the foot off the pedal after the break and the rest was a more even contest.
The scorer of the Green Lights opener was debutant Warren Borg, tapping in from close range. After the break Paul Fisher crashed a left foot shot against the bar, before Dave Bromage (who missed the first half after sleeping through his alarm clock) won a penalty which was squandered by Paul Reed - his effort flying out of Hertford Town's ground. Jarett and co. added two more before Fisher set Bromage down the right and his cut back was toe-poked past the Hertford Town reserve team keeper by Darren Webster to give the Lights some pride

Green Lights squad

Mills, Borg (W) Bunyan, Bromage, Farenden, Reed, Webster, Fisher, Street, Oddell, MacDonald (M), MacDonald (P) Pryke, Puxty, Doneghan (I), Butterfield (N), Moore (J).

(Friendly) Sunday 22nd March 1998

Fruitbat and Clive

Fruitbat Select (3) 8
Green Lights (0) 0

Green Lights once more turned in a weakened side that was depleted by work/study/booze commitments. Fruitbat, in the meantime, responded by fielding a weakened side, and fielded Neil's Brother In Law Andrew Whelan in goal. Actually, Andrew is soon to be spotted on Bruce Forsyth's "Play Your Cards Right". Get ready to see his snazzy dress sense on Friday April 10th on ITV.
But I digress. The Lights performed admirably throughout the first half and restricted the score to 0-3, based mainly on cat-like agility of Lee Mills in goal. Dave Bromage was under more pressure than before to perform, and blew a great chance to get on the scoresheet when he attempted to round Whelan and failed hopelessly. Key, Mitch and Sinjay converted before Bromage, and then Webster in turn went close in the closing seconds of the first half.

Lights then made a couple of substitutions (including that of Taverner, who was officiating a kiddies match that started soon after our match, on the adjoining pitch). Horslan and Farenden picked up knocks, and goals then came along at regular intervals, including a rather debatable tap-in that was more a case of knock the ball out of the keepers grasp, kick him in the face and then tap home on the goal-line. It was no real surprise that after the protests had died down that Fruitbat made a surprise appearance as the man in black, though he also made some rather obscure decisions in his twenty minute stint in the middle. The managers choice for man of the match went to Pryke for his defensive display, along with Bunyan and Knight, who turned in creditable performances.

Green Lights squad

Mills, Bunyan, Bromage, Farenden, Webster, Fisher, Street, Oddell, Pryke, Doneghan (I), Moore (J), Webster, Knight, Taverner, Horslan, Sillett.

(Friendly) Sunday 29th March 1998

Green Lights (1) 2 Bromage 42, 48
Inter Enfield (0) 1 Parente 82

It all came good for Green Lights after the twentieth time of trying. Five years into Clive Butterfield's turbulent reign, and just the right tonic for the upcoming Fat Boys fixture at Southbury Road.

The mood was right, even before the side had set foot onto the pitch. The word coming from Inter's camp was that there was a genuine concern that Green Lights were going to be too strong for the newly formed squad of youngsters and schoolkids. Our opponents had recently been thrashed 18-2 and, eyeing up Green Lights' recent run, had come to the conclusion that even accounting for the large deficit column, the ever dangerous Bromage could hurt them badly.

From the start Green Lights enjoyed the bulk of the possession. Inter, in turn, made a number of forays into the heart of the Lights' defence, but promised little in the way of real openings for their quickly-frustrated forward line to work on. Their real chance came when Mills threw out a quick pass to an otherwise preoccupied Coath, and only a block tackle by a defender saved an embarrassed editorial inquest.

Dave Bromage was demonstrating his lanky skills as a target man, and went close early on as he just failed to get on the end of a corner. Oddell, in turn, sent a shot fizzing past the post. Green Lights seized control in a five minute sequence at the end of the first half. Bromage, clean through on goal, bought off a fine save from the Inter keeper, and Coath - probably still smarting from his previous error - bought the best out of the keeper from the rebound. Webster also found himself free of his marker and provided more catching practice for the same keeper. Then came the moment of magic: James Moore provided a killer pass from defence for Bromage to chase, steady himself, and fire home past a despairing keeper.

Clive Butterfield and Dave Farenden fired the side up with a strong pep talk. Then it was out onto the pitch for the second half. The tactics were to do to Inter what everybody does to Green Lights i.e. use the long ball over the top. And it was a long and hopeful ball from Paul MacDonald that turned defence into attack, leaving Bromage clean through to do what he does best. GOAL!!!!!

The mood off pitch lightened a little. Manager Clive Butterfield was extremely pumped up for the game, and was pacing up and down the sidelines as his dream of a first win neared fruition.

Green Lights made regular substitutions during the match, opposed to Inter's policy of sticking to their original line up. Farenden, Knight and Coath made way for Donegan, Bubbles and Bunyan. For Farenden's encouragement on and off the pitch I awarded him my man of the match, though it was somewhat ironic that the moment he came back on after a short rest that Inter should claw themselves back into the game with eight minutes to go to set the jitters going once again.

There were ten more minutes remaining to hang out. Inter threw everything into a late equaliser, and were denied only due to the reflexes of Mills in the Green Lights goal, having his usual excellent game. Referee Gary Puxty, officiating in the second half in place of Bubbles, took an age over bringing the game to an end, but when he did... cue scenes of wild celebration on and off the pitch, as opposed to abject misery on behalf of Inter Enfield's troops.

And what of Green Lights' opponents in the charity game on May 3rd. When Dave Hicks heard the news he fell off the floor, so to speak. Fat Boys (or whatever you are called) - beware the wrath of Borg...

(Friendly) Sunday 5th April 1998

Green Lights 1 Oddell 65
Fruitbat Select 9

Lights came back down to earth with a bump after their superb first win, as Fruitbat's lot showed no inclination to allow the party to continue. With Fruitbat fielding his 12-year-old son in goal, Lights should have tested him out more but didn't really. Lawrence Hughes went closest in the first half with a free kick which was placed just too high.

Frankly, writing three weeks after the event, I cannot really remember what the victorious team's goals were like, although Lee Mills had a bizarre game - dropping one in his own net, letting one under his body, but then produciing some absolutely sensational saves. However, goals did come at regular intervals for Bat's lot.

However, prize for best goal of the game went to the Lights. Hughes played the ball upfield to Dave Bromage on the halfway line, who had his back to goal. With the last defender on his back, though, Bromage niftily flicked the ball with the outside of his left foot, leaving Gary Oddell to run from his own half without a challenge to comfortably beat Daniel Vine (aka Fruitbat jnr) for a consolation.

(Friendly) Sunday 19th April 1998

Green Lights 2 Bromage 37; Oddell (pen) 79
Harlow Supporters 9

Lights weren't really worse than Harlow, - it was just the visitors got the breaks and Lights didn't. After only three minutes, debutant Scott Reed forced their keeper into a fine save down to his left - all the more surprising considering the goalie made Bubbles look positively slim. Dave Bromage had a case of the Endersbys on a number of occasions, neglecting to shoot in favour of taking the ball round one more player, while numerous goalmouth scrambles came to nothing.

At the other end, though the Hawks took the lead when Lee Mills fumbled after collecting an almighty shove from a visiting forward. It was 2-0 soon after, but Lights pulled one back when, after setting Gary Oddell through on goal, Bromage followed up to net the rebound after the keeper defied gravity once again to parry Oddell's shot.

The comeback was put on ice within a minute though as Mills dropped a corner into his own net. With manager Clive Butterfield's policy of giving everybody a run out with an eye on the Fat Boys match and Hitchin tournament, the second half was less evenly contested. It doesn't matter how much commitment you've got - a midfield of Bubbles, Gary Puxty and Nicky Fartarse is always going to be lacking that little bit of mobility and Harlow exploited this to great effect.

With the score at 5-1, Oddell created a chance for himself, before being sent sprawling in the box, and he picked himself up to make it 5-2. Four goals were stuck in at the other end though, including a tremendous reaction volley from the edge of the box - and a rather flattering scoreline was completed for the visitors.

(Friendly) Sunday 26th April 1998

Turnford College Reserves 2 5; 21
Green Lights 5 Oddell 8; Bromage 12, 56 (pen); S Reed 64, 68

Just the tonic before next Sunday's charity match as a limited Green Lights squad recorded their second win of all time in style. Turnford Reserves (after seeing their first team trounce Green Lights 13-1 earlier in the year), had only seven men turn up for the match, so Clive Butterfield loaned them three Lights to bolster their squad - only to realise that they had ten players to Green Lights' nine.

Eventually though a system was arranged where each side had ten and referee James Moore blew his whistle to begin the 35-minute each-way game. Turnford, with Spindle Butterfield in their line-up as well as stand-ins from the Lights Neil Butterfield and Ian Donegan, took the lead after five minutes after the defence stopped to appeal for offside.

However, this was against the run of play, after Dave Farenden's header had been brilliantly tipped over by the Turnford goalkeeper, and Lights set about setting the record straight - doing so within three minutes. A long ball from the back found Gary Oddell running through with just the keeper to beat, which he did with considerably ease.

Lights continued to harry the opposition and this paid dividends soon after when Oddell pressured the last defender to kick his clearance across goal straight to Dave Bromage who controlled before slotting gratefully past the keeper.

A niggly match was allowed to flow by Mr Moore, although some offenders, notably the number 10, should have been subject to a few more whistles from the ref.

Ironically, he was probably Turnford's best player and hit the bar after a jinking run, and then netted a tremendous goal to draw the College level. Bromage should have scored from Oddell's cross, while the nippy youngster also laid chances on for Scott Reed and others. Another chance was thwarted by a bad bounce, scuppering Bromage's chances of heading over the keeper. At half time, Turnford dragged a first team player off the adjacent pitch, so manager Butterfield could bring on Colin Ridout without bringing anyone off.

The second half began slowly - with Turnford sitting back and Lights failing to penetrate, although Bromage almost regained the lead for Green Lights with a left foot shot after a Donegan error, but the keeper tipped it onto the post.

The heavens opened and torrential rain made play difficult for a while before it eased off and Lights took control. Gary 'I win penalties, me' Oddell was felled just inside the box after another of his probing forays, and Bromage stepped up, and ignoring the fact that the penalty spot was a couple of inches under a puddle, fired the ball past the goalie's outstretched right hand.

Scott Reed stole the show in the end though with two late the goals - the first being a very strong contender for best Green Light goal ever, as he shunned the attentions of Neil Butterfield and Donegan on the wing, cut inside and fired a fine cross-shot through the hands of the Turnford custodian from just inside the area.

Then Oddell sent Bromage through but the keeper spreadeagled himself to deny Light's top scorer a hat-trick, Bromage recovered to lay off the rebound to Oddell, but the shot was put wide. With two minutes left though, Farenden's chipped free kick over the defence fell nicely to Bromage whose powerful strike was parried by the keeper to Reed (S) who netted the rebound, albeit with a a petrified look on his face as if to suggest he wasn't 100 per cent confident of scoring. Moore blew for time on 70 minutes, but for once this was not entirely welcome for the Lights as it came at a time when it was a case of 'how many goals can Green Lights score?' (No, really).

The lack of substitutions helped the cause - as every team-member knew what they had to do, and the back line, marshalled by the absolutely inspirational man-of-the-match Farenden, kept its shape so well that Lee Mills was rarely called into action.

Oddell and Bromage are also forming an awsome partnership up front which has reaped eight goals in four games, and the record breaking feat of netting five goals in a game couldn't have come at a better time. An absolutely stunning performance by all involved and Fat Boys - you'd better be damned ready.

[GREEN LIGHTS:] Mills, Skillett, Bunyan, Farenden, Pryke, P Reed, Webster, S Reed, Bromage, Oddell, Ridout (on at half time).