On a sunny May Sunday, Panthers travelled down the M5 to meet the newest LGBT football team on the block, ISCA Apollo FC, for a friendly. And the Panthers were able to pick up a strong 4-0 win to take our undefeated streak to 8 matches.
The Panthers' numbers were somewhat depleted with injuries and the home team started strong in the earlygoing. Pete, Ross, Carl and Jonathan held tight in the back four, and eventually managed to push the ball forward onto the midfield. However, neither side could break the deadlock in the first 20 minutes, until some Panthers substitutions were able to free up more attacking options. Rob Parry-Hall and Rob Alsop came on and both put in an impressive shift in the defence.
Midfielders Dean, Ajmal, Mike, Chris and Dan were able to get the ball moving well, and eventually the Panthers' efforts paid off as Dan was able to get us on the scoresheet. He'd follow that up with two more to secure a hat track and a well-earned man of the match award. Phil was unlucky not to open his account for the Panthers, as he put together some important offensive manouevres.
Dean May would also see his efforts up front rewarded with a goal, after a header caused a scramble in the ISCA box and the ball eventually bounced over the line. The scoreline concealed some good play from the Exeter team, however. In particular, their goalkeeper pulled off some excellent saves, despite it being his first time playing in goal!
All in all, it was an excellent and well-spirited game, and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to play against another LGBT team in the South West. The Devonians showed a lot of promise, and we're looking forward to seeing them again in GFSN competitions later in the year. They also put on an amazing spread of food at their sponsor's Coolings Bar!
