After an incredible week of media appearances and celeb endorsements (including from Little Britain star Matt Lucas!), the Panthers put in a dominant performance in a 9-1 away win against Leftfooters FC.
In wet conditions, the Panthers established an early lead after the Leftfooters conceded a penalty. Mike Green coolly stepped up with an excellent strike to open the scoring. They were then followed up with further goals from Sal, Chris Miles and Tom in quick succession. Mike then bagged a second goal to take us into half time.
The Leftfooters had clearly struggled to get in gear during the first half, but after the half time break, they put a lot more pressure on the Panthers defence. Some spirited performances from the back 3 (captain Ross, Rob and Jonathan), super-sub wingbacks Pete and Kevin, and midfield stalwarts Dean, Tom and George kept the hosts at bay.
That gave the Panthers plenty of openings to add to the goal tally, with Chris Miles knocking in a trio of second half goals to bring his total for the day to 4. A final strike from Charlie finished the Panthers' goal flurry.
The Leftfooters - who were fantastic hosts - did get a measure of consolation in the dying seconds of the game. A rebounded save from goalkeeper Alex created chaos in the box and allowed the home team to finally get a shot over the line.
A 9-1 win was a fantastic result away from home, and a great way to rebound from our defeat to East End Phoenix last month. But even if the scoreline hadn't been so impressive, what shone through was excellent team spirit from the Panthers and some fantastic individual performances. Especially from Man of the Match Tom Marlow!
And after the teams dried off, much fun was had out in Soho in the evening - leading to some sore heads for the drive back the next day!
The Panthers will look to continue this run of form through the rest of the month. They face a cup fixture away against recent rivals East End Phoenix on October 20, and will host Leicester Wildecats in the GFSN league on October 27.