The first Eleven were without both Dan Goodwin and John Penyas for this fixture against Hillcrest, but the replacements performed with admirable passion and purpose in their absence. St Paul’s were denied a perfectly good goal, when, after Jacob tucked the ball away, the referee deemed him to be off-side. The St Paul’s spectators were incredulous.
Hillcrest scored a scrappy goal in the second half to take the lead. Despite a concerted effort St Paul’s were unable to get the equaliser. The game had a somewhat surreal ending when the whistle blew to end the game with 10 minutes still remaining. After it was restarted, it ended again. More incredulity.
After the holidays the team embarks on its quest to attain a top ten finish at the nationals. On the strength of performances in the first half of the season, this is a realisable and exciting objective.
