At four o'clock everybody in Singapore knew there would be no football kicking off an hour later.  At four thirty, the rain had slowed but the Dempsey pitches were still waterlogged.  At ten to five, as the water vanished before our eyes, we actually had to start contemplating playing football.  And at quarter past five, against all the odds, we eventually kicked off our match against Latini - the winner of which would be in the driving seat for a league runners-up finish.

Casuals started quickly on a near perfect surface and pressured Latini all over the pitch.  When Casuals had the ball, good football was being played, passes were going to feet and, through constant movement, players in possession always had options.

On 15 minutes, Doug received the ball after neat interplay in midfield and, somewhat fortuitously, played Tom in to round the keeper for the first of the afternoon.  Not long after, Tom intercepted a through ball to Marc from Paul and hit a dipping volley from 30 yards to make it 2-0.  After 35 minutes Tom played in Marc who rounded the keeper for the third.  It was more than Casuals could have hoped so early in the game (and will be the last mention of Tom in this report).

Despite the score, Latini remained mentally positive and when Olivier made it 3-1 from the spot (and moved ahead of Dom in the goals table), Casuals knew the game was far from won.

Fortunately, however, Latini's belief was not matched by their physical strength on the day and Casuals continued to win many of the individual battles.  Mad Dave and Lee harried and tackled persistently, and unflappable Owain was calmness personified at the back.  Ross kept Latini's tricky midfielder relatively quiet, but of the defence and wingbacks, it was Greg who had the biggest influence on the game.  Within five minutes of the restart, the energy Greg usually expends shouting (he left his voice in Vegas), was put to good use when he cleverly turned his man before heading towards goal and firing in confidently at the near post.  Ten minutes later he surged forward again and hit a perfect 30 yard pass across the box for substitute Gordon to finish at the far post.

Mention should be made of Mal and Doug in midfield who controlled the game well, allowing Paul to get forward and support the front two.  Also Marc in goal who was relatively untroubled but still managed to pull off a superb save towards the end of the game.

And of course the remaining subs: Phil, Franny, Huw and James who all contributed to a superb squad effort.  Phil nearly even managed ten minutes without his legs collapsing beneath him.

All in all an excellent win for the Casuals and almost exactly what had been said before the start of the game - play like we did against the Brewerkz for most of the first half last week, but make sure of the finishing.

A final note for Brad the ref who was barely worth a mention.  Which is the way it should be.