Route 1 - No No No

The Emperors came up against an in form Collyhurst side in the semi final of the MYSL Christmas cup. A check on the route to this stage revealed that they’d been winning by some margins up to this point.

Who cares? Not the Emperors. They raced into the lead after 2 minutes, with Ibrahim converting a nice team move. But the Collyhurst tactics were soon evident. Route one. With plenty of shouting at their kids from the side lines. Neither was pretty. 2 or 3 players in our box every time their keeper had the ball and proceeded to drop kick every time. Not a tactic our boys had seen before (thankfully) and it became a struggle to handle. The boys worked so hard to get on the ball though and played the best football, but unfortunately the goals from recent weeks seemed to dry up.

I have little doubt Collyhurst will go on to win the cup, but I’d rather lose than win that way. Great effort and attitude from all the Emperors as always. Well done. Next up, back to the league and then some Christmas tournaments ??