The men's 1s travelled to Eastbourne hoping to continue their strong start to the season. Eastbourne, new to the league from their relegation last season, would have been amongst many people's favourites to win the league and with the long journey time the boys new a challenging day lay ahead of them.

The match started with both teams feeling the other side out without creating many significant chances. The first half continued much in this vein: The general play was of a very high standard for the league but neither team was able to dominate the other. The most notable moments of the opening segment were a handful of excellent saves from eventual man-of-the-match, goalkeeper Duir Forrest.
Coach Norval Scott bestowed his wisdom on the team with his half-time team talk; calling for calm, patience and intelligent decision-making.
Something Norv said must have worked as not two minutes into the second half Joshua Clifford set off on a trademark dribble and finished with a tomahawk into the bottom corner. Eastbourne responded strongly and equalised quickly with a deft deflection. After the equaliser the Ops decided to really turn it on, leaving Eastbourne unable to cope. Quickfire goals from a Will Mead run and lob, Joe Tolhurst clean strike and another Clifford dragflick left the opposition chasing shadows and firmly nudging the self-destruct button. Eastbourne rallied late on in their attempts to claw a way back into the game but some excellent defensive performances from Danny Tomlinson, Bono Vincent and Rory Fry ensured there was nothing more on the table for them. The game finished 4-1 to the Optimists, an excellent result to continue the strong start to the season.

This leaves the boys with three wins from three, having only conceded two goals. Enjoyment and confidence are high in the squad. Bring on Ashford next week!