Royalist Cup 7 was played this morning in bitterly cold, windy, conditions. The two teams had only been able to take to the field because of some last minute `draft ins` that had kindly agreed to come along and play, which we were especially grateful for as it was also Mothers day !!!. The `new` Cavalier recruits on both sides were all good players, who helped make it an entertaining and enjoyable game. The Gold Cavaliers in the end finished the winners over the Purple Cavaliers by the flattering score of 5-1, but it was a lot more closer affair than the scoreline suggests. The Gold`s just took their chances and were more clinical in front of goal, but the Purple Cav`s had a lot of possession, played some nice football, and were very unlucky at times. They also only had the one subsitute to use.

Special mention`s must go out to Alastair Smart who was again so dependable in goal, even pulling off a great first half penalty save to deny the Purple Cav`s at a crucial point in the match.   Joshua Rice, who more than atoned for arriving a bit late, with a really great display putting in tackles, winning headers, and capping it off with his first Cavalier goal.   Marc Bassinder, who was playing out of his `normal` midfield position in the heart of the Gold`s defence marshalled it superbly alongside Jon Ashman.

The Purple Cav`s had some great creativity at times from Andy Peattie and Laurence Clark in the midfield, with Darren Druce`s usual stonewall defending, and Liam Road`s never ending running up front with Damon Reading, being some of their highlights.

But EVERYONE played their part in a great Royalist Cup game and I would really like to thank them all for helping to get enough players for the game to be played.

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