Real Hit Five

Real Milan finished their pre-season preparations with a fine 1-5 away win against Taplow United. Real were comfortable winners by the end but the first half was evenly contested. The Whites who surprisingly left Karim Usmani and Jordan Pritchard on the bench, began sluggish and got worse.
With few chances being made, and both 'keepers untroubled, the opening goal when it came was out of the blue. Taplow No 4 Daniel Fleet stroked a sweet through pass to the dangerous Elliot Christie. Ricky Wheeler came in to make a tackle but ended up bringing down Christie. The Referee had no hesistation and pointed to the spot. Although Milan players were insensed, Video replays suggest the Referee was totally correct. Up stepped Christie to smash the ball to 'keeper MacCarrolls right to give Taplow the lead.
At Half Time Real players were told to wake up and start playing. Usmani was brought on and within 7 mins of the restart Milan were level. Josh Lake siezed on to a Usmani through ball and slotted a great shot into the corner to equalise. Six minutes later it was that man Lake again who skipped through the Taplow defence to put Real Milan 1-2 ahead. Taplow, fought back and came close a few times with some wicked crosses into Reals box, but MacCarroll read the danger and cleared well. On 75 mins the hard working Harley McAuley got his reward with a great finish to put Milan further ahead. Anthony Gardner made it four, and then Ricky Wheeler rifled a rocket from outside the area to finish the scoring off.
For Real, everyone played their part but Lewis Martin won the SDK sponsored Man Of The Match Award with a solid, classy performance. He also won 2 tickets to watch Slough Town play at home. Special mention for Ashley Kang who worked his socks off.
Taplow weren't at their best and will be disappointed with the result, but they have more than enough quality to bounce back quickly and are still a force to be reckoned with. Their goalkeeper was fantastic and produced at least six top drawer saves.
Overall it was a great result, but Reals Management Team are acutely aware that they will face a more determined Taplow team in next weeks opener.There were no points at stake in this match and it will be a totally different ball-game next week.