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Our first outing of the New Year saw us straight into cup action with a semi-final spot up for grabs. On a very poor pitch after an overnight monsoon left little chance for Reds to produce their usual slick passing game. In fact the Reds struggled early on and went behind to a fabulous long range effort from Southgates midfielder over the surprised Brandon making his debut in goal. 0-1. Parkfield struck back soon after with a wonderful move and goal originating from defence. A great ball out wide to the energetic Miro on the wing resulted in a beautiful cross onto the forehead of Sima who timed his run to the far post perfectly and headed past the Southgate number one. 1-1. The Reds began to command the centre of the park but it wasn’t until the 40th minute that they went ahead. Another fabulous move with Miro assisting again saw Nathan curl his shot from outside the box beyond the stretching goalie into the top left hand corner. Another goal of the season contender. Half time 2-1.
With Sima leaving the pitch just before half-time to eat a sandwich, the opportunity arose for Gidion to make his debut. A left footed attacking player offered Parkfield something different and once settled after a few touches he began to make his presence felt. The second 45 minutes became more comfortable for the Reds and they gradually began to control the game. Attacking uphill, numerous attacks continued on the tiring Southgate defence and it would only be a matter of time before they succumbed. Offering little threat to Parkfields goal other than a couple of efforts dealt with easily by Brandon, they were effectively put out of the cup by two goals from new signing Gidion. Score 4-1