against familiar and tough opponents in Hibs at the elusive First Toa Payoh Secondary School. It was with no subs we started the game as Gary and Darren were touring Braddel MRT station in a taxi for the best part of an hour. Improvisation was the order of the day with Benji holding up his shorts with a bootlace and Sickboy utilizing a pair of flip flops as shin pads. All this before Sickboy auditioned for the Chippendales by ripping off his underwear which were starting to chaff apparently.

The game was high tempo from the start with Stu, industrious as ever breaking into the box and crashing a shot off the underside of the bar which somehow stayed out. The back four were being kept busy by the towering Hibs front line. Dom and Hugsy doing a great job in keeping goal side and letting nothing through, Alex and Rahul putting in the yards to deal with Hibs pace on the wings. Hibs had their share of opportunities as they too were denied by the woodwork and some smart saves from Cuong in the TGA goal. The eventual arrival and introduction of Gary and Darren gave fresh legs and stability in the heat as we closed out the first half playing with more confidence.

The half time talk was positive and we didn’t want to settle for a draw. Yohann kept up his first half effort, and with better service was causing Hibs endless problems. Benji too in the midfield was mopping up every loose ball after Sickboy broke down play time and again. It was from one of these breakdowns Benji took off at pace down the centre of the park and sprayed a ball out to Bradley on the wing. He managed to pick out Yohann who connected perfectly to bury the ball in the net. 1-0 and Hibs had to score 2, but TGA were creating the chances.

In an interesting 5 minute period TGA were denied a clear penalty. Their keeper handled the ball outside the box, head-butted Yohann, earning himself a yellow card, then gave away a penalty (which we missed !!), and amazingly stayed on the pitch as the ref doesn’t book people for giving away penalties.

Our fitness was starting to show with Stu showing everyone the level of effort required. Our second goal was a beauty with Benji starting it at the back and after neat passing he finished off a flowing move with some dazzling footwork. He broke into the box and deftly clipped the ball over the
keeper. Awesome.

The game was effectively over with Hibs needing 3 goals in the last 10 mins, but Darren added the icing to the cake bursting down the right, into the box and tucking away a confident finish reminiscent of his last wonder goal.

Our best run in the cup to date – let’s try and go all the way !