Shellharbour Makos 0 CHOGS 3

What started as a mad scramble turned into a walk in the (Morley) park as the Chogs posted a third win from as many games Saturday. More confusion over the status of matches meant a less than perfect buildup for the visitors. GD was surfing down Warilla way when he heard the news - the only problem was his kit was back home at Stanwell Park. It was a similar story for the holidaying Ant, whose neighbor had to pretend he was attending an open house at Ant's abode, grabbing his shirt and socks from the bedroom while the estate agent's back was turned. (House is looking schmick Ant). Already missing MS (work), JB (injury) and KS (away) the Chogs were further hit when GP answered the call of the wild - going on safari with the team photographer and the Mini Gs to Sydney Zoo - and was found guilty of thinking he knew how the IAFA operates.
Ultimately, we kicked off with 15 able bodies in the only Masters 2 match of the round. The other teams will now have to play a make up day, most likely on Mothers Day, so we dodged a bullet there.
The Makos contained several players from the quite good George Cross outfit which beat us twice last season but also had a smattering of newbies, as well as none of the teenagers they paraded a year earlier.
While quite adept at moving the ball through their midfielders, the Makos lacked a cutting edge up front and were prone to panic at the back.
Ian made the most of their lack of composure after about 15 minutes, swinging a long ball from the left towards TH10 at the far post. A defender failed to cut it out and TH10's ample belly cushioned the ball down for him to sidefoot past the keeper. TH10 missed a golden opportunity for a second soon after following a picked up backpass by the Makos keeper. Ant should have been hitting it with his left but instead the senior forward sent it blazing high and wide.
There were other chances too, Ant whistling one wide at the near post, TH10 sending his header straight at the keeper and Sean just failing to connect with a superb deep cross from Matt.
Whenever the Makos threatened the defence got good bodies in front of the ball or Hector continued his fantastic early season form between the sticks. GD and Fergus came off second best in sickening aerial collisions and the Chogs were hanging on as the halftime whistle blew.
Fergus came into the game sporting a hangover and the knock on the head did little to improve his health.
The substitution system went horribly wrong in the second half to the extent that the Chogs lost their shape and sometimes the plot. At one stage we had four defenders on the sideline, on another it was three attackers.
Despite the self inflicted wounds, we managed to forge further ahead, Sean being sent clean through and rounding the keeper to slot in the second against the run of play. Soon after he played a perfectly weighted ball over the head of the Makos centre half and TH10 trundled through to clip the ball first time past the advancing keeper and into the far corner of the net.
The third completely deflated the opposition who resorted to long shots, although they did threaten when DJ brought down an attacker inside the box. The ref called it outside, wrongly, and in a shot which summed up the Makos afternoon, the ball rifled against the bar and was squirrelled off to safety by our resilient defence. Gary H's wonderful goal saving tackle, Brick Wall Phil's unpassability and a stunning low save by Hector typified our defensive effort.
Matt picked up a booking for kicking the ball away - Fergus was most aggrieved that Sue Phillipson was taking photos of monkeys at the time - and the forwards messed up a few golden opportunities to add to the scoreline. All in all, a satisfying way to surge clear at the top of the table. We are scoring goals, keeping clean sheets and winning while mindful that we have improvement in us. Happy days.