Saturday 21st October Old Habs 2 - 1 Eton III (Jones, Vellosa) Whispers of an improved OH side have grown to clamours of a title-push. With confidence at its highest point this season, Jameson again felt able to tinker with his line-up as OH welcomed Eton III to the Crox. Rumours that the away team were in fact a superior outfit to Eton IIs seemed unfounded as the shabby posh boys sported an array of white George Asda t-shirts and pristine rugby tops. And the first twenty minutes certainly offered little hope to the visitors. Yet wave after wave of OH attacks unbelievably failed to trouble the scorers. A sharp shot from Jones and several from his dressing room foe, Reidy, suggested a rout, but still Eton held on. Eventually Jones slotted home with a precision that his team-mates failed to emulate throughout the game. 1-0 to the home team. It wasn't long, however, before Eton were level and, inevitably, frustration grew amongst the home side. Half-time was one rant after another as players sought to be heard. Old Habs certainly knew how to talk, but could they prove similarly eloquent with their feet? Substitutions followed shortly after half-time as OH struggled to assert themselves in this increasingly scrappy affair. With the energetic Reidy succumbing to injury, Nichols and Rico were under pressure to perform. A combination of bad luck and poor finishing from several members of the team meant it was a nervous denouement and OH can count themselves somewhat fortunate that Vellosa saved the day with minutes to spare. Martin 'the Smudge' Smith cracked a forty-five yarder against the post and deserves special mention for a strong performance. Back where they belong - at the top of the table - OH now face a series of testing away fixtures. Will the commitment levels remain the same as the days shorten and players might miss the beginning of X-Factor? What the keymen said: Jones: "Smudge had a really good game. Set up both goals, hit the bar from 30 yards and generally was a nuisance in the middle. For my goal he hooked a through ball into a gaping space that I'd run into. Took one touch with the right thigh to control a bouncing ball and then calmly slotted it past the advancing keeper with my left foot. One-nil! It was about time as we were pretty profligate in the game. There was a whole host of great chances missed in the game. Notably from Reidy jnr (twice), Rico (although he'll claim he knew he was offside) and Tom. Didn't realise Will was going to take my comment about 4 chances to score to heart." Smudger Smith: "I'm happy to report that the assist table is now well out of date and that I'm joint top with the likes of Will 'Sir Lancelot' Reidy and Bill 'I am the law' Paterson. If the ranking is done in alphabetical order I'm gonna be sickened!! In addition there is a rumour of a pay dispute following the MOM award! I would compare my strike to one that Gary McAllister hit for Liverpool against Everton at Goodison Park in 2002 that had Paul Gerrard rooted to the spot. Basically a ball was whipped in from the right hand side and fell to me 30 odd yards out. Jones was in my ear shouting 'hit it' and I didn't need a second invitation as I unleashed an unstoppable drive which had the keeper rooted to the spot. It was my best performance in the claret and blue and a good hard fought win by the Old Habs." Vellosa: "It looked like we were going to drop unneccessary points again, after squandering a host of opportunities. MOM Smudger had a stinging drive hit the woodwork and another blocked on the 6-yard box, so it wasn't looking like our day. I think we were into the last 10 minutes when I picked up a ball from a right wing cross on the edge of the box. I had my back to goal, but still only had one thought in my mind - I wanted to get a shot away. I flicked it up, spun to my left and hit a sweet volley to the keepers right. Although the keeper managed to get a hand to it, he had no chance of stopping it. Thankfully the Eton Club Doctor was on hand to treat the goalkeeper's suspected wrist fracture. The Croxdale Road massive were going wild and another 3 points were secured." Reidy: "the keeper should have saved it but was concentrating on his hollywood dive and forgot to actually push the ball round the post and not into his side netting!! Good win!"