On a frosty, cold but bright Saturday morning the Pythons gathered for an early kick off in the return fixture against a Burghfield Bears side that they had already seen off in a convincing 7-1 win on the opening day of the season. Spirits were high despite kick-off being delayed to allow the pitch to thaw, as a full squad was available to Pythons coaches in their quest to close the gap to the leaders.

Pythons ran out in their usual formation, fielding a strong starting 11. No-one had quite expected what unfolded across the next 10 minutes as Burghfield out-fought, out-ran and out-thought their high flying visitors for the opening spell of the match. Only 40 seconds had passed since kick off when a Burghfield attacker was left unmarked at a throw-in, he collected the ball unopposed, took a step inside the box and unleashed a fierce drive into the near post. Pythons had played less than 1 minute of 2026 football and were 1-0 down. The team looked stunned and it showed in their football; Burghfield were faster to loose balls and pressed Pinewood in packs, jostling and harrying our lads whenever they picked up the ball. Whilst Pinewood did manage a few attacks in response, nothing fell right and an early substitution was forced when Tegwyn had to come off injured after 6 minutes, following a shot from the edge of the box which saw him connect more with the opponents foot than the ball resulting in a nasty impact to his foot resulting in Leo coming on. Shortly afterwards, another swift Burghfield attack down the left wing saw a misjudgement by the Pinewood defence putting the Burghfield winger in on goal and again he made no mistake. 2-0 Burghfield, 10 minutes gone. Not the start we wanted. The Pythons dug in, and started dealing better with the tricky Burghfield Number 33, Sam Clark and Oli Thompson both working hard, with Daniel Parikos and Zabi Parker-Silito putting in shifts on the wing to no real reward, primarily thanks to the impressive Burghfield work-rate. Half time came and a 2-0 deficit was the task in front of the boys for the second half.

The coaches encouraged the boys during the break, focussing on the positives and made some tactical shifts to ask Oli to man-mark the influential Burghfield 33. This almost paid instant dividends with Teddy Green bursting through 1 on 1 but uncharacteristically firing straight at the keeper. Daniel was asked to run a stint up front and almost found himself in on goal but the very end of the keepers big toe nudged a ball off his feet when it looked like he would be in on an open goal. Zabi almost caught the Burghfield defence out from a corner but saw it bounce off the top of the crossbar, and Jackson (having had a rest at the start of the half) brought a fabulous save from the home keeper with a 20 yard effort from the right hand side of the box. It really was looking like not being our day when finally, after some confusion in the Burghfield box, Teddy fed the ball to Jackson who made no mistake on 53 minutes, firing home. 2-1 Burghfield but game on. Pinewood kept piling forward, Oli Thompson doing a wonderful job at blunting the Burghfield creative spark in midfield and allowing Pinewood to push on, limiting Burghfield to counter attacks which Will Taylor swept up imperiously at the back. Time ticked by and despite some half-chances it was looking for all the world like being a frustrating morning when a quick ball forward saw Zach Whiting burst free - he took a touch past the keeper and then checked back, sending both back-tracking Burghfield defenders sprawling in the wrong direction, and poked the ball goalwards as the crowd screamed - only to see his effort dribble agonisingly wide of the far post. The final whistle blew, and Pinewoods start to 2026 was off on the wrong foot.

Plenty of lessons to be learned from the match. Our midfield became far too stretched in pursuit of the goals we needed whereas holding our shape would likely have presented us with much more possession, attacking territory and chances. We were (again) far too slow to get going, and gave ourselves a mountain to climb before the match had really got going. But credit to the boys for reacting well, winning the second half, and never stopping. They all reflected on full time on the match and lessons were undoubtably learned, which is the most important thing of all as we grow together as a team. Player of the Match was an easy call - Oli Thompson blunted the Burghfield attack superbly, marshalling their playmaker for the entire second half and playing his role superbly. Well Done Oli!