At the start of the day, Royal Oak were above AFC Kempston Res, and they knew that a win could possibly secure there safety for next season.

The Royal Oak had a strong starting XI, with Dave Minney Back from ManFlue and no injuries from last week only Claudio Jordan (Girlfriend duties) was missing. The Royal Oak started very strong, dominating the first 10 minutes. The Oak went 1-0 up within 10 minutes, when Michael Cooneys cross decieved the AFC defence and the Goalkeeper put the ball into his own net.

But for some reason, The Oak took there foot of the gas, and some dismal defending handed AFC a goal to level the scoreline. Andy Palombella's man knocked the ball past his marker inside the Oaks box, and Palombella mis-timed his tackle and took the player out cleanly.

A penalty was awarded, which Martin White saved, but could only palm it back into the path of 3 on-rushing strikers. No Oak players anticipated the save, and AFC were handed an easy tap in.

With the scores at 1-1, The Oak could still not find any rhythm and switched some players, with Aidan Diffy going to right back, Andy Palombella switching with Martin O Donovan to go left back and Michael Cox switching with Liam Boland to go to the left side of midfield. Luckily, Steve Armstrong eased the nerves with a low struck shot which found it's way into the back of the net.

The Oak went into half time with a 2-1 lead, but were not happy with the first half performance. A few harsh words were exchanged, and Chris Birdsall was forced into making a change with centre back Aidan Diffy walking off. With Birdsall taking the right back role, the Oak started the second half as badly as they finished the first! AFC pumped a long hopeful ball forward, which Birdsall swung a boot at only to miss and gift the ball to an AFC striker. The ball was calmly slotted under White to bring the score back to 2-2.

The Oak then hit the self destruct button and for 30 minutes they could not hold the ball. Every pass was mis-hit, or over-hit and The Oak were made to look out of there depth.

AFC kept the pressure up and scored another goal not long after the second goal to make it 3-2. Again, the Oak could not keep possession. Another hopeful ball by the AFC defence made the score 4-2 with about 20 minutes to go. Dave Minney beat his man to the ball and tried to pass the ball back to Martin White. The pass was short and the AFC Striker ran onto it and lobbed White from about 20 yards out.

The Oak then made another substitution, with Lloyd Turner coming on for Lorenzo Jordan. Within 5 minutes of the substitution, Turner had the ball in the back of the net, only for our very own Wayne (Mr Sensible) Aylott to flag for offside! With time slipping away, the Oak seemed to finally start playing a bit of football. Steve Armstrong had the best chance to pull a goal back, latching on to a 40 yard through ball from Liam Boland, Armstrong chipped the on-rushing Goalkeeper only to find the outside of the post.

With only 8 minutes to go, the Oaks chances looked dead and buried. AFC secured the win when the left winger ran on to his own pass and shot at goal. White made a great save down low to his left but again no Oak players anticipated the save and an AFC striker had another easy tap in.

Then, the highlight of the game... Martin White came out to collect an AFC through ball with his feet, ran towards a striker and nutmegged him! White ran round te player and hit a tackle and the ball fell to O Donovan in the Oak defence. This was the best bit of skill in a poor game!

The whistle blew and AFC had climbed back above the Oak. They are now in the thick of the relegation battle and look like they might struggle
to survive.
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Team: (4-4-2) Martin White, Aidan Diffy (Chris Birdsall), Martin O Donovan, Dave Minney, Andy Palombella, Sean Boland, Michael Cox, Liam Boland, Michael Cooney, Lorenzo Jordan (Lloyd Turner), Steve Armstrong
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Man Of The Match: Martin White Again! Saved a penalty and made a couple of great saves, but unfortunately the Oaks defending let him down.
Winner of Fig's Vest: Dave Minney - Dreadful backpass gifted AFC a goal. Had been ill all week before the game and looked shattered after 30 minutes.