November has brought a little cup cheer to the fortunes of Old Parmiterians' 1st teamers with a narrow 4-3 against Bromleians in the AFA Cup at the beginning of the month followed by an even closer 2-2, rubber stamped by a 5-3 penalty shootout win at the always combative Old Stationers in the SAL Cup.

My own journey to the ground was quite eventful when a partial suspension of the Northern Line meant I could progress no further north than Finchley Central, 2 buses via Tallyho corner and a contraflow, affecting both north and southbound travellers at High Barnet. A 3 mile(ish) hike along Mays lane left me arriving later than hoped but missing only 10 minutes or so of play due to a late kick off. The significance of the late kick off was not, at the time, apparent to me. I was more concerned that the can of Stella in my bag had somehow been punctured during the journey, this was only made worse by the discovery that most of the 440ml were now to be found in my cycling gauntlets intended to protect my delicate fingers from the chilly autumn air, so much for that wisdom. With thinner, but better than nothing gloves, I was grateful for remembering to pack an extra layer which had mercifully avoided contact with the leaking beverage and remained effective in staving off the effects of a particularly chilly wind.

The temperature on the pitch was significantly higher, the ref was being constantly harangued, tackles and other challenges were as physical as the laws of the game allow and starting to get beyond even that. In these circumstances the ref's endeavours to keep play going were proving increasingly futile. As tempers were starting to get particularly heated we broke the deadlock in the best way possible, good work down the right had Akim Tiyamiyu homing in from the wing and his crossed ball was deftly guided in by Denislav Petrov's head beyond reach of the keeper. The home side had some success of their own as half time approached as they pierced our defence not just once but twice in the space of two minutes. Not what we would have hoped for going into the break but we came out galvanised and started to get more pressure on as the effects of the sloped pitch were now in our favour and giving a momentum to our tempo. The home side worked hard to keep us at bay but crumbled as Petrov turned provider for the always threatening play from Charlie Heath, who arrived late at the back post to finish and make the scores level.

With no further scoring, despite a number of close calls on the home side's goal, it became clear that the late kick off would prevent extra time and in the failing light the game went straight to penalties. We went first and made no mistake as the first four found the netting, Khalid Makki in the Old Parmiterians goal got enough of his outstretched left hand to their third to become a hero of the tie. All of which earns us a crack at the Civil Service in the next round, the week after another cup tie versus Ally Pally in the AFA Cup. As for this weekend it's back to the league as we get a chance to avenge the only defeat in our campaign to date against fellow high flyers Nottsboro. COYP