Manor farm made it successive Saturday successes as they ran out 5-1 winners away to Avonmouth. The game began without the usual two linesman as one was running late, but unlike the tardy Fourth Official, Farm wasted little time in getting the action going. Just 4 minutes passed when captain Jay Adams, who had played 90 minutes the previous evening, crashed home from distance to give the visitors an early lead.

An extremely youthful Manor Farm found themselves 2-1 down before their 3rd pre season game ended early, due to an injury against Shirehampton at a damp Creek stadium. Farm, who were at least flanked by 3 senior players, looked positive early on and two of those older heads combined for the first real chance of the game inside the first quarter hour.

It would be tempting to give the whole Manor Farm team the ‘man of the match’ accolade for a complete team performance, scintillating at times,  against Cadbury Heath from the Western League on Saturday. It was one of those satisfying days for a Manager when everything just ‘clicked’ and all the hard yards of pre-season preparation reaped their just rewards with a hatful of goals.

So, after the strangest Spring/Summer interlude in living memory, ‘Football with spectators’ finally returned to our region yesterday. Local rivals Hallen from the Western League and Bristol Manor Farm representing the Southern League met in typical ‘pre-season’ sunshine albeit under Covid-19 restrictions at Hallen’s Moorhouse Lane ground.