Reunited faced their old foe United in the quarter finals of the Hebiguchi Cup. The Russian team have fallen on hard times recently with a relegation to deal with but we were determined to show them little sympathy.

The first half was a close fought affair with us struggling to find our rhythm. United pressed us back and it was far from comfortable. They were winning the midfield battle and it was somewhat fortuitous when we went ahead just before halftime.
Rob burst down the wing and slid a perfect cross across the six yard box that Florian simply could not miss. This was followed immediately by a second when Tobi headed in a Karsten corner.

This took a lot of the wind from United’s sails but their hopes were raised when their striker broke our offside trap and got a touch to the ball before the onrushing Cody. Cody brought him down just outside the box and was shown a red card. We had 30 minutes to survive with ten men.

We thrived more than survived, perhaps mainly because we immediately added a third to give ourselves a comfortable cushion. United were losing discipline at the back and their keeper hauled down David in the box to grant us a penalty. Tobi converted and then slammed in a trademark half volley from outside the box to complete his hat-trick.

A hat-trick wasn’t enough though and he coolly added a fourth before Ronald completed the scoring with a close range header. Somewhere in the middle of that Beaver scored from the penalty spot after a handball in the box. The sixth we have conceded in six games.

So we march onto the semi-finals and a date with the Lions. There’s everything to play for in 2016!