An understrength ReUnited squad succumbed to their first defeat of the season in the Hebiguchi Cup. January is always a tough time to pull a full strength team together with various members of our squad gallivanting around the world.

We lacked the energy we needed to take points against a committed Azzurri team who packed midfield and dominated the game well. We found it extremely difficult to string passes together and thus could not create any clear chances.

Azzurri took the lead in the first half when they attacked down our right, Cody saved the initial shot but another Italian was well placed to convert the rebound. They deservedly doubled their lead in the second when they caught us on the break and Alex Brown slammed in a hard low drive.

We never really looked like getting back into the game and Azzurri squandered better chances than we even created (including a penalty). But anyway, we look forwards to focusing back on the league next month, hopefully with our squad returned to full strength.