A small number of you may remember a song by semi-popular 80's beat combo Orange Juice entitled "Three cheers for our side". On Friday evening BBC4 showed a moving documentary charting the efforts of former O.J. front man Edwyn Collins as he battled back from the dreadful aftermath of a brain haemorrhage which left him on the verge of death and partially paralysed.

Whilst not wanting to belittle the mountain facing Mr Collins, it's fair to to say that following last week's humiliation Bryan Munich found themselves plugged into the life support machine, with only the smallest flicker of a heartbeat showing. Well that's what the critics would have you believe but today inspired by a pre-match reading of Shakespeare by our erudite and eloquent skipper, "The Munich" bounced back.

Whilst the road to Axbridge is a pretty one, the journey home in previous seasons has been a painful one. Today 13 hero's pulled on their shirts with a renewed sense of pride and with skill, determination and a seldom seen sense of organisational discipline snuffed out the the previously rampant Saxons to record a 2-0 win. A goal in each from Simon Cochrane saw the points heading back to Bristol for the first time in our trips to Somerset.

Simon was one of the many contenders for man of the match, along with Mike (best ever game in a Bryan shirt), Jez and John B - rocks at the centre of the defence, new signing Steve Spray made a very impressive debut at Left back. Dan who made great finger tip save at 1-0, Tom Clarke with his non stop energy and skilful play on the right, Tone and Pete who were superb in central midfield, and the rotating front four of Ant, Mark, Geoff and Jerry who all ran themselves into the ground for the team. Yes, that's everyone! It was that sort of performance, everyone did their job and more. Me? Well with the defence performing so well it would have been foolish to change anything, so I was happy to run the line and call the tactics. With only one defeat in the last four games the push to mid table obscurity has started.

Oh and that infamous tactic of playing three at the back is gone forever, as Edwyn would say "Rip it up and start again!"

Well played chaps, three cheers for our side indeed!

For the 1st time in many months the brave and happy men of Bryan Munich awoke on a match day to find the sky as miserable as our league position. The bottom of the table clash, proved to be an enthralling clash despite the unpleasant conditions.

With the new mantras of "short passes" "play the easy ball" and "it's better for the ball to backwards if we keep possession" ringing in everyone's ears we started brightly playing some enterprising football and looking solid defensively. Eventually the breakthrough came and inevitably it was Ant who opened the scoring, surging towards the goal from the left wing he let fly with a trademark thunderbolt which beat the St Bonns keeper through it's shear venom. 1-0 to the Bryan's who were at that stage controlling the game, the omens were good for a 1st league win of the season.

Of course within a couple of minutes we had managed to squander the lead. St Bonns only worthwhile attack of the half, saw them equalise after a defensive ricochet saw the ball reach their left winger, his well struck shot appeared to have been saved by Dan, only for it to squirm from his grasp and trickle slowly over the line. At the other end the St Bonns keeper made several decent saves and the half time whistle blew with the score at 1-1.

The first 20 minutes of the 2nd half saw us pinned in our own half for longer periods as we struggled to come to terms with playing into the wind. Eventually a well delivered corner and a firm header saw St Bonns take a 2-1 lead, were the Bryan's heading for the bottom of Division 2? Well the goal had a galvanising effect on the team, suddenly we rediscovered our passing game and found that it was better to play our way up the field rather than pump hopeful balls forward. Everyone stepped up their game, making themselves available for passes and winning important tackles.

A succession of angled balls flew across the St Bonns goal-face without anyone quite being able to apply the crucial touch. With time running out we switched to 3 at the back and through everything at the desperate St Bonns back line. Even Dan tried to come forward for a corner, luckily the manager sent him back to own area and even though that attack came to nothing we kept pushing forward. With 2 minutes remaining Dave squirmed away from his marker to fire in a shot which the goal keeper could only parry, as it trickled away from him John Benefield was first to react and the ball was in the net. We went back to 4 at the back for the last couple minutes to ensure we held onto the hard earned point and the game finished without further incident with a 2-2 scoreline.

So lessons to learned?
"short passes" "play the easy ball" and "it's better for the ball to backwards if we keep possession"

Also we need to sort out throw-ins and be a bit sharper with corners.

Good point though lads, let's go for the win against Avon Retreads at Frys ground in Keynsham next Sunday, before the long winter break (looks like we have no game in December).

For those that couldn't make it, the sad news is that we are out of the
cup, we lost 2-1 with the winner coming in spectacular style with
virtually the last kick of the match.

After the success of our last cup game on the same pitch, we once again
elected to play up the slope in the first half. We started brightly, so
it was something of a shock to go 1-0 down when a good turn and finish
from a tight angle saw us chasing the game after only 5 minutes. The
Bryan's responded well and soon on level terms thanks to a cheeky shot
through the goalies legs by Dave.

At this stage we were playing some fantastic one touch football, which
really was a joy to watch, Tony hit the inside of the post after some
wonderful play but the second goal just wouldn't come. At half time we
were disappointed to be on level terms but confident that if we kept on
playing the same way, we could progress to the next round. In truth we
were never as fluent in 2nd half creating a few half chances, and were
unlucky again when Jonny hit the post and saw the ball roll over the
keeper, only for him to claw it back from the goal line.

Wanderer's had a much more equal share of the game in the 2nd half an
it looked as though extra time was on the cards, when they mounted one
last attack. This resulted in a corner, the ball was cleared well
outside the box, only to thumped back in on the volley by a defender
who apparently never shoots! From the kick off we tried the 50 yard
shot from the kick off routine, sadly the ball went wide and the final
whistle was blown - The Bryan's were out of the cup.

Take heart from the exhilarating first half performance though chaps,
it was really quite special.

The next game is scheduled for November 25th, we have been approached
about playing on November 18th. Can you let me know ASAP if you are yes
or a no for this date.

Tom

(2 defeats on the trot, I'm just waiting the vote of confidence from
the chairman!)

Dawn of a new era?

Pre season friendly V. Arthritic Bilbao on September 9th

Promotion

Fixture list

Gentlemen, upcoming fixtures are:

13/03/2005 vs Dynamo Belarus (a) venue: Sun Life at Cribbs Causway
01/05/2005 vs Weston Old Boys (a) venue: tba

2 matches to be confirmed, Feb and April

6-0 to the Bryans, 6-0 to the Bryans

Munich are back!

The home of Bryan Munich

Well here we go chaps, this could be the home of the worlds most average football team!