After 419 days, The Rockets unbeaten run in all competitive games came to an end at the hands of Premier League side Woolston Rovers Warriors. It was a game we went into knowing that we were the under dogs with Woolston being 2 divisions higher but the lads were positive and went head to head with them from the off.

The Rockets started brightly and had an early opportunity when Taylor raced through but saw his shot deflected wide by a great last ditch tackle. Woolston began to get on top, with possession and territory against us the lads had to roll their sleeves up to match them. Damion and Luke were superb in tacking their big forwards and stopping crosses from coming in. After defending superbly, the Rockets got their break through mid way through the half. Lucas played the ball over the top and Markus ran through and finished to give us the lead.

Woolston continued to probe but couldnt find a way past our back 5. They could only manage long range efforts. Josh, Lucas, and Noah were battling in the middle and giving them no time on the ball. And with Markus, Taylor and Joe we always had the pace to try and break away. The pressure finally told and Woolston grabbed a controversial equaliser. A cross in was met by their forward who was 5 yards off side, his 1st shot was saved by Mikey from point blank range but the forward managed to poke in from 2 yards to make it 1-1. The Rockets rallied and battled for every ball. The passion and commitment summed up when Noah bravely put his head in to clear and unfortunately met a Woolston lads studs to the face. Noah had to come off to get cleaned up but this wouldnt be the end of his day.

At half time this game was still 50/50. However Markus had taken a knock to his ankle and later in the game had to come off. The message was to keep competing and look for the ball over the top. The Rockets started the 2nd half brightly and forced a few corners. We had freshened up our midfield with Seth and Dylan coming on. Dan who was outstanding playing at centre back and Callum were bossing their front 2 and nothing looked like getting past them. The Rockets were very unlucky not to get a 2nd when pressure from Taylor forced a wayward ball and Noah hit one from the edge of the box, only to see it crash against the post.

Woolston continued to threaten and eventually they got their 2nd. A cross from the right was met by their striker to finish from close range. The game finished 2-1 and we were out of the cup.

The lads were outstanding and all of the coaches were proud after the effort the lads gave. We fell just short of a big upset, we competed against a Premier League side and this is now a marker for what we want to achieve in the future. Our attention turns back to the league campaign and difficult run of fixtures starting on Saturday away at Earlestown. Lets hope another unbeaten run starts this week.