It was a hard fought contest and in spite of originally having superior numbers (7v6), the white shirts always knew it was going to be a struggle when a player of Roy's quality had to leave early and so it proved with the gallant white-shirts losing their lead to eventually succumb 12-9.

There were so many quality performances on display it is invidious to highlight any. Nevertheless the public must get a flavour of the skills on display ...

Luke, Tom, and Paul all battled bravely against injuries and are to be commended - their spirit and gusto infiltrated the rest of the team and as a result newcomer Chris and old hand Dwayne sparkled.

The darker shirts were oozing quality and it was a wonder that Mark Hughes's men had passed up the opportunity to see the talent on display.

Yusuf and Andrew impressed with how well they found space and linked up. Andrew was also responsible for some Van Persie-esque finishing. Meanwhile Tim made incisive runs striking at the heart of the opposition and Graeme made piercing passes, stroking the ball around with the assuredness of Didi Hamann.

Newcomer David showed no sign of newbie nerves, linked up impressively and was a millimetre from scoring on his debut, but man of the match (and it was very close call) goes to Merrick, who as well as scoring a hatful of goals also battled back to help keep the tally down at the other end.