Coeur's season started a week late due to a lack of changing room facilities last week at Quarry Bank . Having been promoted twice in two seasons, Coeur were looking to prove that despite having played in divisions 4 and 5 for most of the last 10 seasons, this was a level of football at which they could live.

Bankfield were to be Coeur's first opposition in Division Two and had something to prove having suffered a heavy defeat (6 - 1) at the hands of newcomers Mossley Hill last week. Coeur had several players unavailable for selection for a variety of reasons. Last season's top scorer Paul Carr is a set to miss a large portion of this campaign after suffering knee ligament damage in last season's final match vs Bootech. Another long term absentee is title lifting captain Dave Looby who is suffering a plethora of ailments as a result of a motorbike accident. Five more of last year's squad were also missing Neil Shelley, Alan Hulthen, Mally Harper, Gav Scott and Derrick Burns. It shows the strength of Coeur's squad that they could still field a strong team despite the absentees.

When Bankfield turned up it was apparent that they were struggling for a side and eventually kicked off with only 9 players. Coeur having realised this adopted an adventurous 3-4-3 formation to try and capitalise on Bankfield's numerical deficiencies, and how it paid off.

The missing players must be sweating on getting a place in the 14 on their return as Coeur relentlessly hammered Bankfield 9 - 0. Mick Kennedy was returning to Coeur's ranks after a few years out of the fold, looking to add to his record of 298 goals in just over 300 games. Rob Hatton was making his debut on the left of midfield and was keen to impress. Both players did that and then some.

It was Mick Kennedy that opened the scoring for Coeur in the first half with a well placed shot, out of the reach of the keeper who had already made a few good saves. Mick was now on 299 Coeur goals and didn't have to wait long for his 300th. It came in the form of a spectacular overhead kick from almost 20 yards leaving the keeper helpless and the onlookers impressed. Coeur were totally dominant and moved the ball round brilliantly, ensuring that the Bankfield players were going to tire due to all the chasing they were having to do. Mick Kennedy added two more before half time, an excellent finish near post and an outrageous goal that left the crowd laughing due to it's audacity. A cross came in from the left behind Mick, who swung round 360° back heeling the ball in on the volley in the middle of the spin.

Half Time 4 - 0

Second half saw Coeur press home their advantage despite playing into a strong wind. Rob Hatton had decided that Mick Kennedy had had enough of the limelight so took it upon himself to open his account for Coeur. His strode onto an excellent pass from Chris Speed and fired the ball across the keeper into the far corner. Mick Kennedy obviously saw this as a challenge as he then responded by firing in his 5th with his second fantastic overhead kick of the afternoon!!

Chris Speed got in on the act with a sublime finish from just outside the box, and Rob Hatton added his second of the afternoon to make Coeur's lead 8 - 0. The defenders biggest challenge of the afternoon was maintaining their concentration, and ensuring Bankfield didn't take away a consolation goal. At times the back 3 of Mick Carr, Andy Rannard and Mike Smith took it in turns to maraud forward, to varying degrees of success. Mike Smith took off on a trademark run from the back beating the majority of the Bankfield players before reaching the box, unfortunately his finish could not match the quality of the run.

Rob Hatton rounded off his debut, and the match, in fine style thrashing home his third and Coeur ninth. Special mention must be made to the Bankfield keeper who pulled of a string of good saves, most notably a fantastic double save to keep the score below double figures.

Full Time

Sacre Coeur 9 - 0 Bankfield

Our Michael