The pitch itself had no lines and grass that desperately needed cutting, whilst the nets had enough sand and soil in them to make a sandcastle.  Add to that the Sahara type heat, and a lack of water...it was always going to be tough.

Gate gave debuts to 3 new recruits, Adam Hayes, Ant Babbs and John Holland. Adam started the match and played in the holding midfield role, allowing Chilton to push forward. Ant started upfront, whilst Holland came off the bench to replace the tiring Martin Hudson in Midfield.

Gate were short of attacking options with Gaz Maziere, Lee Barrow, Paul Barrow, Mark Melia and Dave all unavailable. 

It was New Street who started the brighter of the teams as they applied attacking pressure by coming down the wings constantly and overlapping, but they failed to create any real chances. Once Gate had settled, they began to take the game to New Street and created a couple of chances.

It was Gate who took the lead midway through the first half, a superb long curling ball over the top from Pape sent Oakes running through on goal, he heard the shout from Ant at the far post and hooked the ball back across the goal, over the keeper and left Ant with a simple tap in at the far post.

New Street equalised when a corner was 'apparently' touched by one player, and walked away, then 10 seconds later...the player stood with the ball at the corner flag began to run in at goal with the ball. The Gate team looked bemused, as did a couple of New Street players and a mad goal mouth scramble followed and the ball was forced home. 

Gate didn't let their heads sink though, they took the game to New Street and it wasn't long before they were back in the lead. Jason Chilton found the ball at his feet, 20 yards from goal and unleashed a shot with the outside of the right food which curled into the right hand corner. 

New Street had a couple of chances but nothing clear cut, the closest they came was a free kick that Schonewille pushed round the post. 

Half time came and Gate were in the lead!

The second half continued in much the same way, with both teams creating chances. It was Gate that came closest to scoring though, with Jason hitting the post, then Ant with a trademark thunderous shot coming back of the other post. 

Despite having plenty of attacking possession, New Street still couldn't create any real chances. Schonewille had one or two simple shots to deal with and one that required tipping onto the bar, but apart from that, little else.

However with 20 minutes left New Street forced a corner. From that corner, the tall midfielder (that goes by the name of 'Ste') lost his man and towered above everyone else on the pitch to smash the header into the top corner from 6 yards out. 2-2 and Gate were looking tired. 

There were only a few minutes left when New Street scored what proved to be the winning goal. The left winger got past his man and put in a cross that was met by Gaz Kenny (a relation of our very own Andy Kenny) who managed to head the ball back across goal, off the far post and in. 

Gate never gave up and piled forward in search of the equaliser, often leaving themselves exposed at the back. Despite the pressure they couldn't manage to find the equalising goal. 

A 3-2 defeat, but Gate can take a lot of credit from the match. Weather conditions, lack of water and lack of subs made it difficult but signs are good for the new season.

Team: Phil Schonewille; Andy Kenny, Chris Hill, Ste Maziere, Gaz Anders; Martin Hudson (John Holland), Jason Chilton (Jeff Voller), Adam Hayes, Matt Pape; Ant Babbs, Dan Oakes

Score: Real Gate 2(2)-3(1) New Street