George Washington, the name sake of today’s opponents, was famous for saying he could not tell a lie, well I will have to take his lead and say the Stan were dreadful today (with an S). There 4 changes from Wednesday night’s defeat including Brook in goals for the unavailable Regan. It was David Mason’s 1^st competitive start and French signing Bilal Nakhli’s 1^st competitive match from the bench. Washington went into this match having lost all 4 league games this season and with their manager resigning last night although they did have ex-Stan Dan Robinson up front.

It was all Washington (who were all very tall compared to the Stan), until the Stan has their 1^st attack after 9 minutes, including the visitors shooting high and wide and a forward colliding with Brook who came off worse.

There had been a change of tactics for this match as the Stan had started with 2 up front but in 13 minutes Hoggins had to replace the injured Robertson. It was end to end now but it was Washington who went ahead in 17 minutes when they attacked and Robinson’s cross inside the crowded Stan box went through a defender’s legs and was tapped in by Hanson.

It was back to end to end with Holland making some good runs down the wing for the Stan. In 26 minutes, he tried a speculative long shot which the keeper at 1^st spilled. A few minutes later Brook did the same at the other end. The Washington defence were working well and blocked most Stan attacks.

In 39 minutes, a visiting defender miskicked and the keeper got to the ball just before Hoggins. Washington counter attacedk and got a free kick just outside the box that was blocked. The rebound shot then hit the Stan bar. The ball came back in again and with the Stan defence under pressure, the referee gave a penalty for hand ball against Parker which the home side and dugout did not challenge.

The 42^nd minute penalty was put into the far left of the net by Hennis for 0-2. Washington immediately attacked again and hit the bar for the 2^nd time as the defence stood still. Another shot saw Brook catch. Two minutes into injury time, Miller did not clear and hit the ball against Hanson who ran through and shot past Regan for 0-3.

The half finished with Hoggins heading wide and the stunned Stan Army now had 15 minutes to take in the score as for the 2^nd game in a row the Stan went in 3-0 down at half time.

The 2^nd half started with continued pressure from Washington as they had a free kick cleared in 48 minutes then a longshot was initially spilled by Brook. The Stan then countered and Kerridge shot just over. The Stan then had a long shot easily cleared before the visitors countered. The Stan then had a few minutes of pressure, with Wright especially trying hard, but were dealt with on each move forward by the Washington defence.

It was to no avail in 58 minutes when they went 0-4 down when a Brook clearance went straight to Wood who went past 3 defenders before shooting into the net. Hoggins then got into the box but was beaten by the keeper to the ball. It was now mainly pressure from the Stan but without really being a threat.

In 71 minutes, Wright did cross to Hoggins who tapped the ball into the net but offside was given. In 72 minutes, Washington’s Wood was sent off for dissent and 3 minutes later Jones shot over. The Stan pressure continued but with no end product until the 84^th minute when a Wright free kick was tapped in by Hoggins for 1-4.

This spurred the Stan on and a great run by Hoggins saw him cross to Kerridge in the box who was blocked then Wright shot wide. A Jones free kick was then punched away by the keeper. In 88 minutes, a ball from a Stan corner went through the keeper’s hands and across the goal but was headed wide by Miller. It was all Stan now but too little too late including a great cross by Wright into the box which was missed by Kerridge.

Given Washington’s form, and the Stan squad, the Stan Army were relatively confident before the match so both the score and the performance came as a big shock. In particular an absence of a midfield and long high balls against a team of giants was not going to work. All credit though to Washington for getting their 1^st points. So, with 2 consecutive defeats and 7 goals conceded in them, it was not great preparation for next Saturday when the Stan travel to high flying Division 1 Dunston in the FA Vase.

Stan Team: Brook; Parker (Nakhli 65); Deagle; Miller (C); Hall; Mason; Holland; Bailey (Jones 67); Wright; Robertson (Hoggins 13); Kerridge.

Subs Unused: Fulcher, Sayer.

Goals: Hoggins 84.

Attendance: 135.

K. Mochrie