[Izulde]

Transfer In - MC/DM/AMC Mason Hirst (21)
3 position versatility and considerable upside. Strong all around physical attributes + 10 Passing and Technique and 11 First Touch. Mental attributes are a mixed bag, but does have 14 Teamwork and 12 Work Rate. Instant starter.

Transfer Out - ML Alfie Cain - $15k
Made expendable by the signing of Fraser Logan anyway. Often injured, but capable of brilliance when he could stay healthy.

vs Ditchling II (Stubbins Challenge Cup First Round)
G: Dan Hutchins
D: Malachi Robinson/Ricardo Viana/Tom Thorne/Kashif Siddiqui
M: Fraser Logan//Lewis Hook/Mason Hirst/Peggy Lokando
S: Ellis Remy/Nico Thongvivat

24 - Hirst knocks the ball forward to Lokando, who is immediately pressured by two defenders. The feed into the box, and Thongvivat *just* has the half-step to beat the defender and short-kick it in. 1-0

30 - Remy heads a cleared corner down to Viana in the box, and the goalie trips over himself to defend against a possible Portuguese shot - never mind that he's blanketed by two defenders. The kick back just outside the box, and Remy drifts over to fire a Montserratian missle while the keeper is still getting up. 2-0

Yellow carded and tired is Hook, so Beale steps in at the half.

55 - Lokando with the long, high free kick. Beale again plays super-sub, beating the defense to fire in his first ever Rhinos goal!!!! 3-0

63 - Lokando and Siddiqui keep exchanging passes, trying to build up an attack on the right flank. Finally, Lokando centers, but it takes a rundown by Hirst to get the errant ball. Kick back to Beale for the advancing flare out to Robinson on the wing. Dribble down left flank and cross to unguarded Thongvivat for the ease score. 4-0

68 - Beale gets a yellow, so Lokando moves inside and Joao hops on at MR.

78 - Logan to Remy for the quick backpass to Hirst, who has been engineering passes left and right this drive. It's a first touch feed to Thongvivat in the box, who spears a shot between three defenders for his hat trick! Our star striker has suffered from a slow start this season, but he's been on fire the last few games, picking up his 10th goal of the year here. 5-0

How dazzling was this win? Just two full-time starters scored below an 8, and everyone had at least a 7. And we also had four players with 9+ rating: those being PotM Nico Thongvivat (9.6), Peggy Lokando (9.2), Mason Hirst (9.1 in the best debut I've ever seen in all my FM years), and finally, Ellis Remy with a 9.0. Oh, and Danny Beale with a 7.3 sub showing, despite playing just 23 minutes.

@ Ditchling II (10th)
G: Dan Hutchins
D: Ricardo Viana/Tom Thorne/Kashif Siddiqui
WBL: Flynn Tarman
M: Fraser Logan//Lewis Hook/Mason Hirst/Peggy Lokando
S: Ellis Remy/Nico Thongvivat

Short rest for both teams, and I'd love nothing more than to see us whip our personal archrivals again to help push them down further into the drop zone.

Joao for Logan; Beale for Hook at half.

55 - Tarman's throw-in to Beale sets up back and forth before Beale's short pass to Remy. Threaded pass to just outside the box and Tarman drives forward for the cross to Thongvivat, who of course scores the short-range shot. 1-0

61 - Joao cuts to the center to intercept a pass, drives to midfield, and booms one on down to Thongvivat. Our 20 year old hero dribbles into the box, past the defense, and scorches a diagonal in! 2-0

75 - The defense rises up to head the ball away, but Tarman pounces, heads the ball just outside the box, traps it down inside, and fires once he's gained control. The fierce diagonal sinks seamlessly into the net for the kid's first goal of the year. Long live asymmetrical formations! 3-0

87 - Beale out to Joao, who sends it to Thongvivat in the box. This time two defenders on him and they muscle the ball away. But then Remy charges in to show strength of his own, robbing the ball back and cracking the short-range finish! 4-0

Every player who stepped on the pitch for us tonight had a 7.0 or better except Dan Hutchins and only Danny Beale outside of Hutchins had less than a 7.5!!! Ricardo Viena was everywhere tonight for his 8.0. Mason Hirst was again brilliant with an 8.4, as he's fit in flawlessly in the CM Support role in our setups, his rating matched by Ellis Remy. 9.0 for Nico Thongvivat, but Flynn Tarman was just a touch better and PotM with his 9.2.

We jump up to 4th, but are still 6 points out of 1st place. An 18 game season, and we've played 5 so far, or almost 1/3rd.

$1.7k profit last month, and the fans really like Ellis Remy's acquisition. I'm still Untouchable, though I've lost a bit of my earlier sheen because of our early difficulties this year - which is understandable. Still, the promotion and the trophies from last season are keeping me in good shape, and financially it's been an absolute dream for us.

Now if we can just keep our current upward trend going...