A beautiful day, a beautiful pitch, a side full of confidence from pre-season. What could go wrong? The kick-off for one. From the start, our old nemesis the sluggish start returned to haunt us, apparently not yet banished despite our lengthy warm-up and pre-match tactical preparation. All Coach David’s urgings to play our football, not force attacks, press the ball etc. went out the window under the heat of the sun. Back in came ball-watching, hopeful punts forward and panic in possession.

Against a talented and well-drilled Leatherhead side, this was just asking for it - and we got it! They raced into a two-goal lead before a drinks break thankfully gave us the chance to regroup and address the problems. Things improved a bit, but a third goal right on half-time meant a somewhat disconsolate side trooped off for much-needed rehydration.

The second half was undoubtedly more competitive, but Leatherhead proved their finishing was a notch above AFC Wimbledon’s had been in our previous game and added a further three goals, one albeit coming from an optimistic cross.

So a slightly harsh scoreline, but a game full of lessons for our team, the most important of which is to take the plans practised in training onto the pitch. We must play to our strengths and have the confidence to retain the ball when under pressure.

Looking for positives, the spirit never flagged and the fact we could field a squad of 16 is a welcome upgrade on last season – gives us much more options. There’s a lot more to come from this committed and united group of players - let’s make it happen!