When the wind blows at Saltworks Farm, you know about it. It was as though the wind was in the outside lane of the adjacent M56 motorway, flying through you from the North Wales hills. Cold, windy and, behind the goals, very wet. The pitch, apart from one goal mouth, was superb. The ISA, without Musgrave, Painter and Brazier in the squad, started with Green in goal, a back four of Hocking, Melson, Mann and Rob Reay; a midfield of Caswell, Ditchfield, Thomas and Reynolds and with Mark Howell partnering leading goalscorer Andy Johnson up front. 

It was the ISA that started this tough encounter the better. Scott Ditchfield, a ringer for Luis Figo, and the back to his best Kevin Thomas pulling the strings, and Johnson looking sharp, but no end product. Johnson went through on twenty minutes, and after rounding the keeper stroked the ball towards the open goal. The defender running in was three yards too late as the ball flew into the...mud! It stuck fast on the goal line and was cleared.

Johnson atoned for this on 25 minutes when a Kevin Thomas through ball was finished superbly, and on 40 minutes the Welsh Wizard doubled the lead with a thumping first time left foot finish from a Howell flick on. Two-nil at half time, and hard work at that. The Blacon central defensive partnership of Mann and Melson looked solid in front of the impeccable Green, and Reay and Hocking were more than equal to Bulls best.

The second half started with the ISA pushing forward. Johnson and Howell working well together with Reynolds and Caswell, who has improved immensely over the last month. A move involving Caswell and Johnson lead to the Saltney Tafia hitman crossing to Howell who smashed a badly defended ball into the open home net. Shortly after a throw in into the box, quickly taken by Thomas, found Johnson whose outstanding finish made it 4-0.

A run down the right hand side from Caswell saw him find Howell just inside the box. The infrequently played centre forward skipped (!) inside the full back and drove his right foot shot inside the far post. It was 5-0 and the Blues were playing some of their best football of the season. Johnson made it six shortly after when he broke through the home defence and rounded the goalkeeper. This prompted assistant manager Paul Brighton to ring the changes, Tommy Hollinger replacing Howell, and Steve Sandbach on for Andy Caswell.

The inspirational Ditchfield, who must be one of THE best creative midfielders in the City at the moment, then delivered his "steak and kidney" party piece on THREE Bulls midfielders, as the Blues cruised. ISA pressure then led to Kevin Thomas, back to his authoratitive best in the middle, hitting the top corner of the Bulls net from twenty yards for the seventh, to cap a captains display.

The lads then took their foot off the pedal, and the home side got a couple back. The first a Jon Hocking own goal, diverting a far post cross into his own net, and the second a one on one. You had to feel for the back four, especially for Green, who had been outstanding. Melson and Mann looked solid, both good readers of the game, with Melson imperious in the air, and Mann having great feet. Hocking had a great game, and Reay, returning to the side after a four week lay off, was excellent, combining superbly well with fellow left sided bottomless pit of energy Graeme Reynolds.

Hocking was then replaced to give Brighton a run at 7-2, and the scoring was completed by the tremendous Johnson, who burst through to fire past the home keeper from 18 yards to tie up the win at 8-2. Having spluttered to a 4-2 win over Ring of Bells the week before, and disappointing themselves greatly in the 6-3 defeat at the Gamekeeper, this was the kind of form that the Blues need to show if they are to taste any success this season. In the pub after there was talk of giving Mail Social a run for their money next week, and on this kind of form, the very top of their game, why not?