Oakhill's defensive frailties came back to haunt them as they fell victim to superior opponents in the League Cup on Saturday, ending their glorious run at the second hurdle.

Buoyed by a cracking away league win last time out, the Oak travelled to Tooting with a resolve to build on the confidence gained from a settled first-choice line up. Unfortunately, Joel was back and Hughes absent, so it was back to the drawing board for a management team who could put Rafa Benitez to shame in the rotation stakes. Logan was in goal, Tosser at right back and Little Dave on the left. A controversial decision saw Mitch swap to join Carnt in midfield, with Holtie retained at centre back with Harris. Elsie started at right mid and Mikey was on the left, supporting Big Dave and Nath in attack.

Within about 25 minutes Oak were 3-0 down and Joel had returned to the stopper role, with his major contribution being a foul on two of the opposition at the same time which earned Nobby's disgust and lots of Beige admiration. Unfortunately, he also quite badly injured himself in this incident, which is slightly gay. The goals were well-crafted by Battersea, but Oakhill could and should have done more to prevent them, with individual errors once more creeping back in. The only other highlight of the first half was Elz trying to get off with the opposition skipper and left midfielder. Dobson was there in spirit.

At half time, 4-0 down and facing an uphill struggle, the call was for us to get the passing game going again, and credit to the boys for making a real fist of it and trying to play our footballl. Losing Joel early doors meant a reshuffle, with Brett coming on at right mid, Holtie returning to the back four and L-C reverting to centre mid. The endeavour was good, the commitment was there, but ultimately the quality was all coming one way and Battersea extended their lead to 5-0. Time for the Beige One to come on and illuminate the match with a Brazilian back-heel dummy' which left Holtie awe-struck. If he was any sort of player he would have read it and been clean through. It finished 7-0.

Strangely, given the scoreline, the fight shown and the intention to play the right kind of football augur well for a league campaign which is now well and truly the focus from here on out. In fairness, we won't face a side as good as this all season, and we did not ashame ourselves in the manner of defeat. Logan strove manfully in goal and continued the improvement in his kicking game, both Mitch and Harris played through the pain barrier, and Dave and everyone worked hard. Man-of-the-match went to young Michael Doran, who never stopped running, wasn't afraid to take his man on when necessary and linked well with his team mates on the rare occasions we held possession.

Team: Logan, Montero (Beigeinho 65), J.Holt, Harris (c), Doran, Hewlett, Carnt, Mitchell (Philpott 50), D.Holt, White.

Goals: Lots. For them.

Bookings: None. They moved too fast to kick.

Man of the Match:  Michael 'Mikey D' Doran