Honours ended up even after an eventful game that saw the Old Ruts leave their mark on the beautiful city of Berlin.

The Ruts kicked off bright and early and took the game to their opponents from the outset, launching into a frenzied spell of attacking football that had Berlin on the ropes. The initial game plan was to take things easy first 15 minutes or so and pace themselves in the searing heat, but caution was thrown to the wind and the Ruts just went for it early doors.

But they were caught with a sucker punch after 20 minutes when Steve Nicola fell asleep and allowed his man to make it 1-0 to the Germans.

The Ruts soon had a perfect opportunity to score though when Alan Whiter's teammates all selflessly combined to set him up with an easy chance but Whiter flopped at the crucial moment and the chance went begging.

By now most of the Ruts were flagging after their initial burst but the wise old heads of Gavin Lennard, Graham Clayton and keeper Roland Heal were keeping the ship steady. They coped with the scorching conditions by playing much more sensibly, although much less spectacularly as well.

Moments before the break the Ruts were rewarded when centre-half Dave Cundy scored a tasty goal. The ball was loose in the area and Cundy pounced, showing expert ball control to manouevre himself into a position to score. But Fil Rea was also on hand and tried to finish it off himself, only for Cundy to hold off his skipper and poke it. in.

So 1-1 at the halfway stage after an entertaining first half in which the Ruts mostly did well but were not at their peak. Matt Blomeley in particular was off form, failing to live up to expectations despite talking a great game beforehand.

The second period started off at a more relaxed pace than the first. The Ruts had plenty of possession but didn't really look like scoring as they started to tire, and tempers started to fray when Blomeley took exception to a bit of German verbals and almost brought Anglo-German relations to a new low before being held back by his teammates.

This was after he was shown a yellow card by the burly local referee just moments earlier, as was Leon Trowbridge, for their part in some over-exuberant play.

The last 20 minutes or so petered out as the Ruts were by now a spent force. With their shirts drenched in sweat (especially Blomeley's) the Ruts kept Berlin at bay. The Germans just couldn't find a way past keeper Heal, who was looking forward to four well-earned days off on his return home.

So an enjoyable and entertaining match ended up a goal apiece with plenty of talking points to reflect on, most notably Dave Cundy's deserved man of the match performance.

*Yawn* Goodnight all.