In any activity that one undertakes, the ultimate aim is success. Or at least as close to that as is possible. The Lepers certainly aim with all their hearts for ultimate glory. It is hard however for mere mortals to imagine quite what greatness can be achieved by those who transcend the border between humanity and deity. I believe there is a special character whom we could all learn a great deal from.

100% respect to King Paul Collingwood. " You don't see many things like this in life"

With dreams of Collingwood doing well in the forthcoming Adelaide test the Lepers approached their late kick-off in expectant fashion. It was clear from a glimpse of the league table that Jeronimo was a massive game. By a combination of teams not turning up, and beating some detritus, Jeronimo had a point lead over the Lepers going into this game. Nonetheless Jeronimo had lost the previous week, and an effervescent Lepers had scored 27 in 3 games. This was a tie that promised much, but would it deliver?

After an impressive start from the Lepers it was still 0-0 after 5 minutes, despite the Jeronimo bar being shaken, rattled and rolled by the vibrant Leper side. A swift counter-attack soon altered that matter. A quick throw-out from Sheen was picked up by Drake, who slipped the ball into the path of the unrushing Harvey, who cooly slotted home for the Lepers.

Another lull then ensued until a Jeronimo player bizarrely becamed sin-binned, seemingly without being noticed by one, or more, of the Leper side. The Lepers for the first time in the campaign were a man up. Surely this was a chance to kick on and destroy their opposition.

However, the one-man advantage was short-lived. A reckless challenge from behind from a Jeronimo hooligan piled the lad into the boards. Keeper Sheen, always keen to protect his players came out of his area to calm the situation and innocuously placed both hands in the offending player's chest area, inadvertently hurtling him towards the hoardings. Bizarrely, the referee decided that this act deserved a 2-minute sin-bin. Again, I must re-iterate this was very strange.

Anyway, the magical gloves were handed over to the competent hands of top-scorer Ames, who had earlier in the season denied Jeronimo. A more than adequate display saw him keep a clean sheet while the Lepers added to their tally while understrength. An error by the less than competent looking keeper left Harvey standing front of goal to double the Lepers' advantage.

Shortly after Sheen returned to the fray, taking the gloves and returning the team to the maximum. This was shortly followed by the introduction of Super-Sharp-Shooter Will Webb. And again within minutes the supersub had marked his entrance with a goal. He gave the keeper the eyes, and then duly struck the ball home, to the delight of his onlooking crowd (of one).

The half-time break saw a review of the Lepers' operations. All were agreed that the game was going roughly to plan, red mist aside. An early lapse caused a few butterflies to appear as the Lepers started to give the ball away sloppily, and saw them just 3-1 up. An end-to-end period ensued with Jeronimo's keeper surprising by making some saves. It was not all one-way traffic as Sheen also had to make a national-class save (and did the splits at some point, alledgedly).

The reintroduction of Harvey proved the terminal point for Jeronimo. Despite attempting to get into the game, the tempo was maintained by the Lepers for the most part and Jeronimo didn't look like scoring. It was fitting that Harvey was to strike the killer blow. His third of the game relieved a great deal of pressure from the Leper souls and it was good to see another hat-trick for the Lepers.

It didn't take long for the game to be over. As Drake cut inside some tired looking individuals and mis-hit a shot towards goal. Fortunately for the Lepers the opposition keeper managed to scoop the ball past himself into the net. Own-goal or given to Drake. We will see. Dubious goals panel says, regrettably, Drake!

The Lepers then conceded again late on despite the efforts of Jerzak and the keeper but they were not up to the task of beating the Lepers. 3 games to go and the Lepers are one point clear, on a great run of form. Long may it continue but it is clear there are more obstacles to overcome.

COLLINGWOOD