Monzo Get Off The Mark

The two sides came into this one at completely different ends of the form table. Paysafe were unbeaten in three and Revolut's closest challengers at the top of the table, whilst Monzo were winless in four. The bookies favoured Paysafe to come through victorious, but an impressive performance from Monzo, led by debutant Antonio De Paolo, saw them pick up their first three points of the season with a memorable 13-6 victory.

Monzo made a flying start to the game, netting the opener within the first minute, a well taken goal from De Paolo. Awoken by the early goal, Paysafe began to push for an equaliser, much to the delight of their vocal fans in the crowd. It wasn’t long until the scores were tied, as Piers Smith latched onto an excellent pass from Josh Berkeley and calmly dispatched the ball into the bottom corner.

A second from Matthew Lewington quickly followed, and if it wasn’t for a string of sharp saves from Monzo keeper Jjuliusz Wiatrak, then Paysafe may taken a significant lead. Lots of chances in a very open end to the first half saw a late flurry of goals, and Monzo led 6-4 at half time.

Buoyed by their performance in the first half, Monzo came racing out the blocks in the second half, and a blistering brace from Usaman Hafeez extended their lead. Another from De Paolo, this time from the spot, looked to have put the game beyond doubt. However Paysafe were given a glimmer of hope when they were awarded a penalty of their own.

The ball nestled into the bottom corner of the goal, but the referee disallowed it after a double step from the taker, summing up a disappointing evening for Paysafe. Scotty Behns did add a consolation for Paysafe late in the second half, only to be cancelled out by a cheeky dinked finish from De Paolo in the dying seconds of the game to complete the scoring.

A great game of attacking football. Monzo will be relived to get off the mark and will head into their game with Checkout full of confidence. For Paysafe this was a damaging defeat, they remain in the title hunt but they'll need to beat Revolut in week 9 and hope for a favour elsewhere.

Final Score: Monzo 13 vs 6 Paysafe

Man of the Match: Antonio De Paolo