[FM23] Another Island Life - Green Lion Pride - A Guernsey FC Youth Story

[Punch]

 

SEP 2042

 

A pretty good month as we win two of three League games, and upset Arsenal to advance in the League Cup.

We also have two more home sellouts, making it three from three to start the season.

I can see another stadium expansion coming soon.

 

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

 

Defenders

 

Midfielders

 

Forwards

 

 

Reward for Watson's hard work, taking out the Young Player of the Month, with Mountney taking out 3rd place.

 

Internationals

Plenty of players on duty again over the International break.

 

We sit in 5th place for producing talent in top Leagues around the world.

 

We are not last, but barely rate as a minnow in this comparison.

 

 

A solid month financially as we benefit from the last player sale at the beginning of the month before the window closed.

 

Leeds is a game we will be targeting to win, before we face two much tough challenges, then round out the month in the League Cup.

[Punch]

 

OCT 2042 - Match Day 7 - Vs Leeds United

 

 

A really tough result in front of another sell out on the island, as we come from behind to take the lead against the Whites.

We got punished for not putting the game away and getting the third goal though, as the visitors caught us out late and spoiled our perfect home record.

 

We hold 6th place, but we also have one of the worst defensive records in the top half of the table.

 

Up next

A tough match next up as we head to 6th place West Ham.

[Punch]

 

OCT 2024 - Match Day 8 - At West Ham United

 

 

A really tough battle at London Stadium as we go down to the Hammers.

A 3-1 scoreline probably flattered them a little, as the game was a lot closer than that scoreline suggested.

Both teams had chances in the first half, but we went to the break scoreless.

A quick goal each, but the hosts followed it up with a another goal to quickly retake the lead, before they scored a late sealer.

 

We lose a place to 9th, although we still hold a mid-table place.

 

Up next

Another tough match up as we host Manchester United.

[Punch]

 

OCT 2042 - Match Day 9 - Vs Manchester United

 

 

A really tight battle on the island, in front of another sell out.

Both teams had their chances for the win, however, we had to come from behind twice to secure a share of the points.

 

We stay in 9th place.

 

Up Next

League Cup 4th Round action come to the Island, as we host Charlton.

[Stuniverse]

1 hour ago, Punch said:

A really tight battle on the island, in front of another sell out.

Both teams had their chances for the win, however, we had to come from behind twice to secure a share of the points.

[Punch]

 

OCT 2042 - League Cup 4th Round

 

 

A cracking result as the Addicks are hammered on our way through to the Quarter Final.

A record crowd for a Cup match piled into Guernsey Stadium to see us take an early lead, and be dominating the match, although the visitors did pull a goal back just before the break.

A half time razzing gave to boys the boost they needed, coming out in the second half and running away with the match.

 

I took the opportunity to rest some regular players, and gave a heap of young kids a chance off the bench, so four more players got to debut for the club in this one.

 

Not all good news though as we lost Ward for 2 months.

 

We draw Watford at home, looking for the chance to proceed to our 5th straight Semi Final.

 

Up next

We return to League action with another tough match up, traveling to 3rd place Chelsea.

[Punch]

 

OCT 2042

 

A winless month in the League, although we take a couple of points, while we advanced to the Quarter Final of the League Cup.

 

Internationals

 

We had nearly 30 players on duty across Youth and Senior Internationals this month.

 

While we now provide four players to the England Senior squad, with regular starters Chambers and O'Connor in the team, while currently on loan keeper Al-Habib was called up to be the reserve.

The fourth player is former striker Balogun, who now plays for Leipzig.

 

Not many games this month, so we make a slight loss.

 

Some tricky matches coming up, and plenty of away games to boot, while we must be targeting Peterborough as a win at home.

[Vakama2619]

Just curious where did the stadium images for your stadium come from?

[Punch]

14 minutes ago, Vakama2619 said:

Just curious where did the stadium images for your stadium come from?

They are the images I use in game when I get a new stadium, because I hate the ‘coming soon’ graphic.

In reality, they are of BMO Stadium, formerly Banc of California Stadium, home of LA FC, from Major League Soccer.

It’s one of my favourite stadiums to look at.

Edited May 5 by Punch

[Punch]

 

NOV 2042 - Match Day 10 - At Chelsea

 

 

We got taught a lesson in not taking our chances today.

For the majority of the match we were the much better team, but didn't take our chances, and were punished by the Blues, who created few chances, but took the one that mattered.

 

The result hurt a little more as we lost another player for an extended period.

 

We lose another place to 10th.

 

Up Next

Another tough match up as we head to 6th place Wolves.

[Punch]

 

NOV 2042 - Match Day 11 - At Wolverhamtpon Wanderers

 

 

A really tight battle as we couldn't be separated at Molineux.

Both teams had their chances to win, but after we found ourselves behind early, it took a late goal to seal a share of the points.

 

We remain in 10th place, despite not having a win in 5 games.

 

Up next

We face relegation zone Peterborough in our only home game for the month.

[Punch]

 

NOV 2042 - Match Day 12 - Vs Peterborough United

 

 

We made a rusty start after the international break, and the Posh caught us out, taking a surprise early lead.

From there, it was all one way traffic though as we ran riot, having taken the lead back, and increased it to two goals by half time.

We continued on our merry way in the second half, scoring two more goals to complete the four goal thumping.

 

Our first win in five games keeps us in 10th place.

 

Up next

A tricky away game as we head to 13th place Everton.

[Punch]

 

NOV 2042 - Match Day 13 - At Everton

 

 

A brilliant result as we come from behind to stun the Toffees.

The hosts had the lead at the break, before we leveled near the hour mark.

We pushed hard, but just when it looked like the points would be shared, Garai smashed home a late winner for us to collect all three points on the road.

 

With a third of the season now behind us, we sit in 8th place, a long way from any relegation discussions.

 

Up Next

We host 11th place Fulham.

[Punch]

 

NOV 2042

 

A rough start to the month, but we come good with two cracking wins to finish off.

 

Internationals

 

Plenty of players on duty over the International break.

 

We are now producing the most players representing in the Premier League.

 

We are also producing the most number of players in top European competitions.

 

Our FA Cup campaign kicks off in January, and we will host Welling in the 3rd Round.

We do have history against them from our time in the National League South.

 

We make a small profit this month.

 

A big month coming up, with some pretty tough games as well.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 14 - Vs Fulham

 

 

A lesson in not taking chances and finishing the opponent off as we fall asleep at the wheel in this one.

Comfortable with a two goal lead, which should have been a lot more, we let them back in with two late goals to give up a share of the points.

 

We stay 10th, as there were a few upsets in the top half of the table.

 

Up Next

Another tough one as we host 3rd Place Arsenal.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 15 - Vs Arsenal

 

 

A really tight battle against the Gunners, which resulted in a point each.

Both teams had chances, and both teams hit the woodwork, so this could have went either way.

While we had our chances to win, I am still pretty happy to have taken a point off a top side.

 

We are unbeaten in 5, although we have only won two of those, but we jump to 8th place as plenty of teams around us are beaten.

 

Up Next

We travel to the high flying Brighton who currently sit in 7th place.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 16 - At Brighton & Hove Albion

 

 

A crazy game against the Seagulls, and while it seems like a missed opportunity, this one could have went either way.

We could have scored three or four goals, but, so could have the hosts as we both wasted chance after chance.

While we miss out on the three points, we didn't lose, so I guess we take the positive that we are still accumulating points away.

 

Three straight draws, and now 6 unbeaten as we sit in 10th.

 

Up Next

League Cup rolls into the island, as we host Watford in the Quarter Final.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - League Cup Quarter Final - Vs Watford

 

We made harder work of it than we should have, but we done enough to get the job done and advance, in front of our first sell out for a Cup game.

A fully rotated squad went into the match, with plenty of youngsters getting on the park, showing that we have a very deep rotation available.

It took to the second half for us to get on the score sheet, and injury time before we finally put it away, but it was a solid performance, especially defensively to shut the Hornets out of the game.

 

Plenty of youngsters got game time, but we handed a debut to 17 year old Marshall, the top prospect from our most recent youth intake, and he put on a decent showing.

 

Our 5th straight trip to the League Cup Semi Final sees us draw Championship side Bristol.

We have a pretty poor record against them from our time on the Championship, including a Play Off Final loss.

 

Up Next

Back to League action as we host 16th place Brentford.

[Stuniverse]

6 hours ago, Punch said:

Three straight draws, and now 6 unbeaten as we sit in 10th.

Looking good, @Punch... now getting draws against big teams like Arsenal as well.

Way to go!

[Punch]

2 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

Looking good, @Punch... now getting draws against big teams like Arsenal as well.

Way to go!

The improvement continues, even if slowly.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 17 - Vs Brentford

 

 

A crazy game on the island as we get drawn into a six goal thriller, where the points ended up shared.

The Bees took the lead on the half hour, before we quickly hit back, with the game struggling to find any quality as we both ambled to the break.

We had the better of the exchanges early in the second half, but were again punished for failing to take them, and with 10 minutes to go, found ourselves two goals down.

The one man advantage, and fresh legs off the bench began to shine though, as young striker Chamberlain, found the back of the net twice in three minutes to bring us level.

He very nearly stole the win in the dying seconds with an effort that hit the bar as well.

 

 

Seven unbeaten, but only two wins, as we have put together four consecutive draws.

 

Make up games galore as teams are negotiating their way around Cup and European commitments.

We sit 10th on a log jammed ladder.

Two more wins, and we'd be 6th, two more losses, and we'd be 16th...

 

Up Next

A rough few days as we relegation zone Bournemouth, and then Liverpool two days later.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 18 - At AFC Bournemouth

 

 

Our Bournemouth hoodoo is broken as we smash the Cherries.

Two goals in each half, and a clean sheet, capped a brilliant day at the office.

We stretch our unbeaten run to 8 games in the process.

 

We jump up to 8th place.

 

Up Next

A really tough schedule sends us to Liverpool on two days rest.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042 - Match Day 19 - At Liverpool

 

 

We give the Reds a real run for their money at Anfield, but ultimately come up short.

The hosts always looked in control, even if we did give them some nervous moments.

While not the result we wanted, the performance against a much bigger club was very encouraging.

 

Our first loss in nine games sees us fall to 9th place, although we still have a game in hand over some of the teams around us.

 

Up next

The task doesn't get any easier as we host 2nd place West Ham.

[Punch]

 

DEC 2042

 

A massive month as we faced six League games, and while we only lost one, we also only won one, as we had four straight draws.

A League Cup win sends us through to the Semi Final for the 5th straight season.

 

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

 

 

Defenders

 

 

Midfielders

 

 

Forwards

 

 

It's great to see the goals getting shared around this season.

For our first two years in the Premier League, Finnegan scored 50% of them. This season sees plenty of goal scorers, without us relying on just one regular scorer.

 

 

We had some youngsters recognised as Young Players of the Year for Ireland and Wales.

 

Youth Intake Preview

 

The Youth Intake again provides very little to get excited about.

Hopefully, like last season, if we can collect one or two players that are decent prospects, then we should be ok.

 

A good month financially pushes us to the brink of £300 million in the bank.

 

Another busy month coming up, and we will be without our first choice Keeper for a lot of it with International Duty.

The Transfer window is also now open, meaning we will be facing plenty of challenges to keep all the squad together.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - Match Day 20 - Vs West Ham United

 

 

A tough loss as we are again punished for failing to take our chances.

We got the early goal, and should have been two or three up by the break.

Those misses came back to bite us though as the Hammers were able to score twice through the second half to take all the points.

Our first loss at home this season, and our first in 15 games, stretching back to last season.

 

A second straight loss drops us to 11th.

 

Up Next

Another tough home match as we face Liverpool for the second time in just over a week.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - Match Day 21 - Vs Liverpool

 

 

A massive upset on the island as we hold out the highly fancied Liverpool in a tight encounter.

We gave a League debut to Keeper, Nick Redmond, as usual Number 1, Adam Hamilton is on Asian Cup duty with Australia, and Redmond came up with a Player of the Match performance in keeping a clean sheet.

The defence and midfield put in a massive shift, to shut down the Reds attack, limiting them to two shots on target.

A brilliant result against one of the Leagues bigger clubs.

 

A surprise win sends us back to 10th place.

 

Up Next

We turn our attention to Cup games for a while now, beginning with the League Cup Semi Final 1st Leg, away to Bristol City.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - League Cup Semi Final - 1st Leg - At Bristol City

 

 

A scrappy, low quality affair, with neither side able to produce much of anything that resembled a quality performance.

We were probably lucky to still be level as the hosts almost took the lead late with a shot against the bar.

We will need a much better performance in the 2nd Leg if we want to proceed to our first Final.

 

Another debut for a young Keeper, although he has been waiting a long time.

 

Up next

Our FA Cup campaign kicks off as we face National League Welling.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - FA Cup 3rd Round - Vs Welling United

 

 

Dominant! We were expected to win, and comfortably, but this was such a great performance, as the poor National League Wings were completely blown off the park in this one.

Finnegan had two goals in the first 10 minutes, would complete his hat-trick by half time, going on to net a further two goals in the second half.

 

His five goal effort broke the Club record for goals in a match.

 

Always good to keep the bank balance rolling along.

 

We are off to Nottingham to take on the Forest side of town in the 4th Round.

 

Up Next

League Cup Semi Final, 2nd Leg, as Bristol City come to the island for the return leg.

It's all to play for, as neither side were able to find any goals in the 1st Leg.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - League Cup Semi Final - 2nd Leg - Vs Bristol City

 

 

We've done it! We made hard work of it, but we have finally reached our 1st League Cup Final, after five straight Semi Final appearances.

We had to chase the game though as the visitors came out firing, and took a shock early lead.

We pushed hard, finally leveling late in the second half, but we were not able to find a winner.

In extra time we went for broke, and finally broke the Robins hearts, with Chambers coming off the bench to smash home the winner, sending us through to the Final.

 

The assignment for the Final is tough, as we come up against the red hot Spurs, who we also have 9 consecutive losses against.

 

Up Next

A tough return to League action as we face Chelsea, although it might be a good time to play them as they are on a run of four consecutive losses.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - Match Day 22 - Vs Chelsea

 

 

We give the Blues a good run for their money, but again, missed chances cost us dearly.

We created the better chances in the first half, but found ourselves down at the break.

We hit back in the second half, but immediately gave up a goal to fall behind again.

Chances were created towards the end of the match, but again, we were not able to make the most of them, and we give up all three points at home.

 

We stay 10th, in a pretty busy mid-table.

 

Up Next

The task doesn't get any easier as we travel to 4th place Manchester United.

[Maw74]

That 100% Spurs record has got to end sometime, game 10 could be that time, real life it would be Coys! for this though it would be nice to see Guernsey lift the trophy.

[Punch]

21 hours ago, Maw74 said:

That 100% Spurs record has got to end sometime, game 10 could be that time, real life it would be Coys! for this though it would be nice to see Guernsey lift the trophy.

We meet them in the League again before the Cup Final, so hopefully it will be 10th and 11th times lucky

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - Match Day 23 - At Manchester United

 

 

After holding the Red Devils to a draw in the return fixture, we were full of confidence heading to Old Trafford.

That was misplaced though as we were blown off the park.

Outclassed all over the paddock, we were down 0-4 before they eased off, when we pulled a goal back late, but the damage was well and truly done by then.

 

Our 4th loss in 5 drops us to 11th place.

 

Up next

FA Cup 4th Round action as we head to Nottingham to face Forest.

[Maw74]

Not a good round of results there, only 70,000 at Man Utd, good luck against Forest.

[Punch]

16 hours ago, Maw74 said:

Not a good round of results there, only 70,000 at Man Utd, good luck against Forest.

Yeah, we got belted, but Man U seem to be a much better team than the one that finished below us last season.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043 - FA Cup 4th Round - At Nottingham Forest

 

 

It took us a while to get on the board, but once we did, the flood gates opened and we ran riot through the Tricky Trees.

A hat-trick for Ward was a highlight, again showing our improved goal scoring ability to not rely on Finnegan, as he was out sick for this one.

Redmond continues to deputise well for Hamilton on goal, as he is still on Asian Cup duty with Australia.

 

The money keeps rolling in.

 

We will travel to Luton for the 5th Round.

Not much of a history against them, although we did have a massive win against them in the League Cup a few years ago.

 

Up Next

Our longest road trip on the calendar as we face Newcastle.

[Punch]

 

JAN 2043

 

A hectic month which seen four League games, and four Cup games.

Two big FA Cup wins, along with scraping through the League Cup, but we are into our first ever League Cup Final.

Our League form has left a lot to be desired though as we lost three of four this month.

 

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

 

Redmond has taken over the Number one spot with Hamilton on Asian Cup duty with Australia.

 

Defenders

 

 

Midfielders

 

 

Forwards

 

Plenty of goal scorers this season, showing we have had less reliance on FInnegan to score this season.

 

Internationals

 

Just Hamilton on duty this month with Australia marching on to the Semi Final of the Asian Cup, so we will still be without him for the start of next month.

 

A small loss this month.

 

Six big games coming up, with both some tough games, and some must win games against the lower half.

[Punch]

 

Summer Transfer Window

 

The January Transfer Window ran into February, but we made our way without selling any players, just sending a few more kids out on loan.

We did receive an offer from Tottenham for defender Zane Thompson, but it was undervalued, and I didn't really want to sell him to a division rival anyway.

 

Peterborough have nearly caught up to us in the Wages stakes, but it's still laughable how far below the average we are, let alone the big clubs.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 24 - At Newcastle United

 

 

Our longest road trip is met with a massive boilover as we come from behind to stun the St James Park faithful late in the game.

With both sides taking an early goal, we went to the break all square.

The hosts had the better of the running, and took the lead back early in the second half, and were probably unlucky not to be further ahead.

The hosts seemed to take their lead for granted though, as the introduction of substitutes, including Finnegan, allowed us to sneak an equaliser.

But better was to come from us, as deep into injury time, Finnegan smashed home his second of the game, allowing us to steal all three points, making for a great trip north.

 

The Magpies manager was not happy with their late collapse.

 

A string of make up games as clubs are still working their way around Cup duties.

 

Up Next

A tough ask as we host Tottenham, who have won 9 of 9 games against us, but they will also be stinging from having lost two League games on the bounce.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 25 - Vs Tottenham Hotspur

 

 

It was a brave effort, but we were unable to stop Spurs from winning their 10th straight against us.

It was a tight first half, with both teams having their chances, but we went to the break scoreless.

We possibly had the better of the chances in the second half, but were unable to find the net, while the visitors took the one chance that was needed to secure the three points.

 

We drop to 11th place.

 

Up Next

A tricky road trip as we travel to 13th place Leeds.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - AFC Asian Cup Final

 

I found myself with a day to travel to Doha to see our Keeper, Adam Hamilton, win the Asian Cup with Australia hammering South Korea in the Final.

Our former Keeper, Jackson Thomas, was also in the squad, sitting on the bench for this one.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 26 - At Leeds United

 

 

Hard to be sure what to make of this game, as we played pretty poorly, but at the same time, hung in and managed to take an away point.

The hosts had the better of the running throughout the majority of the match, and it was only through defensive determination, and some sheer dumb luck, that we managed to be only one goal behind.

Defender Thompson snuck in with a rare goal to level the scores, and we managed to hang on to leave Leeds with something.

 

Only a couple of matches on as we stay in 11th.

 

Up next

A must win game as we host the relegation zone Bournemouth.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 27 - VS AFC Bournemouth

 

 

It was a must win game, and win we did, in some style.

We took an early lead, but it took some time before we were able to put the game to bed.

In an impressive show of patience, we managed to stick to the task, and keep them out of the game, when eventually the flood gates opened, and we ran away with the game.

 

Winning takes us back to 10th place, although while we are one of the best attacking teams in the League, we have the worst defensive record in the top half.

 

Up Next

A tougher match up as we host 7th place Brighton.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 28 - Vs Brighton & Hove Albion

 

 

The score I hate the most, but it was a really tough slog against a team pushing for European qualification.

Both sides created few quality chances, even though the xG suggests we should have won, we can probably be happy to take a point, off a team that as had very few draws.

 

More catch up games, as the schedule is all over the place at the moment, but we stay 10th.

 

Up Next

Another tricky away trip as we travel to 14th place Brentford, who struggled in the early part of the season, but have shown signs of more life to start the second half.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043 - Match Day 29 - At Brentford

 

 

It took us a while to assert ourselves, but we finally turned it into a dominant performance to take the three points off the Bees.

The hosts took the early lead, but a stunning strike on half time seemed to knock them off their game.

They were still thinking about it straight after the break, as we ran through them to take the lead, and they were never able to recover.

A late penalty to seal the deal, and take a good three points on the road, against a similar position team on the table.

 

We jump over Liverpool to take 9th place.

 

Up Next

Our first ever trip to the League Cup Final, and we come up against our kryptonite, Tottenham, who have won 10 straight matches, across all competitions against us.

We will need to play the game of our lives to overcome that record.

[Punch]

 

FEB 2043

 

A pretty decent month results wise as we win three and draw two of our six matches.

 

There were a heap of games played while we have spent the last week of the month preparing for the League Cup Final.

The results have dropped us back to 10th place.

 

Young Striker Kennedy puts in solid performances, and takes out the Young Player of the Month award.

 

Thompson's cracking goal to level the scores at Leeds take out the Goal of the Month award for the first time for a Guernsey player, in the Premier League.

 

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

 

 

Defenders

 

 

Midfielders

 

 

Forwards

 

 

 

Internationals

 

Hamilton played the Semi Final and Final at the Asian Cup, leaving him just one game behind Zachariou as our most capped Senior International.

 

A tidy profit this month, sends the bank balance over the £300 million mark for the first time.

 

A tidy add on as Adams completes the 20 games to activate the extra clause in his transfer.

 

A massive month coming up as we kick off with the League Cup Final, FA Cup 5th Round, and three tough League games.

[Punch]

 

MAR 2043 - League Cup Final Preview

 

After 10 straight losses to Spurs, could this be our time to shine?

The bookies rate Tottenham heavy favourites, so we are going to have to overturn a poor record, and Spurs current form to lift the Cup.

[Stuniverse]

8 minutes ago, Punch said:

After 10 straight losses to Spurs, could this be our time to shine?

The bookies rate Tottenham heavy favourites, so we are going to have to overturn a poor record, and Spurs current form to lift the Cup.

Records are there to be broken, @Punch

Good luck 🍀⚽️🏆🤞

[Punch]

10 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Records are there to be broken, @Punch

Good luck 🍀⚽️🏆🤞

Lets hope so

[Punch]

 

MAR 2043 - League Cup Final - Vs Tottenham Hotspur

 

After 10 consecutive losses to Spurs, on a technicality, we still haven't beaten them.

However, after 90 minutes, where we gave up the lead twice, 30 minutes of extra time, where we gave up the lead again, in almost heart breaking fashion, it looked like it wasn't destined to be our day.

We did hold our nerve through the shoot out that followed though, as both teams smashed home their first 5 attempts.

It was Spurs who blinked first though, as Hamilton made a massive save to deny their 6th effort.

With 90,000 people holding their breath in the stadium, defender Sam Copely stepped up, sent the keeper the wrong way, smashing home the title winning penalty.

A massive moment for the club, as we lift our first Cup trophy, since we won back to back EFL Trophy's, as League Two and League One members back in 2034/35 and 2035/36.

 

 

We also received about £2 million as our share of the Gate, while also picking up about £1.5 million in TV Revenue.

 

The Green Lions are coming to Europe, and European Football is coming to the island, as our Title win qualifies us for the Europa Conference League.

Another massive step forward for the Club.

 

Champions, but not biggest over achievers, while our players were leading the way in goals and assists.

 

Up Next

Still in Cup mode as we travel to Luton for the FA Cup 5th Round.

With only a two day gap, we will need to avoid a League Cup hangover if we want to challenge for another title.

 

 

Edited May 18 by Punch