In the mid-1970s, the automotive manufacturers in America went through what is now known as the 'Malaise era' where the cars being made, all feature laden and with big engines, somehow amounted to much less than the sum of their parts. After a golden era of the 60s, car companies churned out model after model, tweaking this and that and coming up with the odd innovation in an effort to move their game forward. Nothing worked and foreign firms started to take over the US market. It wasn't until a whole new mindset and a new focus, and some say a new self-belief, before success finally returned.

The Pumas similarly had a rather golden era during the seeding games, taking many points and effectively getting promoted a second time, but since the season started proper, we went without a win in six games and the Malaise had thoroughly set in. We coaches had tried tweaking formation to see if that helped (clue: it didn't). We tried players in different positions (still no success). We trained all manner of things and had some good sessions but still no result. On paper, the players possessed extraordinary capability but football's played on grass, not paper, and it just wasn't coming together.

Even strong performances lacked that final 20% to take us to the win. Take last week, for example. We were utterly competitive for 70 minutes, holding out at nil-nil, until a shot threaded its way through two defenders and the keeper, and, well, the match finished as a 3-0 loss. Or how about when we played this particular Ashford team last time, where we were 3-2 up with 20 minutes to go and, incredulously, closed the game out with a 6-3 loss!

But the ills are well and truly over and the team's clicked again. We turned up ready to battle and battle we did. We know our formation and we know where everybody needs to play. Crucially, the team has confidence that players will be where they need to be so passing, moving and through-balls can be played with certainty.

This was confirmed by total domination of the Ashford side from kick-off. To prove it, only six minutes in, the constant build-up through midfield found Jacob in space in front of the box, and he scored the kind of explosive goal where you want to follow up with a "... and stay in!". Then, after working the ball around the Ashford 18 yard box, 14 minutes later he scored again – another superb shot, taking us to 2-0 up in only 20 minutes.

This is not a bad place to be but a third goal would be preferable to seal the deal. Ashford, as expected, battled away but their main tactic appeared to be the long ball over the top and this was relatively trivial for centre-back pairings of Eddie-Jack and later Eddie-Will to cut out. All three were superb, so much so that when we went to return Jack to the pitch after rotation, we didn't want to disrupt defence. Jack, for the first time in a long time, had a stint as joint-DM and a decent job he did too.

As the first half wore on, Ashford got lucky and scored with an assist from the slippery pitch conditions, as a low shot from far out slithered past several of our players and into the net. A lucky strike.

The Pumas doubled down and before we knew it, Jacob scored his hat trick. He was magnificent today. He was composed, both on and off the ball, and distributed well, being both part of the build and the attack. He worked well with Ryan as second centre-mid, who played a little ahead and between them, they kept the ball constantly moving, either feeding it out wide or forward. Our attacks, as a result, were often four or five players strong. Patrik, as centre forward, chased down literally anything and everything. He too moved the ball so we could build, and was a big factor in our strength up front today.

Support also came from the full-backs. Dan started as right-back, later being replaced by Ethan, and Adam got a deserved full 90 minutes on the left. All three brought their A-game, and went on runs, overlapping up the pitch and into the corners for cut-backs and crosses – just like at training a few weeks ago. Pleasingly, the rest of the team covered their positions well, so if the play did break down, it was all under control.

In the second half, two further goals game courtesy of Patrik and Tom, both headers from corners and both having lost their defender to get in front of the ball. Exceptional goals. More could have come too as there were shots aplenty. Jacob had a good strike from out wide but struck a tree instead, and Rahil attempted a lob from outside the 18 yard box, finding a bush. Fin almost scored a scorcher after an amazing break but it bounced off the post, and Dan, now as right-mid, tapped one in only for someone else to be ruled offside! Legendary runs from Adam and George were close to yielding goals too. They deserved them.

During the second half, Ashford's long punts finally paid off, earning them a second consolation goal, but in all other respects, Stef had a cracking game. When he had to run out, he did with awesome ferocity and smothered the ball every time. He is insanely brave (or mad) but kept us in it once or twice for sure. His distribution was spot-on, aided by the full-backs quickly moving out wide for a quick restart.

There were loads of great moments. Ethan's deft touch to beat his winger, Tom's incessant chasing on the left and putting in the crosses, Rahil making himself a nuisance and thwarting attacks, Dan's creativity and expert plays forward, Fin's utter determination to beat his defender, Will's speed sweeping up, Eddie and Jack's interceptions... and so it goes on. But it was all stitched together. We made our mid-table opposition look ordinary as a result. We looked like a top-table team.

And so to Player of the Match, and indeed, Supporters' Award too. George had the best game I've ever seen him play. He completely owned and, indeed owns, the defensive midfield position. He seems to be everywhere on the pitch, but mostly exactly where you need him when you need him. He was strong in tackles, he cut out so many mid-pitch punts and he moved the ball before he was pressed. He was first to everything. He must have run half a marathon and stormed the players' votes to take PotM.

So... the fight back has begun and another three points will see us climb off from bottom of the table. If we play like this now until the end of the season, there's no reason why we can't claw our way back up again. COYP!