Studs by Hull Truck Theatre, Quays Theatre, The Lowry. Runs to Saturday

THE real action is off the pitch in this jaunt into the world of Sunday league football.

A cash-strapped Middlesborough Sunday morning side is threatened by closure from the council when its lease runs out at the end of the season.

Robert Hudson puts in a poignant performance as football-obsessed coach Ronnie whose final ambition to win the cup is scuppered only by the fact his side is totally hopeless.

Top scorer and general hardman Mac is brought to life as a swaggering Roy Keane-alike by Christopher Connel, whose friendship with co-player and best friend Tommo, played by Joe Caffrey, is tested after a chance meeting on a lads' weekend away.

But the top prize goes to the footballers' girlfriends Kylie, played with touching naivety by Danielle Williams, and Laura Lonsdale as brash Mandy.

The versatile set, doubling up as a goalpost and dressing room, was used so effectively that by the end you will be mourning its inevitable demise beneath the bulldozers.

The small cast managed to convey the aspirations of a whole football team in its quest for glory as well as the common experience of football fans, and widows, everywhere.

Clarissa Satchell