diff --git a/planetwars-matchrunner/Cargo.toml b/planetwars-matchrunner/Cargo.toml
index 488eb45..16c1249 100644
--- a/planetwars-matchrunner/Cargo.toml
+++ b/planetwars-matchrunner/Cargo.toml
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ serde_json = "1.0"
 planetwars-rules = { path = "../planetwars-rules" }
 chrono = { version = "0.4", features = ["serde"] }
 bollard = "0.11"
+bytes = "1.1"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/planetwars-matchrunner/src/bin/testmatch.rs b/planetwars-matchrunner/src/bin/testmatch.rs
index 97c00ed..ebd0199 100644
--- a/planetwars-matchrunner/src/bin/testmatch.rs
+++ b/planetwars-matchrunner/src/bin/testmatch.rs
@@ -10,15 +10,17 @@ use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex};
 use bollard::container::{self, LogOutput};
 use bollard::exec::StartExecResults;
 use bollard::Docker;
+use bytes::Bytes;
 use futures::{Stream, StreamExt};
 use planetwars_matchrunner::{
-    match_context::{EventBus, MatchCtx, PlayerHandle},
+    match_context::{EventBus, MatchCtx, PlayerHandle, RequestMessage},
     pw_match, MatchConfig, MatchMeta, PlayerInfo,
 };
 use planetwars_rules::protocol as proto;
 use planetwars_rules::PwConfig;
 use std::env;
 use tokio::io::{AsyncWrite, AsyncWriteExt};
+use tokio::sync::mpsc;
 
 const IMAGE: &'static str = "simplebot:latest";
 
@@ -64,9 +66,12 @@ async fn create_player_process(docker: &Docker) -> Result<(), bollard::errors::E
         .id;
 
     let start_exec_results = docker.start_exec(&exec_id, None).await?;
-    let (mut input, mut output) = match start_exec_results {
+    let mut process = match start_exec_results {
         StartExecResults::Detached => panic!("failed to get io channels"),
-        StartExecResults::Attached { input, output } => (input, output),
+        StartExecResults::Attached { input, output } => ContainerProcess {
+            stdin: input,
+            output,
+        },
     };
 
     let state = proto::State {
@@ -90,22 +95,50 @@ async fn create_player_process(docker: &Docker) -> Result<(), bollard::errors::E
     };
 
     let serialized = serde_json::to_vec(&state).unwrap();
-    input.write_all(&serialized).await?;
-    input.write(b"\n").await?;
-    input.flush().await?;
+    let out = process.communicate(&serialized).await?;
 
-    while let Some(item) = output.next().await {
-        let log_output = item.expect("failed to get log output");
-        match log_output {
-            LogOutput::StdOut { message } => {
-                println!("stdout: {}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&message));
-            }
-            LogOutput::StdErr { message } => {
-                println!("stderr: {}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&message));
-            }
-            _ => (),
-        }
-    }
+    print!("{}", String::from_utf8(out.to_vec()).unwrap());
 
     Ok(())
 }
+
+pub struct ContainerProcess {
+    stdin: Pin<Box<dyn AsyncWrite + Send>>,
+    output: Pin<Box<dyn Stream<Item = Result<LogOutput, bollard::errors::Error>>>>,
+}
+
+impl ContainerProcess {
+    pub async fn communicate(&mut self, input: &[u8]) -> io::Result<Bytes> {
+        self.write_line(input).await?;
+        self.read_line().await
+    }
+
+    async fn write_line(&mut self, bytes: &[u8]) -> io::Result<()> {
+        self.stdin.write_all(bytes).await?;
+        self.stdin.write_u8(b'\n').await?;
+        self.stdin.flush().await?;
+        Ok(())
+    }
+
+    async fn read_line(&mut self) -> io::Result<Bytes> {
+        while let Some(item) = self.output.next().await {
+            let log_output = item.expect("failed to get log output");
+            match log_output {
+                LogOutput::StdOut { message } => {
+                    // TODO: this is not correct (buffering and such)
+                    return Ok(message);
+                }
+                LogOutput::StdErr { message } => {
+                    // TODO
+                    println!("stderr: {}", String::from_utf8_lossy(&message));
+                }
+                _ => (),
+            }
+        }
+
+        Err(io::Error::new(
+            io::ErrorKind::UnexpectedEof,
+            "no response received",
+        ))
+    }
+}