Winning in the wet

On a wet, dreary Saturday afternoon what we all needed was a comfortable win and that was what we got- mostly. At the start of the first half Long Sutton controlled most of the possession but with a strong performance from our defence and midfield we broke through their early pressure and created some of the best chances of the half. However, the most clearcut chance, of perhaps the whole game came after a brilliant ball from Martin to dwayne. Dwayne took it perfectly, dribbled it around the keeper and had the goal at his mercy. However, he must of realised that if he kept scoring he would be swiftly promoted to the 3rds, so dragged it agonisingly wide. Unfortunately, however noble his intentions this miss earned him a unanimous D.o.D. Also in the first half was one of the greatest passes I have seen on a hockey pitch. John picked up the ball in the centre of the pitch, looked up and played a brilliant through ball to the umpire. Our pressure continued, and towards the end of the first half we won a short corner. The ball was played back to Neil, up from centre back, his shot was deflected, but , after a series of ricochets it found it's way back to him and he controlled it and comfortably slotted it into the bottom corner. Finally in the lead, we seemed to forget we were still playing hockey and were still celebrating when Long sutton's player ran through and scored. Dazed, we went into the halftime break.
After a rousing team talk from Shaun we went into the 2nd half reinvigorated and on the front foot. Midway through the 2nd half, we won a short corner. Again we pulled it back to Neil, who this time didn't need a 2nd attempt and made it look easy, calmly finishing the chance. The opposition came back from this goal though upping the temp and increasing the pressure on the defence, and towards the end of the game they won a short corner. Our hopes were low as their striker controlled the ball and sent a fizzing shot towards the bottom corner. Amazingly, with unbelievable reflexes TRock- who had already put in a brilliant performance- saved the day with a world class block, saving the win. After that we regained control of the game and survived some late scares to secure a memorable win.

Notable performances-
Neil with two calm goals worthy of a striker.
Martin Young with a compossed perfrromance in midfield.
Celeb Fox, whos pace and skill pushed the oposition back consistantly.

Mens Adult Hockey debuts for Seb Persaud, who impressed on the left of Midfield and is one to watch for the future and an energetic showing from Sachin Mathivanan.

M.o.M- TRock (Tom Rochester) who was a rock at the back with a heroic goal line block.