Goalscorers:
Amit, Bob Billins
Man of the Match:
Amit
Tip no. 3 of a possibly very short list for young, aspiring hockey professionals – use a quality fabric conditioner for washing team shirts. Coach had invested in Lenor and most of the team commented on the feel of the fabric against their skin and the fact they smelled nice. It’s certainly a lot better than the 33p Tesco Value stuff I get! Mentally refreshed and positive from our fragrant shirts, we went out and got the result of our season!
We were 4 players short – thankfully Marlow had their main player out too – so we decided to play 4 in a tight midfield and force them down our flanks – can’t say this really worked as they were coming through everywhere all game.
Our first chance came after 15 minutes after we’d ‘forced’ a 16 – Bob blocked it out superbly, slipped it to Gordo (I was a bit taken aback by this but he also passed the ball to me), who found little Tom who was stick-tackled for our one and only short corner! Out it went and got the Big Amit Whack – a precision-point shot straight through the gap between the ‘keepers legs!
Our second chance came 10 minutes later from a Marlow short corner. Big Tom saved/booted it out to the 25, where Coach picked it up and passed to Amit who lumbered forward at top speed, he lamped it into the D from the right where Bob – with his back to the goal for some reason – deflected it past the statuesque keeper for no. 2!! That would be the last thing their keeper did all game.
The sniper on the grassy knoll made a guest star appearance and took out Coach who went down squealing like a 10-year-old girl (and that is being harsh to 10-year-old girls). The most sympathetic comment he got was ‘you can get up now, Coach, we got the hit.’
Second half we had 2 nice moves early where we got the ball into the D and that was the end of our attacking. It was like the Battle of Alamo, Custer’s last stand (in an alternate universe where the fort survived and Custer was a goodie) and ‘300’ with less blood….we were under a bit of pressure basically….fortunately they had a woeful short corner routine and we obviously defended very well. They did eventually score one of their 15 or so short corners with 16 minutes to go. I’m sure if you have 16 minutes to live, it goes quite quickly but when you are hanging on like a punch-drunk Rocky it seems an eternity. But hang on we did for a famous 3 points and maybe we can start dreaming of mid-table obscurity!
Everyone played their part but gotta mention Big Tom in goal and Big Amit who covered every millimetre of the pitch…very slowly….
