Abingdon Men’s 3rd XI vs Slough
ABINGDON HOCKEY CLUB 3RD TEAM MATCH REPORT 13th Feb 2010
SLOUGH 6 0 ABINGDON
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH THE THIRDS GET STUFFED
In the morning we had ten players, one failed to turn up so we knew we were in for a tough game of nine versus eleven with substitutes. Our line up looked a bit like a super vets team with four players over 50, four in their forties and Jamie, our youth policy. Our plan was to defend in numbers and hope for a breakaway using Jamie`s pace. We defended very well and were only 3-0 down at half time. Pete Long came closest to scoring with a well struck shot which hit the post with a resounding clang, trouble was, it was OUR goalpost ! Just before half time Richard Myhill accidentally cracked an opponent on the top of the head with his stick which resulted in a lot of threatening and obscene language directed at poor old Richard who, as we know, wouldn`t knowingly hurt a fly but now has a reputation for being the `animal` of the team. Several players tried to placate Richard`s victim but he wasn`t having any of it and in the second half we leaked three more. We actually played very well and Slough said afterwards that they found it very hard to play against us. Apart from Richard`s attempt at reducing the number of Slough players on the pitch , it was a nice sociable game with samosas , beer and chat in their clubhouse.
If we can get a regular eleven out and maybe some young players we could hold our own in this division but when half the team is over fifty it`s difficult to play against a good development side like Slough.
Richard Smart
i think that game went well to be honest i thought in the first 10 minutes were they didnt expect my pace and in the final 15-20 minutes i think that there back four couldnt handle my speed and neither could the midfield of our team, but great match looking forward to this saturday