| Match Report |
Snhc vs west Brigford 6 24-2-19
Gary Pickering reports
The mighty 2's rolled up to Bingham in glorious spring weather more akin to the cricket season rather than hockey. Captain Grozzy had a few selection issues due to numerous players being unavailable, but we welcomed back Chris as GK, Ian Lane at CM (long overdue!) and a 2's debut for Mark Willey (RB).
A very different looking squad but the brief was the same, respect possession and keep it simple! Following last week’s disappointing performance we were all keen to come away with a strong team performance and a positive result.
We started the game brightly with some nice passing and movement particularly down our right hand side with Mark and Mark linking up well and Sharpey punching through the middle. WB were proving a handful down their RHS with numbers, pace and skills; they were proving difficult to defend against. The early stages of the game were a tight affair with chances at both ends, but first blood went to WB. South's heads did not drop and we upped the work rate and intensity with good work from the midfield unit backed up by some very solid defending from Will and Brian. We continued to press with Ian and Sharpie controlling the centre of the pitch while myself and Mark kept wide and disciplined to keep the space and options open. Grozzy had a good chance that had the beating of their keeper but unfortunately it went just wide. Eventually after sustained pressure we got our deserved equaliser after I slotted home from the P spot with a slap shot between the keepers legs. WB were strong on the counter as they had youth on their side but our defence and GK remained strong and their chances were limited. At 1-1 at half time we knew we had a lot of work to do in the 2nd half and we would have to up our work rate and keep possession if we wanted to come away with a win.
We started the 2nd half well and we continued to grow in confidence as the half went on - space opened up particularly on both flanks and we took advantage of that with the defence, centre mids and wingers linking up well. A period of sustained pressure and sweet passing eventually lead to our 2nd goal. We had the little piece of luck that we needed as I slightly mis-hit my shot and it looped up and bounced awkwardly at the keepers feet and went straight past him into the bottom right corner. We knew a 2-1 lead was not enough as WB continued to be dangerous on the counter, but we were in command of the game and it was only a matter of time before we got another goal, this time a well-deserved effort from close range by Ian. We continued to dominate the game to the final whistle and came close to scoring on a number of occasions. On another day we could have scored 5 or 6, but we played much better than the previous week and worked as a team with everybody putting in a full shift and making a positive contribution.
Don't forget to vote for your MOTM and thanks as always to our umpires Dick and Ray.
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