Men's 3rd XI Vs West Bridgford 6

Match report - WB6 vs South Nottm 3’s. 
Captain Grozzy reporting.

Another day, another local derby and league champions South travelled the short distance to West Bridgford for the final match of a  splendid season that saw them secure back to back promotions. South had hit the top of the league at the halfway point  of the season (by beating today's opponents who were top at the time) 6-1 at The Banks. The pre-match huddle saw the skipper urge the team for a repeat of this scoreline to finish the season in style.. 

The first 20 mins were a hard fought affair with both sides trying to gain the upper hand, but the breakthrough came when Brainz drove into the 23m area, turned his marker in knots and fired a cross into the D for Grozzy to slot in under pressure to open his account and seal a record of scoring in every single match of the season! 0-1.

Straight from the restart, the hosts carved through the entire South team like a hot knife through butter to nutmeg Keeper Alex H and brought the scores level within seconds. 1-1

A hard fought final few minutes of the 1st half saw the skipper win a free hit in the WB 23, Andy W fired into the D, the WB keeper tried to kick clear but the ball went straight to Harry S who slapped into the bottom corner from the top of the D to earn South the lead on the stroke of half time. 1-2.

Half time team talk topic was to keep things tight and not concede again. 

Second half and more of the same swashbuckling hockey saw South earn the first PC of the match. Batty supplied a lightning fast drag out to Brainz to trap and roll for Grozzy to fire a powerful flick past the diving keeper to stretch the lead. 1-3.

Within minutes South were on the attack again. Brainz won a free hit deep inside the WB 23, took the self pass, travelled the allotted 5 yards and fired in a cross a yard from the baseline, the WB keeper decided to let the ball through his legs to go harmlessly off for a 16 hit, but he didn’t spot Grozzy lurking behind him to pop in on the line for his easiest hat-trick of the season. 1-4. 

More solid defending from the back line of Andy W, Brainz, Batty, Craig L and Jimston allowed the midfield unit of Sam McNeil, Sharpie, Harry S and Bingo to drive up the pitch and provide support for the front pairing of Ellz and Grozzy, who were being marked closely by a pair of tricky youngsters who stuck to their task and foiled a number of attacks with any part of their sticks or bodies they could manage! 

A moment of quality saw Batty fire an Exocet into the D, Captain Grozzy shrugged off his marker to deflect in to hit his 4th and take his season tally to 47. 1-5

WB tried to throw the kitchen sink at South in the closing minutes to salvage something from the game, but keeper Alex H remained solid and a resolute defence forced a fast breakaway, Brainz and Batty worked their magic to find Grozzy on the halfway line; he laid off to an overlapping Sharpie who put Ellz through on goal - he smashed his shot through the keeper to finish the scoring for the match and the season. Final score - as requested by the skipper - 1-6. 

Fabulous performance from the ageing squad who will start the next season in the same division as their 2’s! 

Thanks to all who contributed to the success; it’s been a pleasure!