Boys' U15B v Oakham

Date: Thursday 11th March

Venue: Home. Meet 1.45pm

Team: Howle (L) capt., Perera (L), Coupland-Smith (N), Matthews (N), Annable (P), Carver (P), Harold (P), Bowen-West (S), Fox-Davies (S), Goodhead (S), Hewitt (S), Martin (S), Turner (S).

Result: D 2-2

Match Report:

This was a match we should have won. We began excellently, with slick passing carving up a nervous Oakham defence, a fierce shot from Connor Matthews after just 2 minutes being tipped into goal by Charlie Turner. After another 2 minutes, however, a freak defensive error (Perera saw the threat, came to sweep, but inexplicably missed the ball) allowed an equaliser. Just over ten minutes later - us having dominated - they got a lucky deflection in the D that looped over Hewitt's head for a completely undeserved lead.

At this point, we imploded: the confidence was gone, and the trust in each other dried up: too many players tried to go it alone, dribbling into nowhere, rather than passing. By half-time, we were lucky not to have conceded again.

After a stern word in the break, we began to play hockey again, winning 4 short corners in the 2nd half, but not converting any of them. A decent strike by Fox-Davies levelled the scores to spare our blushes, but victory eluded us.

JMJH

Goals: Turner (2), Fox-Davies (36)