Finally!

COWHC 3s 3-0 Cheam Clarets

22nd March 2014

So, the penultimate game of the season arrives and we at last get our first win since Christmas!

Cheam Clarets had cried off pre-Christmas, so we went into this game a bit unsure of what to expect.  However a strong line-up and 13 players meant we had hopes of getting something out of the game.  James Mayhew playing at the top of the diamond was probably the biggest change to normal, and he gave us some stability and an outlet higher up the pitch that we had been missing in previous games.

Right from the start it was clear that we were all up for the game as the whole team pushed forward and kept Cheam in their half for long periods.  They did occasionally break out, but John, Speddo and, when it got that far Paul, were able to mop things up and re-start our attacks.  However we had the lion's share of possession, particularly helped by the fact it seemed like AJ had a magnet in his stick, with almost every 16 Cheam took on our right ending up with him.

With Andrew, Trevor and Angus taking it in turns to have a breather from being up front it meant the two on pitch could run hard and they were keeping the Cheam defence on their toes.  We were also playing some nice passing hockey, and made progress into the opposition D on a number of occasions.  So it was only a matter of time before the first goal game.  I intercepted a speculative ball forward from Cheam, but was struggling to get it out of my feet to control it properly and just managed to scoop it back to Speddo.  He played it out right to AJ and a series of quick passes led to Andrew (I think) taking a shot.  The keeper managed to get something on it, but was only able to deflect the ball into the path of James following in, who was left with the simple task of putting the ball over the line.

We kept pushing, knowing that 1 goal probably wasn't enough, especially with Cheam doing their best to get forward.  We managed to extend our lead a little while after scoring our first, and again it came from good, crisp passing with (I think) Trevor playing in the final ball for top-scorer Andrew to convert.

The opposition kept us honest though, and managed to win themselves a couple of short corners.  Most of these came to nothing, although one squeezed through Paul and deflected across the goal and wide off my stick, not that I knew much about it as it happened so quickly!

At half time the instruction was to keep doing the simple things, because that was what was getting us most success.

In fact the second half became a bit more stretched than the first, although we were still creating the majority of decent chances.  Unfortunately, as has been the case all season, they were always just the final touch away from being converted.  We may have been two to the good, but wanted more.

Eventually the third goal arrived, with Andrew taking a long corner to himself, dribbling out to create the angle and putting in a great cross.  Mike timed his run to perfection and swept the ball across the keeper and into the far corner.

We could have had a fourth too, as Qaz made a great run through the middle, rounded the keeper and shot, only for the ball to be stopped by the keeper's stick, which he had thrown in desperation across the D.  A flick was given and, having won it Qaz took it.  He claims he was caught in two minds as he stepped up to address the ball, and it was a fairly limp shot that the keeper saved comfortably.

We were able to see out the final few minutes with no real trouble and when the final whistle were happy to have the win.

POM was AJ, whose magnetic stick in the first half and availability as an outlet all through the game helped immensely.