Get out of Jail Card played!

COWHC 3s 2-2 Leatherhead 2s

15th March 2014

Match Report

Spring had definitely sprung in Croydon this weekend, the sun was out, the temperature was up and so a trip to the beach was in order.  Yes, we were at Harris Academy.

Leatherhead are one of those particularly tricky teams where you often finish the game thinking you should probably have got more out of it than you actually had.  In the away match they beat us 3-1, but a lot of that was down to us being a couple of players short, the 3rd goal actually coming while we were pushing for an equaliser.  However this week we definitely got out of jail.

As has so often been the case this season, we had a mixed team of mostly regulars, but a couple of extras, in particular Ciaran filling in for Paul in goal and Pirate joining us for the first half.

I don't know whether it was the weather or what, but we started the match pretty sluggishly and were soon made to pay.  Passes were going awry and, after only a couple of minutes, one bad one led to the opening goal.  I tried to play the ball inside to Radders, but got no power in the pass and a Leatherhead player was able to nip in first and start the move that eventually lead to the opening goal.

Even though they moved the ball quickly up to our D, we still had one or two occasions where we could have cleared it.  Somehow, however, the ball always seemed to end up with a Leatherhead player and eventually one managed to get a good enough shot away to beat Ciaran.

Gradually we started to wake up though and, cheered on by a couple of the ladies who had stayed on after their game, managed a couple of half chances.  And midway through the half we were back on level terms.  I tackled a player just inside the opposition half and fed the ball forward to Radders.  He played it wide to AJ, who drove forward a bit before playing the return pass to Radders in the D.  His shot was crisp, into the corner and gave the keeper no chance.

Sadly that remained the most fluent move we were able to put together in that half and again we were punished.

Mike did well tracking his player back towards our own goal down the left and managed to make the tackle in the D.  Unfortunately his clearance ended up with a Leatherhead player at the top of the D, who shot through a crowd and Ciaran, unsighted, was just unable to keep the ball from going in.

The second half saw the opposition really seem to start pushing forward and only an inspired display from Ciaran was keeping the score down.  As time ran on however the game became more stretched and we began to win a couple of short corners.  We couldn't keep the pressure on though, and every time we seemed to get up to the opposition D the move broke down and we were soon back defending.

However, we didn't capitulate and, with just about a minute to go, we won another short.  The initial shot was blocked and in the scramble that followed Qaz managed to poke the ball home with the very last hit of the game.

Relief all round on our side, particularly given our run of results since Christmas.  Let's hope we can take the fighting spirit shown at the end of this game into next week!

POM was, without any doubt, Ciaran.  There would have been no way back into the game for us had it not been for his heroics.