After a lengthy bus journey the boys struggled to come to terms with the pace of the game on the astroturf surface. George M was called into action very early in the match and pulled off four magnificent saves to deny Witham taking the lead. Charlie T, Robert H and
Jake
P were putting in a lot of work defensively against a very talented Witham side.
S.Anselm's were gradually working themselves into the match with John B making some forceful runs at the Witham defence and Jordan W and Max H posing some threats to the Witham defence. Tom B and James C were working tirelessly in the middle of the field to impose their authority. After 15 minutes S.Anselm's constructed a good attacking move which ended up with a goal mouth scramble and John B was on hand at the back post to score from close range. This gave the S.Anselm's side renewed confidence and they started to play some good hockey, with the younger players Oliver N and James B settling and making a contribution. Jordan W nearly increased the lead just before the break only to be denied by a terrific save by the Witham goalkeeper. The half time whistle blew and S.Anselm's were leading 1-0.
Witham came out all guns blazing at the beginning of the second half and after eight minutes scored a very good equaliser. The response from S.Anselm's was immediate and within two minutes a good passing move resulted in Jordan W picking the ball up on the edge of the 'D' and firing an unstoppable shot past the Witham goalkeeper to re-establish the S.Anselm's lead.
S.Anselm's had two penalty corners but failed to convert either which was disappointing. Witham then laid siege to the S.Anselm's goal for almost ten minutes with Charlie T being outstanding defensively as was George M who pulled off a string of good saves. With five minutes remaining I was hoping that the team could stand firm and pull off an unlikely victory. However it was not to be with Witham's outstanding centre midfielder converting a penalty corner to level the scores and then from broken play Witham forced what was to be the winner with less than two minutes to play. S.Anselm's tried valiantly to find an equaliser but it was not to be.
A lot of things were learnt not least the need to retain possession and to keep the teams positional shape. The team need to work on defending, knowing when to tackle and which opposition players they are marking.
This was a good performance from a team that has played so little hockey this term so far and the potential is there. My thanks to Mr Brock for his umpiring and his invaluable coaching input.
MAC
Posted on
Wed, January 28, 2009
by admin