OPPOSITION	Vauxhall 2nd XI
VENUE	Away
DATE	08-12-2007
RESULT	Won 4-1

On a wet afternoon, Potters Bar overcame an aggressive Vauxhall side largely due to a blistering 15 minute first half spell. However the game was marred by ill-temper and 5 players were sent off.

Leaders Potters Bar travelled to third-placed Vauxhall 2nd XI in the last round of NE14HOCKEY East League Division Six South West matches before the Christmas break.

The game started off evenly, with Bar surging forward early but Vauxhall controlled the ball well in midfield and even passed across the back in defensive, a tactic rarely seen at this level.

Trouble was brewing early on with the first confrontation between a Vauxhall player and Bar’s winger Andy Stokes. The two players got in each other's way going for a 50-50 which didn’t seem to please the Vauxhall player and words were exchanged.

Fortunately, Bar got into gear while the game was still relatively calm. They scored their first goal through Ed Newbery. Tony Sayers and Mark Turpin executed a one-two down the right-wing and Sayers’ cross found Ed Newbery in the D. Newbery stopped the ball, turned and put a powerful shot under the diving keeper.

From a long corner on the left, Bar worked another opportunity soon afterwards. With the ball loose in the D, Stokes dived to fire in his shot which struck the post and rebounded towards the penalty spot. Turpin was quick to the rebound and flicked it in.

With Vauxhall all at sea in this passage of play, Bar capitalised with a third goal. From a very deliberate foot in the D, for which the offending player was warned if he did it again he would be carded, Bar were awarded a short corner. They kept it simple and Andy Latham blasted home.

The same player who had been involved in the exchange with Stokes earlier and given away the short corner from which Bar scored was becoming increasingly frustrated. He sandwiched Stokes between himself and another player and was called over by an umpire. After shouting at the umpire he was lucky to be given only a yellow card which meant he was in the sin bin for 10 minutes. Stokes was shown Bar’s first green card of the afternoon for his reaction, meaning he had been warned.

At half-time, the umpires warned both teams about their conduct, in an attempt to keep control of the game which was in danger of boiling over. However the second half was equally, if not more, vitriolic.

Carlo Tosello was having another good game and exploiting plenty of space in midfield. However his reverse tackle 5 minutes into the second half sparked another rankle between the teams. Whilst a Vauxhall player was being sin binned for his inability to keep from appealing, Bar’s Stokes was called over by the other umpire and sin-binned himself. Stokes felt a little aggrieved as he was told his yellow card was for the reverse tackle offence, which was actually committed by Tosello.

With the game becoming scrappier, Bar cut Vauxhall open and Tosello half-rounded the goalkeeper. Rather than reverse stick the ball into the goal, Tosello selflessly passed the ball to Andy Latham who had the simpler finish.

It was about then that the first Vauxhall player to be sin-binned came back on. However, he didn’t last long. Beaten all ends up by Sayers in the Vauxhall D, the Vauxhall player wasn’t going to give-in. He kept on running into Sayers’ body and legs, leaving the Bar player prostrate on the ground. The umpire had no hesitation in showing him his second yellow card.

Vauxhall scored a consolation goal, a rather soft one, when a slow mis-hit shot from just inside the D trickled up and over a Bar player’s stick on the line and went in.

Bar received a couple more cards of their own as first Turpin was shown a green, then Jon Yates a yellow for a stick tackle which stopped a promising Vauxhall move near Bar’s goal.

Jonny Walker was in good form as he made a couple of fine saves in the match. However, a special mention has to go to the umpires, both Bar’s Alan Field and his Vauxhall counterpart. Alan showed great authority in a game that needed it and he didn’t become flustered as others might have done under almost constant pressure and appealing.

Team:

Jonny Weller, Jon Yates, Tim Bye, Rob Donoghue, Paul Brady, Owen Hughes, Andy Stokes,
Mark Turpin, Ed Newbery, Andy Latham, Carlo Tosello, Tony Sayers, Roy Hill

Umpire: Alan Field

Goal scorers:

Ed Newbery	Mark Turpin	Andy Latham	Andy Latham