Mens 1st XI Match Report
Potters Bar 1st XI v Luton Town 1st XI
25 September 2010 | by Miles Tomkins
Potters Bar's league season got off to a truly shambolic start. 15 minutes after the scheduled meeting time, the warm up began with the skipper and two other players present - Luton meanwhile had already been warming up for half an hour with a squad of 14 players and two umpires. By the time the match was due to start, as many as 8 players had made it through the nightmare that was the M1 but, since that didn't include a 'keeper, Luton were good enough to delay the push back by almost half an hour.
That just about gave time for the remaining players to arrive and, abandoning hope of a warm up, get onto the pitch. How unprepared the team were, was made clear very soon by a well organised Luton outfit, who each new their roles well. The tempo at which they played the game, together with the way that they kept the ball and moved it around, highlighted the vast difference in quality between last season's division and this one. In those early exchanges, Bar looked nervous and struggled to keep hold of the ball when they won it. This meant that debutant Callum Atkins and Owen Hughes saw far too much of the ball under pressure at the top of the Bar D.
Having said that, on the occasions that Bar did get the ball up the pitch, they looked to have more pace and flair going forward than their opposition. This resulted in some heavy challenges flying in from the Luton defenders with Mark Turpin, who's stick looked like someone had taken a hammer to it by the end of the game, bearing the brunt.
When Bar won a short corner, from just such a challenge on Turpin, they very nearly went ahead as, first, Miles Tomkins' strike was pushed away from the bottom corner by the Luton keeper's stick and then Chris Chittleborough's follow up effort was forced wide.
As it was, Luton's abundance of possession eventually told as their playmaker was given too much space to run in to and time to pick a pass that was duly slotted home. Within 5 minutes, their lead was doubled amid controversial circumstances. Tomkins was obstructed from self passing a free hit in the opposition 25 but rather than awarding the short corner, the ball was turned over and, catching everyone unaware, Luton broke down the pitch and finished well.
Half time gave Potters Bar a chance to catch their breath and, given their rushed start to the match, a much needed chance to assess how they wanted to play the game. A personnel shuffle ensued with the experienced pair of Ben Graham and Chittleborough both taking a step back down the pitch to help us to build from deep.
2 minutes after the restart though, Bar were in further trouble as a poor mistake gifted Luton the ball and a 3 on 1 in the middle of the pitch. Luton made no mistake as they first passed it round the solitary defender, and then round the helpless Geoff Smith in goal to give them a 3 goal cushion.
From then on, having left it far too late to show up metaphorically as well as literally, Bar dominated proceedings. The merits of having Graham partnering Hughes at the back were soon clear as they dealt relatively comfortably with the Luton attackers and showed how to bring the ball forward. And, returned to his accustomed role in front of the back two, Chittleborough dominated the middle, taking the Luton playmaker out of the game and bringing Bar's skilful wings into it.
Dave Fennell and Andy Foster out wide caused all sorts of problems and they were well supported by Rob Donoghue and Ed Newbery who attacked from deep. Bar were unlucky not to give themselves a sniff at that point as, after great build up play, Turpin pinged his shot into the post and wide.
A Bar goal wasn't long in coming though as Turpin again went down the right and, this time, pulled the ball back for Fennell at the top of the D, who in turn played in Tomkins for a simple tap in at the back post.
Within 2 minutes, Bar were back in the Luton D with a short corner after another dodgy tackle, with Tomkins this time the recipient. The ball was played short to Newbery who, with Luton deceived, had all the time in the world to pick his spot but took his eye off the ball, allowing Luton to clear.
Bar maintained their pressure with Charlie Irish, in particular, running intelligently from midfield and Luton were given some more nervous moments - not least when they were reduced to 10 men by a sin binning for persistent back chat to the umpires. Luton responded by sitting in and running down the clock and Bar were unable to make up for their lapses earlier in the game, ending the match 3-1 down.
Bar's day was summed up when they reached the clubhouse after the game to find out that no one had told the Luton bar staff that the hockey season had restarted - it was water all round as they contemplated what might have been and looked forward to another stint on the M1.
Final Score: Potters Bar 1 - 3 Luton Town
Goal Scorers:
Team: Smith, Hughes, Graham, Newbery (c), Donoghue, Chittleborough, Fennell, Foster, Irish, Tomkins, Turpin, Atkins
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