Mens 1st XI Match Report
Potters Bar Men 1st XI v Hertford 1st XI
02 October 2010 | by Chris Chittleborough
Potters Bar’s first home game of the season was against Hertford. Bar were keen to bounce back after their opening match lost away against a strong Luton side.
During the opening exchanges both teams enjoyed possession with some slick passing by both sides. Hertford were playing higher up the pitch however resolute defending from both Owen Hughes and Stuart Mainwaring broke up any threat from Hertford. This allowed Bar to counter attack and used the threat of Charlie Irish and David Fennell down the flanks. After the opening twenty minutes Bar had had the best opportunities with Mark Turpin being denied by the Hertford keeper on several occasions.
With the first half drawing to a close Turpin was able to round the keeper, however his shot hit the opposition’s foot and was deemed a short corner. The first short corner of the game enabled Bar to capitalise on their midweek training sessions. The slip left found Tomkins at the top of the D, however with an on-coming defender he made room for himself on his reverse side and buried his shot in the bottom left corner of the goal. Shortly after, the referee blew the whistle for half time and with Bar leading 1-0 the game was still in the balance.
Potters Bar were expecting Hertford to come out on the offensive straight after half time, however within thirty seconds of getting the game under way Bar had doubled their advantage. From the push back the ball was passed around the back before Chris Chittleborough drove at the midfield and fed Turpin through the middle who in turn was able to play a delightful one two with Fennell. Turpin raced to the byline and drove into the D before delivering the ball across the face of the goal for Tomkins to score his second of the game. Potters Bar celebrated in style with a superb team goal which proved to be the catalyst for Bar to continue their dominance in the second half.
Bar pressed Hertford high up the pitch and closed them down forcing errors. With Bar controlling the game, Bar won a further short corner after Turpin was fouled in the D. This time the slip right to Irish enabled him to pass the ball across the top of the D to Tomkins to slap the ball past the keeper for his well deserved hat-trick.
As play continued in the second half Ed Whybrow was able to drop deeper and collect the ball from the defence and with acres of space was able to add another dimension to the game flinging aerials over the Hertford midfield for Tomkins to chase down the flanks and torment the opposition. Potters Bar won another short corner and this time Whybrow collected the ball at the top of the D and passed the ball onto the right post for Fennell who timed his run to perfection to slot in Bar’s fourth.
With Hertford tiring, Whybrow was able to run down the right wing beating the defender before passing to Turpin at the top of the D whose flick was saved by the keeper only to fall into the path of Fennell whose shot was roofed into the back of the net. 5-0!
Hertford regained their shape and proved to be a threat going forward however Bar defend as a team. With the game coming to a close Chittleborough played a one two with Turpin around the Hertford defence and was through on goal but with just the keeper to beat tried to slip the ball left for the oncoming Fennell, however the Hertford keeper made another fantastic stick save to deny Fennell his hat-trick.
The final whistle blew and Potters Bar had won 5-0, Bar played some exquisite hockey at times and also kept their first clean sheet of the season. Bar will now look to build upon this performance for next week's fixture away against Berkhamstead.
Final Score: Potters Bar 1st XI v Hertford 1st XI
Goal Scorers: Miles Tomkins (3), David Fennell (2)
Team: Geoff Smith, Ed Newbery, Rob Donoghue, Owen Hughes, Stuart Mainwaring, Chris Chittleborough, Ed Whybrow, Dave Fennell, Mark Turpin, Miles Tomkins, Charlie Irish, Kohi Gananandan
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