Mens 1st XI Match Report
Potters Bar Men's 1st XI v Saffron Walden 1st XI
21 January 2012 | by Owen Hughes
Potters Bar welcomed league-leading Saffron Walden to Dame Alice Owen’s on Saturday in buoyant mood after last week’s 3-3 draw against second-place Old Southendians. It was felt that more points were attainable here with a strong team out, including Ed Seaman playing his first game of the season for the club.
Saffron Walden started the match the stronger and had the better of the first 10 minutes. However, Potters Bar were set-up defensively, with a packed midfield, and were able to absorb the pressure. Indeed Bar started to get push forward through Charlie Irish and Ed Whybrow and make inroads into Walden’s defence.
So it was slightly against the run of play when Saffron Walden won their first short corner of the match. The shot from the top of the D from the short was a good one to give Walden the lead. Almost immediately Bar struck back as Tony Sayers’ shot on the turn entered the goal via keeper’s pads.
Bar were playing some nice hockey with their confidence high and it was not long before they got a second. A hit into the circle found Tony again to deflect the ball up and over the prostrate keeper, just! An honorary mention goes to Ed Seaman who had the chance to get the final touch but let Tony have the goal.
However, despite Saffron Walden being a very young side, they did not buckle in the situation and before half-time would retake the lead 3-2, through some simple short corners working well again.
The second half was another even affair. Saffron Walden grabbed a fourth goal and then sat back to absorb Bar’s pressure. With about 15 minutes left, Bar’s Tony Sayers completed his hat trick. This left some nervous last few minutes for Saffron Walden to defend with the odd counter attack threatening to kill the game off.
In the dying seconds, Bar won a short corner but, with everyone up to attack, Ed Whybrow’s flick was deflected wide to leave Saffron Walden to hang on for a 4-3 victory.
A deflating result for Bar but they can have pride that they more than matched the division’s top side for most of the match.
Photos from the game.
Final Score: Potters Bar 3 - 4 Saffron Walden
Goal Scorers: Tony Sayers (3)
Team: Jonny Weller, Ed Newbery, Ben Graham, Rory Brett, Owen Hughes, Charlie Irish, Chris Chittleborough, Ed Whybrow, Tony Sayers, Ed Seaman, Mark Turpin, Rob Donoghue, Andy Stokes
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