Mens 2nd XI Match Report
Potters Bar Men's 2nd XI v Berkhampstead 2nd XI
22 October 2011 | by Anthony Levy
A comedy of errors meant that this game was finally able to get under way a few (!) minutes late thereby allowing the skipper to finally turn up; Andy Stokes to work out how to get on the late arriving goalkeeping gear; Michael Levy to locate which North London Underground station was holding his hockey stick; Freddie Waite to arrive, having missed a train due to engineering work on the Victoria Line; the rest of the team to realise that Queenie was actually away despite his name appearing on the team sheet; and Michael Levy, finding he only had one astro shoe with him, to persuade umpire Alan Field to nip home to get him a second astro!
It was unsurprising after this effort that the opening of the match saw Bar rather disjointed, not helped by a late reshuffle of a team that only contained 2 natural defenders, so that Chris Filbey was forced into an emergency stint at right back, with Paul Brady filling in at centre back. Fortunately both teams started the match with only 11 men, so people got used to their positions pretty early! Berkhamsted won a number of early short corners but some good defending ensured that Andy Stokes remained a spectator.
Gradually Bar forced themselves on the game and began to take control of possession and territory, although the first 20 odd minutes saw just one Bar shot on goal as an effort from Dave Fennell on 13 minutes from the angle was easily dealt with. On 25 minutes however came the move of the game as Michael Levy fed Dave Fennell down the right, whose run and cross picked out an excellent run from Danny Becker whose shot went wide, when even Shag would have scored!
However the pressure finally brought its reward with two goals in a minute just before half time. On 31 minutes Michael Levy won the ball in the middle of the field and quickly drove straight for goal, picking out Freddie Waite inside the D who made no mistake in beating the onrushing keeper. Barely a minute later an almost identical goal had the Berkhamsted keeper throwing his equipment around in frustration! This time the Berkhamsted defence gave away a free hit just outside the 25 and all of them stood and watched as Dave Fennell skipped towards the D to pick out a delighted Freddie who made it 2-0.
Meanwhile Berkhamsted were getting more and more frustrated with this highlighted by their players arguing that umpire Richard West should have allowed play to continue rather than awarding them a short corner – Richard correctly then reversing the decision due to the arguing! Their frustration was also due to the harrying of their players, with Paul Brady and Danny Becker regularly involved in winning back possession for Bar.
The goals made the skipper’s half time team talk an easy one – use the wings and your speed and the game was there to be won.
For once the team listened as they came out and dominated most of the second half with some excellent hockey using both Miles Edson and James McCormick on the wings to goof effect. In the very first minute of the second half Bar pressure in the D nearly won a penalty flick rather than the short corner that was awarded. There were many good moves but few clear chances – the best came on 44 minutes when a good run by Dave Fennell found Michael Levy on the left hand side of goal and his pass inside to James McCormick was well saved.
With 10 minutes remaining Paul Brady pulled up with a dodgy hamstring and was replaced by the late arriving Shag. At the same Bar allowed Berkhamsted to start pressing forward and after an excellent save from Andy Stokes on 62 minutes, just a minute later after another good save, the defence were unable to clear and the lead had been halved.
There was just one more nervous moment a few minutes later when Shag mishit a pass across the back line, but after this was retrieved, Bar saw out the rest of the game for a deserved victory over a team that had come into the game with a 100% record. As a result, tea tasted good, with the skipper treated to his own special portion of butternut squash and cherry tomato soup!
Final Score: Potters Bar 2 - 1 Berkhampstead
Goal Scorers: F Waite (2)
Team: S Randon (Capt), A Stokes (GK), J Yates, C Filbey, P Brady, M Levy, M Edson, D Becker, F Waite, J McCormick, D Fennell C Edwards
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