COWHC Men's 3s vs Merton Boars - 28th November 2015

It's a dog eat dog league this season with most teams capable of taking points off each other.

We've been on a bit of a roll over the past few weeks and went into this game with perhaps a touch too much confidence. Despite a good warm up, when it came time to play ball Merton took us a bit by surprise with a high voltage start. We couldn't get the same rhythm of the past couple of matches, not helped by some of the opposition's dirty deeds done dirt cheap approach to the more physical elements - at one point in the first half Adam won the ball yet somehow ended in a tussle with the player he was marking that ended with his own stick hitting him in the head, leaving him hearing hell's bells for a short while! No doubt it still hurts!

We did manage to get on the score sheet first, a good move ending with Steve able to finish. Unfortunately the lead didn't last for too long, I gave the ball away and, a few passes later, it was with an opposition forward in isolation in the D, and he slotted the ball into the back of the net.

It's a measure of this team though that we weren't left thunderstruck by this and gradually we were able to get a grip on the game. A short corner was deflected in by Will and we went into half time 2 - 1 up.

Hutch's half time team talk was not so much a short sharp shock, more a call for calm and patience, as the rewards would come.

Merton's energy level at the start of the second half couldn't match that of the first half and we became the team doing the high press. Aided by the big gun Corny getting into the act with his shoot to thrill attitude and words of advice to Ben, the opposition defence came under more and more pressure. Ben's tireless running in particular caused them no end of problems.

That's not to say we weren't threatened, some occasional loose passing did give Merton chances to counter-attack, but Phil in goal was hard as a rock to beat. Indeed at one point he came steaming out of his D like a rock 'n' roll train to lay the ball off to Hutch!

A hat-trick from Corny and a finish from Ben, taken with brilliant composure after Raj had put him through on goal, added to the scoreline.

At moments it looked like we could have been on the highway to hell, but a stiff upper lip, patience and faith in our own skills got us the win in the end. It's a long way to the top of the league, and indeed the end of the season, but we're going about things the right way.

POM was the young iceman Ben, while DOD went to the slightly older dying swan Steve.

Oh, and as it's now coming up to the festive season, can I just add that all I want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague away kit, Joy Division oven gloves... and maybe some new shin pads to replace those I managed to leave in at the club house after the match!