COWHC Men's 3s vs NPL Bees - 25th March 2017

First the serious bit - an impeccably respected 2 minutes silence to commemorate the victims of the Westminster attack was held prior to the match.

It's not that I can't stand the rain, but when the sun shines at the end of a fabulous season, it sure makes Saturday's nicer. And what could be nicer than watching the 2s play before our match... sadly the result was not the one they wanted, but when the heartache is over, paradise is here! (Sorry 2s, I know I should show some respect, but the afterglow euphoria is winning instead!)

Having secured promotion with last week's away win over in Nutbush City limits, a.k.a. Spencer, we faced up to the fact that a win or a draw would win us the championship with 2 matches to spare. Could we hold our nerve? Could we get a 5th clean sheet in a row? Would the support be raucous? Read on to find out!

We started like a love explosion! Flowing hockey, numerous chances created, it was clear that we wanted to ensure a victory to seal the title. NPL were defending resolutely, so it was perhaps no surprise that our first goal came from a short corner, won by Mulley's drive into the D. Will injected, Hutch received and played the ball back to Will to tuck home.

Mulley was displaying the footwork of a private dancer (something that couldn't be said of Hoops, see below), and scored our second following a slight bit of mis-control from dP. Mulley recovered the ball, flew past 4 defenders on silent wings and finished with aplomb through the keeper's legs.

The pressure was on NPL and while they occasionally managed to release it, it was probably a surprise to them when they won a short corner themselves. It was certainly a surprise to everyone apart from Jack, who had clearly allowed the power of being an umpire to go to his head. Hoops fluffed his lines under no pressure and trod on the ball in our D... there was no-one apart from Phil within about 10 metres of Hoops, and yet Jack decided that a short corner was the only recourse!

Still, thanks to Mulley's pace again, this time defensively, the danger was dealt with.

Goal 3 was another short corner, similar to the first but this time Hutch slipped the ball to the other side for Mulley to touch home.

3 - 0 half time, some might have asked, why must we wait until tonight to start the celebrations, but not this team. The call was: let's stay together, keep it tight, and play our game still. Night time is the right time for easing off.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, and Mulley completed his hattrick after a lovely run across the D from Dav. He released the ball to Mulley who swept into the top corner.

Even the full backs were getting involved in the attacks (like most weeks!) as I picked the ball up, ran forward, looked up to see the options of Mulley and dP in a line in front of me. I fired the ball forward, it was just out of Mulley's reach but made it through perfectly to the skipper in the D. Sometimes when we touch the ball magic happens, this wasn't one of those occasions. dP had one touch and then fell to the floor like a Spanish footballer! Still, we won a flick, so up steps Mr 100% Cooledge and takes such a lame flick that the NPL keeper had time to have a couple of pints before lying down to stop it.

And then (I think... this may actually have been a bit later in the game, I don't remember...) something of a complicated disaster. The ball was lost on our left, NPL's central midfielder picked it up and drove across the pitch. He was tracked by Keith and heading towards Hutch, so surely no danger. But then somehow he was one-on-one with Phil. But that's OK, the clean sheet is still intact, because Phil makes a great save.

And yet... somehow the ball ended up with another NPL player, who managed a shot which crept over the line!

The shock was palpable amongst players and supporters alike, the first goal against for quite a while!

We recovered well though and drove back at the heart of the NPL defence. An attacking sideline made it to Hutch in the middle of the pitch. He called for Mulley, drilled the ball and halfway down the pitch to the back post and, sure enough, Mulley had heeded the cry and tucked away his fourth of the game.

The sixth and final goal sealed Will's jug avoidance. Again, for the 3rd time in a match, which must be some kind or record, we scored from a short. It was almost an exact replay of the first goal, although this time Will's first shot was stopped and deflected into the air, he reacted quickest to the ball dropping back to earth and smashed it into the net.

A great performance, a good win, and a second consecutive championship in the bag. Chaps, we are (simply) the best! We don't need another hero, we have a squad full of them!

POM - had to be Mr 4-goals Mulley
DOD - had to be Mr Swallow Dive du Pre

Thanks to Jack for umpiring (and being a typical male by ruining the first team photo by showing his arse), and to all of those who supported us from the sidelines, particularly our fellow champions from the 4s.