COWHC Men's 3s vs Woking Men's 5s - 30th Sept 2017

Saturday started as any other of the past 4 months. Wake up, stretch, work out which parts hurt, try to make them work, hobble to the shower, morning Yoga to force my body to move, cuppa tea, and breakfast. But today is different. Today we get to don the only outfit that makes you feel invincible. Today I get to put on my COW HC gear. Today I GET TO PLAY HOCKEY! No more side-line management for me. Yippee! And what a roller coaster of a match it would be.

The Hutch Mobile was outside the house, only the best door to door service for the captain (I wasn't running late, honest!). Meeting at the club everyone turned up with smiles on their faces and an excited energy that the new season brings, along with the new gear people ordered having arrived the day before.

Our one hour drive to Woking was smooth and made all the better when the Hutch Mobile became a Karaoke Mobile with Smooth FM providing some classic hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. George Benson, Take That, Neil Diamond, George Michael, and many others had Hutch and I belting out the lyrics (not entirely in tune). Poor Ben and Javier were left cringing and traumatised in the back wondering what the hell was happening.

Pregame talk; for those playing dP bingo please have your cards ready and in front of you.

Possession, Man Marking, Work Rate, Communication - or as Steve McKeown called it "The Four Pillars of Promotion", thanks Steve I now have the title of my book. Hutch, talked through the thirds of the pitch, composure - as this was our first game back, and... Keep It Classy. Bingo!

Coin toss, Croydon win and opt for push back.

Whistle goes and the season has finally started! The first passage of play saw the pace of Ellis and Mulley shred the defence and linking nicely with Burke to get into Wokings D within 15 seconds. The ball was selflessly passed from the left side of the D across the open face of goal for Burke to charge on to. Alas, only one Ben would have been able to make that pass, and it wasn't Burke, who was agonisingly close to scoring the first goal of the league! An audible sigh of relief was heard from the Woking players at the narrow escape.

Croydon sensing early blood become a prowling animal looking to kill the game off early. With the crazy pace of Ellis and Mulley up front, and Cady being ever present on the post, being fed ball after ball from the outstanding midfield meant we had chance after chance after chance but somehow not able to find the net. Woking's only response to this onslaught of simple and sexy hockey was to park the bus, putting 9 men inside their 23. Surely the Gods would smile on our play and reward us with a goal.

About 20 minutes of utter domination and no reward, turned to our energy and excitement into frustration as time and again we just seem to be excruciating close. Our play become more direct and less sensible, then found ourselves on the defensive. Woking sensing us falter, and being embarrassed at how little they were in the game, exacerbated the situation by getting very, very physical. Tackles became body checks, elbows became raised, and in one case a Woking forward got confused that he was on a hockey pitch and not Rugby pitch, decided to run through the back of me having just been expertly picked, again by yours truly, on the edge of the D. No doubt he was getting revenge for the loss of goal he was obviously about to score. He was off with a green card for this cynical and dangerous foul, I was off to recover from being trampled by a bull.

This passage of play was not our finest but our stalwart defence, having conceded only 20 goals last season, showed why Phil doesn't have much to do most games. Impressive displays from Harvs, Hutch, Brooks, Woj, and Noel kept Woking at bay for most of it, though Phil was called into action more than once making a number of great saves and key clearances.

Then finally it happened, we were rewarded with the goal we very much deserved. 27th minutes after the first whistle, excellent link play meant the ball got to ben on their 23, he beat two defenders and ran into the top of the D. Mustering all the the "Burke Rage" he unleashed a furious thunderbolt of a shot that Zeus would be proud of. It streaked across the D towards the back post at knee height... straight at Mulley standing just outside the goal. His reflexes saved his knees and managed to get his stick in the way to deflect it toward goal, it landed for Keith Hunter to pounce on the easiest goal of his life. 1-0 Croydon, but Mulley stays on the floor holding his hand, uh oh.

Turns out that Mulley didn't have time to move his hand before he touched the ball and the end of his finger was crushed and bleeding badly. With no first aid kit pitch side Mulley takes himself to the clubhouse to get bandaged, taped and ready to play again for the second half. We later find out that his finger tip was completely crushed and the bone pretty much obliterated. Nice hit Ben, and props to Mulley for playing through the pain and having one the best game of his Croydon career.

Half time team talk is about composure, controlling our energy and temperament, knowing we have more time on the ball than we were used to last year, so to take a deep breath and continue to move it around the park.

Second half saw a return to dominant play that lasted the whole half, but again just not being able to convert. Liverpool FC anyone? Ben Burke also found himself now marked by three players and getting some special treatment. Spoiler alert, it didn't work! Ben made a mockery of them all and showed why Burke's are nearly indestructible.

Woking were left one option, crash ball, which was continually being shut down by the midfield until disaster struck against the run of play. A crash the ball managed to make its way past Harvs who couldn't get enough of his stick onto it, the ball pops up over the head of Keith Hunter. Brooksy goes to control the ball that had an unfortunate bounce causing the control to become a deflection that slowed the ball enough for the attacker to run onto and score a really well taken goal. Woking proving that if they get a chance, they will score. 1-1.

The rallying cry goes out to stay calm, it was a just bad luck that lead to a well taken goal. Thankfully we keep our heads and shut the game down again.

With 12 minutes left, Croydon found another of their shots well saved, but this time, luck is on our side as the ball deflects to the ever present Burke as he crashes this one home into the net for his first goal since the 15-16 season. The relief on all our faces was palpable but we were not safe yet. Woking knew that luck could turn once again.

In typical 3s style we continued to carry the game to the oppo so they cannot get into their stride. In typical 3's style we continued to carry the game to the oppo so they cannot get into their stride. Another flurry of moves albeit a little slower now as our legs start to falter gave us another clear chance on goal. A cheeky 1-2 play by Ellis and Cady left the latter with the ball in the D with the keeper charging Cady as Ellis runs to the P-spot shouting his lungs off. Whether it was panic, induced by a Goliath of a keeper charging Cady, or his natural forwards mentality, meant Adam took the shot instead of laying for Ellis to kill the game. Easy mistake to make after a long and bruising game, but one that could have been costly.

Croydon manage to hold out the rest of the game, though not long enough for Brooksy to take a deflected ball to the nuts from Harvs, who shouted "CHASE BACK!" despite a pale/green look over coming Brooksy's face. Harvs securing DoD for this move.

2-1 final score, not a pretty win but satisfying as we showed grit and composure in the face of a brutal storm. Next time I hope we don’t put ourselves in the same position.

PoM was went to Ben Burke for a masterful performance in Midfield, honourable mentions for Hutch, Harvs, Ben Ellis, and Phil. In all reality, everyone on the pitch could have been voted for as all put in a serious effort and all had outstanding games.

Thank you to Jack for umpiring and helping keep some modicum of safety in a challenging game.