COWHC Mens 4s vs Cranleigh 1s - 24 October 2015

Team: George, Max, Adam, Ken, Duncan, Rob, Karl, Jon, Mike, Adam, Ross and Stu.

A huge point, worth just as much as any win! The opposition came into the match on the back of consecutive 8 nil victories... but we were determined to give them a game. And boy did we do that!

The gameplan was simple, like always, begin how we finished last week's agonising defeat to the Midgirls :-)

The team showed grit, passion, determination and resilience, starting the game strong offering a persistent threat up top whilst always ready to defend for their lives. It is fair to say Cranleigh edged possession but their frustrations grew, they were expecting a walk in the park but instead got a run in the woods with 11 wolves desperate for dinner.

With half time approaching, Croydon were coping well against a superior opposition and as everyone knows... you only need one chance. Cranleigh's arrogance in thinking we'd roll over caused them to over commit and when the ball was drilled in by Scott, Ross's expert deft touch inside the D was enough for Croydon to head to half time 1 nil up.

Half time saw the arrival of Stu, better late than never :-), and his fresh legs offered some rest bite to Croydon's warriors. The speech was simple again... keep our shape, keep our discipline and continue harassing them.

The 2nd half was a more open affair with Cranleigh's desperation to score leaving gaps for Croydon's Adam, Mike and Ross to exploit only to fail to apply those important killer finishes.

Everyone dug deep and continued to repel the onslaught and when we were undone... George stepped up with a MotM display with a mixture of reaction saves and rushing blocks that kept us alive.

With about 15 left on the clock, Cranleigh finally got their chance to equalise which they probably deserved in all fairness. A scrappy short corner fell to one of theirs a few yards out who then coolly lifted it into the goal.

Determined and fearless, the boys did not allow their heads to drop and maintained their resolve to not lose this battle.

Fittingly, like most battles, in the dying moments of the game one man stepped up to etch his name into hockey folklore. Cranleigh were gifted a last minute short corner...

It was a well worked set piece, moved around then drilled low and hard at our goal. With the ball about to break Croydon's hearts, Karl's stick appeared out of nowhere. The ball stuck to his stick like shite to toilet paper and then with an almighty roar he smashed the ball away to safety. Minutes later, the whistle went and Croydon stood proud at having stopped Cranleigh in their tracks.

Welcome to Hockey.
Welcome to Croydon.
Welcome to Croydon and old Whitgiftians Hockey Club.