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Sat 09 Oct 2021 ·  Invicta Men's Division 1
Men's 2nd XIMaidstone 2
3
2
Grinding out a result
David Judge12 Oct 2021 - 12:15
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We got there in the end
Another win, another three points but far from an ideal performance. We started brightly, controlling possession and playing through our midfield well and took a deserved lead with a Tim Sylvester drag flick. This early dominance then led to an abandonment of pattern as players tried to go direct and attacked without creating width and repeatedly turned over the ball through taking the ball into unnecessary contact. This, in alignment with forgetting key defensive duties meant that Maidstone hit us on the break and scored two goals in ten minutes to lead 2-1 going into the break.
Its not often these days that I lose my temper but unfortunately the Judge hairdryer came out of retirement at half time. It was stressed, probably a little too loudly, that team play wins over individuals in hockey. A target was set for no goals conceded and a minimum of 2 to be scored. Whilst walking back onto the pitch I glanced to the sideline and then remembered that extended family & friends had come to watch this game (primarily to see Sam) and that my use of colourful language was causing a mixture of frowns and chuckles, not my finest hour.
The end result was a 3-2 win as we scored 2 more - Tim Sylvester scoring a great diving deflection for his 4th goal in 2 games and Freddie Hoare tapped in after a short corner move. Matt Day made some important saves and we managed to restrict the opposition to less forward forays. Our own number of circle entries needs to result in more upgrades to short corners and shots on targets but the commitment to team ball was better.
There were positives, Angus Currie made a welcome return to left half and was solid, Zach Olette grows in confidence every week at right half and shows real potential and Sam Judge & Toby Sambrook were excellent on the ball throughout.
The only disappointing aspect of the 2nd half was the questioning of umpiring decisions which hurt us and resulted in another yellow card. The junior players need to have better role models, players need to be more respectful of the Umpires and once a decision is made, get on with it.
Onwards and upwards, we play Canterbury next week who also have 9pts from 3 games ....
Its not often these days that I lose my temper but unfortunately the Judge hairdryer came out of retirement at half time. It was stressed, probably a little too loudly, that team play wins over individuals in hockey. A target was set for no goals conceded and a minimum of 2 to be scored. Whilst walking back onto the pitch I glanced to the sideline and then remembered that extended family & friends had come to watch this game (primarily to see Sam) and that my use of colourful language was causing a mixture of frowns and chuckles, not my finest hour.
The end result was a 3-2 win as we scored 2 more - Tim Sylvester scoring a great diving deflection for his 4th goal in 2 games and Freddie Hoare tapped in after a short corner move. Matt Day made some important saves and we managed to restrict the opposition to less forward forays. Our own number of circle entries needs to result in more upgrades to short corners and shots on targets but the commitment to team ball was better.
There were positives, Angus Currie made a welcome return to left half and was solid, Zach Olette grows in confidence every week at right half and shows real potential and Sam Judge & Toby Sambrook were excellent on the ball throughout.
The only disappointing aspect of the 2nd half was the questioning of umpiring decisions which hurt us and resulted in another yellow card. The junior players need to have better role models, players need to be more respectful of the Umpires and once a decision is made, get on with it.
Onwards and upwards, we play Canterbury next week who also have 9pts from 3 games ....
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