Men's 3rd XI start as they mean to go on

TWHC Men's 3rd XI started their first match as newly promoted members of Kent Open Prem A with the only away win of the day in that league, securing a 4-2 win vs Old Bordenians.

It had been a frustrating week for selection, with players needed at short notice higher up in the club and one of our star strikers on paternity leave, so when I received a message saying, 'Siggers is an idiot - we took a wrong turn and we'll be there at 1230 (push-back time)' I had started to get the feeling it was not going to be our day. With a warm-up for the three players involving putting their shin pads on, it was no surprise when after a few minutes of play Old Bordenians went ahead thanks to some poor communication at the back. However things started to settle down and we started to build some pressure, forcing a save off the line and several short corners. Siggers made up for being late with a hit to the bottom corner to draw us level. 1-1 at half time.

Despite inexplicably forgetting to bring jelly babies, oranges or anything of substance to our half time team talk, something must have worked. The second half started with an attack straight from the start, the ball transferring nicely across the back and the passing becoming more accurate and dangerous. Martin Powell was amongst the thick of the action, even being described by the opposition as the 'danger man' (duly fined for this), and after an attempted lob, hitting the bar and missing a few he eventually decided to put one in the back of the net. Martin's highlight was not the goal, but the fact that he wobbled so much through the defence when he got into the D he just dropped his stick for no apparent reason whatsoever - the DotD moment.

The match was still competitive and after surviving a moment of madness with a pass straight to the oppo from the 16 that went by the post, the response was a storming break up field with Tom Fantom doing an excellent job of holding up the ball before playing a short reverse pass into Ben Edwards who buried it into the bottom corner. The game was won at that point was there was still time for another Siggery short-corner, deflected up from a defender into the top corner and a sloppy goal given away at the back. There was of course the customary injury to the captain, when I got steamrollered by the far post, with a kick to the face and head - but a great advert for why to wear masks at short corners!

Man of the match - Toby Siggery, DotD - Martin Powell. Great debuts for Ru, Grant and young Mack up front. Thanks to Scott for helping out in goal and two outstanding saves (even if one was given as a short-corner...).

4-2 win to start and back to fortress Hawkenbury next week, where our 100% points record reaches back into the 2017/18 season. Too early to talk about back to back promotions? We'll give it a good go.