HOO ARE YA?

Cobdown Men’s 2s 3 BOEHC Dynamos 4

The Dynamos’ first action of the 2016-2017 season saw a trip in suddenly autumnal weather to face one of the potential League 4 promotion favourites, Cobdown, in the wonderfully named Kent enclave of Hoo. (Q: “Where are we playing today?” A: “Hoo”. Q: “No, I said where, not who?”) This game also marked the first match in charge for new captain, Danny Lewis, who, quite apart from turning in a masterful performance at the back in the heart of defence, also juggled his resources skilfully throughout to squeeze out a deserved and ultimately hard-fought victory.

The team boasted no further than three father-son partnerships in the starting line-up, the Browns, the Southgates and also the Lewis’s, as the captain’s son, Jake, answered a late call to arms on Saturday morning, and it was further strengthened by the inclusion of both James Hatcher and Ravi Wickramasuriya, luxuries which the team will not be able to rely on in league action during the season ahead. As the heavy rain showers turned off at the mains, the visitors set off like a train, with Cobdown sportingly conceding the push-back and actually not laying a stick on the ball for the next minute as a result. There was plenty of inventive play from the eclectic red cocktail of talent on show, but the team had to wait till the 25 minute mark to make it count. A smart short-corner routine gave the men from BOEHC a lead which they held till half-time and ultimately never relinquished, thanks principally to man-of-the-match and debutant Australian keeper, Damo, who got to ground smartly to thwart both a couple of Cobdown forays and a one-on-one to maintain the slender lead. He showed immense bravery, as he pulled off yet another great stop early in the second half whilst almost getting his head removed by an opposing forward’s boot. Still, at least the miscreant was left with a pronounced limp for a minute or two thereafter.

As the dry weather turned briefly to rain, so too did the tide of play, as the visitors found themselves washed up against their own D for a period early in the second half, but the defence rode out the storm, with Matt Southgate turning in a great display in both full-black slots, and it was ultimately no surprise when the visitors doubled their lead courtesy of the great opportunist goal by the wonderful James Hatcher. However, turbulent waters still lay ahead, as the Dynamos’ defence repelled their first two penalty corners conceded but succumbed to the third as the ball cannoned in off the prone keeper’s left boot. Meanwhile Chris up front proved again that not all things French are bad, and held the ball up well in the second period, whilst Jack Lewis’ double one-two cameo out of defence with his dad would have delighted any defensive purist worth his salt.

Thereafter it was nip-and-tuck all the way, as first the Dynamos restored their advantage through Daniel Blanchard’s well-taken effort after great persistence from the mercurial Chris Brown, only to be pegged back during a melee in the away D a mere five minutes later. Once again Oli Payne responded with his second of the day to make it 4-2, before the hosts scored in the 69th minute to give the final score-line to a highly entertaining and competitive game played in a good spirit throughout by both teams.
So what (rather than “Hoo”?) will captain Lewis have learnt from this exercise? A talented Cobdown team doubtless will be a tougher prospect in the league fixture at the end of the month in four weeks’ time, but the signs were still highly encouraging, especially when the Dynamos played some expansive stuff out wide early and late on. Making sure that they do that during the “middle half” of the game too may ultimately be the team’s best recipe for cooking up further success in the months ahead.

Team:
“Damo”,(GK), Matt Southgate, Louis Brown, Danny Lewis, Tim Walters, Jack Lewis, Chris Brown, Ravi Wickramamsuriya, Daniel Blanchard, Oli Payne, James Hatcher, Harry Southgate, Chris French.

Man-of-the-match:
“Damo the Defiant” Steady & impassable.

Umpires:
Richard Mills and one of theirs, who kept the game moving, wagged an admonishing finger finger when necessary, but never had to resort to getting the cards out of their pockets. They both whistled well in testing weather conditions.