Dynamos' sparkling run continues

So it came to pass, in the land of Kent, that both old and young were dispatched from Blackheath to venture across traffic light and roundabout to the land of Burnt Ash, in windy Bexley (10 minutes by train). The tales of the old are related elsewhere - heareth instead, the tale of the young.

And there upon a blusterous field gathered 11 brave souls, who drew sticks and set to on the strangely slippy Harris Academy Pitch, with Joni Coleman providing occasional accompaniment on the whistle. A fierce, silent battle began, with the Dynamos moving the ball well, and warding off the probing attacks of their capable hosts. But as the match wore on, skills earned on the training ground began to tell (as did the fact the oppo only had 10 players...), and Ds went ahead with two pinpoint efforts to the lower corner from David Leverton and Mikael Kiviniemi.

And lo, at the trilling of the half-time whistle, Dynamos were 2-0 up and hungry for more. The arrival of Chris Brown fresh from the 3s provided a new umpire, and granted a substitute to the Ds for the second half.

With fresh legs, the Ds pushed on, and Chris French was unlucky not to cap a fine performance with a goal, the centre back's foot denying him from a well-struck short corner. Up stepped Will Leverton, who, unconcerned by the fact the goalkeeper was about 500 times bigger than him, calmly dispatched the flick to his left.

True to his half-time words, Michael Thorns relinquished his goalkeeper's kit and for the final 20 minutes played as a kicking back. With this additional pressure, the endless drive of the Dynamos yielded fresh fruit, a second precise finish from PoM Mikael. Despite Tony De Cruz nearly grabbing his 4367th goal for the club at the death, and the best attempts of Carney Battenti to claim his shot from the resulting short was low enough to count, four it would remain.

And so it was that a fine match ended an excellent twelfth month for the Dynamos. Burnt Ash provided another enjoyable rivals clash, played in good spirits. Every BoE player had a fine match, with particular mention required of Louis and Chris who had excellent games and were unlucky not to add their names to the scorer's sheet.

The team is really beginning to come together, with regular performers unrecognisable from those first tentative steps on the long grass of Herne Bay. With more hockey to come, 2016 looks set to be a good year!

PoM: Mikael Kiviniemi

Big thanks to Browner for coming down to umpire.