1st XI GO OUT OF CUP ON STROKES IN CONTROVERSIAL MATCH

Having lost narrowly to Marden Russets on Saturday the 1st XI were looking to bounce back in the national cup against a very buoyant and enthusiastic looking Jersey. The 'select' XI from the island certainly had a determined aura about them and there was no surprise to see them warm up like they were attending the cup final rather than round one. Still a trip over to the mainland from the Channel Islands is as good a reason as any to give it your all and that they did.

The cup in any sport often throws up a surprise or two as both players and officials get wrapped up into a sand storm of emotion and tension. This was no different as the game and the drama that would be played out in front of a bumper crowd at College Meadow was a game to remember, for why, well I shall let you work that out all by yourself.

The game started in slightly controversial fashion as one of the umpires had missed his train, so good old Ant Sturgess stepped up and what a good umpire he is proving to be. The opening exchanges were tight as both sides looked to get into the game having played on Saturday also and it would be BOE that managed to get the upper hand with Ryan Wallace bursting into the area only to be thwarted twice by the Jersey keeper. BOE had a couple of short corners that would come to nothing and as is the way the visitors grabbed hold of that life line and went up the other end to take a 1-0 lead against the run of play. Enter Sam Djavit who had started himself on the bench, collecting the ball in midfield he would go on a solo run and beat 4 Jersey players, advance into the D and lift the ball over the keeper, as the ball rolled agonisingly towards the far post Joey Presto popped up to make sure the ball went in the net and it was all square.

The game started to open up and as BOE looked to go forward with the Lawrence brothers coming into the game, space would open up and another rare attack from the visitors resulted in a reverse stick cross being volleyed in at the near post to send College Meadow into silence. Surly one of the BOE attacks would bear fruit and get us back into the game. A few tackles had started to fly in but nothing untoward and it was a break down the left from Djavit once more that saw the ball end up lose in the D and for James Logan to make no mistake from close range to level things up again. 2-2 and BOE would want to grab the initiative. The aerial assault from Tom Archer and Ben Wyatt was leading to plenty of confusion for the Jersey back 4 and BOE were looking dangerous with every attack.

Then a moment of sublime genius was gifted to the crowd as 18 year old David Lawrence picked up the ball on the 23, beat 2 at the top, 3 more in the D and then for good measure rounded the keeper in a crowded area to slot the ball into the net and give BOE the lead, what a goal, what skill and what a delight to watch. 3-2 and BOE would head into half time a goal to the good with plenty more left in the tank.

Right from the start of the second half the game had a slightly different feel about it. For the 22 players on the pitch the first half had been a fantastic display of attacking and passionate hockey. The second half would be a far more disjointed affair with both officials (The second appointed umpire having arrived 20 minutes after push back) becoming more apparent and dictating the play more with their desire to be involved. BOE did look to carry on where they left off and with 25 minutes to go, a short corner was awarded, the routine was slick and Mike Lawrence duly dragged the ball into the left hand side of the goal to give BOE a comfortable 4-2 lead. Jersey knew they had to up their game and that they did as they came back into the match and looked to maintain possession. It wouldn't be long before the real drama of the day unfolded, for 55 minutes this had been a very good game played properly by both sets of players.

As the Jersey left winger broke into the 23 he turned his back and the back of his stick to Ben Wyatt, a stick block in anyone's book, all 100 of the watching crowed knew it but the umpire saw it differently and awarded a short corner for what was an opposition foul. BOE felt aggrieved and of course from the resulting corner Jersey would score, 4-3 and the opposition had a sniff. If that wasn't enough there would be more to come as Jersey were awarded a free hit on the top of the D, the ball was never stopped dead, the Jersey right winger was allowed to waltz straight into the D and following what looked like a good tackle on the base line another dubious corner was given and Rob Hughes was sent to the bin. As always with these things it was another punishing moment for BOE as Jersey went and equalised from the resulting corner to make it 4-4 with 10 to go. Drama at College Meadow.

As BOE pushed forward the game had become tense, Jersey were battling hard and both sides were eager to nick a winner before the pantomime of strokes came into the equation. Jersey won another free inside the 23 and, as Matt Smith backed off, the Jersey forward ran straight into him, another free and, despite the intervention from the 2nd umpire Smith would be sent to the sin bin for doing exactly as he should have done, down to 10 men and up against it on all fronts. There was more to come as Sammy Djavit controlled the ball on the side line and kept it in, right In front of the home crowd, the ball had not crossed the line, the umpire thought differently and Djavit too would be yellow carded for suggesting the umpire might have got it wrong. BOE clung on and as the final whistle went, we were heading for strokes.

THE SHOOT OUT.

Jersey convert 1-0
Tom Archer scores to the left of the goal 1-1
Bullens saves 1-1
Joey Presto scores high to the keepers left 2-1
Jersey miss high and wide 2-1
Mike Lawrence scores, but has to retake after not waiting for the whistle, hits the post 2-1
Jersey score as Bullens gets a hand to the ball 2-2
David Lawrence has his stroke saved 2-2
Jersey score with a scuffed stroke 3-2
Djavit steps up and scores 3-3..........isn't it?

The crowd go mad as the shoot out goes to sudden death, who will step up next the tension, the drama, but hang on, what's this, the umpire has disallowed Djavit's flick. He declares the game over and a Jersey win 3-2 on strokes. What is going on? The confusion amongst both sets of players and the crowd was evident to see. Why didn't it count? He hadn't hit it, or slapped it, he started with his feet behind the ball with his body with in playing distance, he had waited for the whistle, so what was wrong. This was amazing, the decision was bemusing! For what had been a great game by both players the final moments of the show down had descended into a farce with only one person in the whole ground in the know as to what had gone on. Bizarre!!!!!!! I'm sure that even this morning both sets of players will struggle to explain to work colleagues just what happened at the end of the game but the simple fact is the result stood. 4-4 and a 3-2 'win' on strokes for the Jersey boys.

A great turn out at College Meadow and a quite unique and pulsating cup game. BOE head to Gore Court on Saturday to look to get their league campaign back up and running!

MOTM: David Lawrence

DOTD: Sam Djavit