WILLIES WHACKED

After a great TEAM performance the week before against Maidstone. BOE welcomed Old Willies to College Meadow this past Saturday. After a solid warm up, Head Coach Sam Djavit got us in the huddle and gave us our game plan.

BOE started the game well and attacked from the whistle, which resulted in Short Corners, which ultimately resulted in Mike racking up more points in Fantastar. (But don’t you all get too excited about those points, wait until you have read the whole report)
The first of Mike’s two goals in the match came after a few minutes with great passing from the middle out to the right and into the ‘D’ and the ball was put on a foot. Up stepped Mike and a flick straight down the middle that hit the keeper rather than him saving it. He then realised what had happened and where he was and jumped on the ball to give us another shorty. This time Mike put it slightly to the keepers right and we were 1-0 up.

After another 10 mins or so another great attack resulted in another shorty. This time Mike stepped up with real purpose and slotted it high and right with the keeper stuck on his line without moving. The only way it was not going in was if it hit the man on the line.
The first half continued but not at the same intensity and mistakes were starting to creep into the game and we gave the oppo a few sights at goal but the defence and Nathan in nets were on top form and kept the chances out.

Half Time 2-0 to BOE.

At the break coach Djavit realised their game plan was to throw aerials (If you call 15-20 yards an aerial) and try and catch us out. We were not going to let them back in the game though.

The second half started somewhat lethargic with not too much happening either side as a territorial battle ensued. But unlike previous weeks the club were playing a lot tighter and not getting so stretched or caught on the break. Within the first 2 mins of the game Tommy 'The Tank' Archer got the ball and with the attacking player at least 5 metres away duly started to release an aerial to our forwards who had made great runs only for the OW player to jump in the air and turn his head so that the ball clattered him on the back of the skull with an almighty thud. Down the player went and on came the first aiders to help him. After that the next 10 minutes were pretty boring but little did we know that we would have four great chances for BOE to close the game out. The first came from Dave Lawrence. It started from the back with Mike Lawrence working hard (well hard for Mike) getting the ball and throwing a 50-60 yard aerial which caught the Old Willies defender out as he obviously thought aerials were only 15-20 yards and it went over his head. David realised what was happening and he was off on his bike to gather in the ball, went around the keeper but hit the ball wide of the goal (some would say that he should have used his trade mark slide and push towards the goal).

The second chance fell to Lewis T after some great attacking play down the left. This time the ball was put into the ‘D’ and bounced off a defenders stick. Lewis noticed this and slotted the ball into the goal but the Umpire blew no goal as he heard stick clatters (Surely sticks are going to get hit in hockey and not every sound is a foul?). Still there were two more chances that could have finished the game off. The next was also Lewis after a great ball was put across the ‘D’ by Mike L and Lewis got an off balance touch but the ball did not make it into the back of the goal.

The last and probably the best one fell to Mike Lawrence after an OK run by Ben ‘I’m sick’ Wyatt. Their centre back took Ben’s stick and a ‘P’ flick was awarded and the player sent to the bin. Up steps Mike Lawrence as calm as normal, we all knew where he was going, the umpire blew the whistle and the ball ‘hooked’ on Mikes stick (that’s what he is saying anyway) and it hit the bar.

About 3mins were left on the clock and with Old Willies down to 10 men they started coming at us hard and we repelled them for the first 2 mins, but a bit of sloppy tackling in the midfield allowed a ball in and their forward slotted the ball under Nathan. 2-1. We kept hold of the ball and secured the win for the remaining 50 secs. This result meant that the boys could enjoy the BOE Xmas party and the calendar shoot.

A final mention most also go to Ryan Wallace, who played his last game for the Club on Saturday (albeit with a dodgy ankle). We wish him all the best for the future and the very best of luck as he starts Higher Education back in his homeland of South Africa with a Hockey Scholarship at a leading University. Hopefully we have taught him a thing or two but he has been a great asset to our team throughout 2014 both on and off the field, and I am sure with the right platform he can reach a very high standard domestically and perhaps again over here after his studies.

A great win for the boys and a result that sees us go up the table. Hopefully we can use this as a launchpad to build our season in 2015.

MOM – Nathan
DOD – Rob H