Saturday saw BOE face fourth placed Ashford HC as BOE sought to maintain their 100% HOME win record at what is fast becoming Fortress Meadow. Ashford are the only Club they’ve lost to all season when a below par performance from a team missing a few key players travelled to Ball Lane in late October and narrowly lost 4-3 in an ill-tempered affair. Now on ‘Valentine’s Eve’ a full strength team were keen to make amends for this blip on an otherwise unblemished promotion campaign. It was therefore no surprise the match had a local derby feel to it from the outset with the Visitors fired up by their ‘banging beats’ during the warm-up and looking to get stuck right in.

The early gameplay was marked by superior possession from BOE as they were able to create a number of clear cut chances in the opening period of the game. Chris Harden, Michael Lawrence and Stephen Roche proved they were going to be a real handful and nuisance for the all ready toiling Ashford defence.

With 15 minutes gone a Long Corner was awarded which was quickly shifted to the left hand side where Rob Hughes (who is currently in the form of his life) skillfully weaved his way through a number of flying Ashford sticks before deftly passing to Michael Lawrence who masterfully set up inside forward Stephen Roche in acres of space to bag the first goal with a great tomahawk finish.

The second goal wasn’t long in coming, with the left hand side once again an area of real strength and threat as the team looked to exploit a weak Ashford RB. It was an area the team went on to ruthlessly exploit throughout the game. Michael Lawrence broke lose down the left and used his customary trickery to round the flagging defence and hit the base line. From an impossible angle he managed to reverse flick a lob over the flapping keeper towards the top right of the goal where the ball was ably bundled into the net by a flailing defender who did his best to swat it away but only helped it on its way. Ashford did force James Craigmyle in the BOE goal into action a few times but he once gain proved his worth with a number of super saves. There was little serious threat from Ashford as they relied on a few counter attacks and a couple of BOE turn overs to try and fashion an opening. Nevertheless at only 2-0 at half-time BOE couldn’t afford to let them back in with a goal against the run of play. The half was also marked by a series of cards for poor challenges and unruly chat which the Umpires had their work cut out controlling (and noticing) but as the Opposition lost their heads the home side showed great maturity in remaining focused on the task in hand – a part of the game the team has vastly improved on this season.

The half time talk was more of the same, exploit the left and have confidence that plenty of goals were in the offing to put this game to bed. The team ran a high press and dominated the early stage of the half with slick passing and outstanding energy levels. This left an increasingly frustrated Ashford chasing shadows. The third goal came from Chris Harden who managed to cut the left hand side off in the press, stole the ball from the struggling RB, drove into the D before unleashing a devastating tomahawk to the keepers near post. The term, "the keeper had no chance" couldn’t have been more apt with the sweetly hit ball hitting the top of the netting with great power and accuracy.

The fourth came from strong pressure yet gain from the midfield as Tom Archer showed great vision to step in and intercept the ball from the opposition back four before ghosting past them with consummate ease to thread a neat pass to Michael Lawrence who made no mistake by flicking the ball high to the keepers left hand side. 4-0.

The game opened right up at this point and the suspected goal rout was on with a succession of chances being carved out. BOE finally managed to get a 5th with Chris Harden proving he can finely drag flick as well as hit a sweet reverse. His powerful flick from a Penalty Corner went high into the top left corner of the goal and brought a tribal "woooooo hooo" celebration with it.

At 5-0 up BOE took their foot of the gas for a moment and allowed a couple of spaces to open at the back. Ashford got themselves into the D and after a justifiably contested penalty corner was awarded the team disappointingly conceded.

Despite the goal BOE continued to dominate the game and as more cards were given to the opposition BOE used their numerical superiority to build some great passages of play. The pick was a four pass move that started in the BOE half and ended with a superb diving effort from David Lawrence who nearly latched onto a reverse base line pass from the vulnerable left side from his brother for a deflected goal. Millimeters wide. Moments later he made amends by coolly finishing another clever move with a smart low finish. More Ashford players left the pitch for dissent before Tom Mayfield converted with a low deft deflection after a great penetrating run from Jake Owen down the right hand side and into the D. 7-1. BOE were scoring for fun and pushing for more. In the last 5 minutes we conceded a scrappy goal after a breakaway move from another Ashford goal mouth scramble but David Lawrence ensured we finished on a very positive note by going on a mazy run down the left hand side beating numerous players before placing it with great aplomb into the bottom left of the goal to ensure a resounding 8-2 victory was achieved.

It was a great performance from BOE and it well and truly put right our only defeat of the season. We played with great intent, desire and ruthlessness. Many passages of play were as good as anything we have executed this season. In what can be described as the business end of the season we know we need to continue this form in the remaining games to ensure we achieve the goals we set out at the start of the season. Another big and tough game this Saturday as we face second placed Gore Court. A win is a must as we seek to increase our lead at the summit of the table. Keep On Keeping On.