COURT SHORT

Match Report: Tom Archer

On Saturday, the 1st Team travelled to Gore Court in a top of the table clash with the ramifications that a win would leave BOE only one victory away from winning the Kent/Sussex Regional League 1 and securing promotion to South Premier Division 2.

In what was an open game from the beginning. Chances were being created from both sides, with Gore Court having the better of the early exchanges coming close to scoring twice in the opening stages. However, BOE gradually began to control the game towards the middle of the half and a good passage of play through the midfield enabled Michael Lawrence to pick the ball up on his powerful reverse on the edge of the D and he slotted it home masterfully with pin point accuracy to the keepers bottom left, to make it 1-0. A few minutes later, unwavering pressure on the press caused a turnover which turned into a PC. This allowed Chris Harden to add to his burgeoning seasons tally when he produced a slick and ferocious drag flick which proved too powerful for the Gore Court Keeper and ricocheted off his pads to make it 2-0 to BOE.

Gore Court’s talismanic Aussie drag flicker; Aaron Glass, then had to leave the field due to a nasty, bloody head injury just as half time approached. We wish him well and a speedy recovery. With his departure and with a 2-0 lead the half-time chat focused on delivering another strong and controlled 35 mins. This would kill the game and secure the day’s aim of increasing our lead at the summit of the table.

A strong and disciplined press was engaged from the start of the second half which allowed Michael Lawrence to deftly pick the ball off the oppositions uncertain Left Half. Lawrence drove forwards at pace and created himself some space near the left baseline of the pitch and picked out Sacha De Marigny like a heat seeking missile with a rapid reverse hit pass. The young South African forward was the only player in the D who managed to react to this electric passage of play and got himself on the back post and with an excellent sliding finish he managed to replicate the goal he scored against Canterbury earlier on in the season by roofing it. Boom. 3-0.

The game then started to become somewhat fractious and heated with a frustrated Gore Court frantically trying to get a goal back to start a recovery. With 20 minutes to go BOE were left exposed on a break after an unlucky turnover and a long straight ball cut out our press. The Oppo centre forward managed to wriggle his way into the D and offload to another player at the back post to make it 3-1. You could feel the pressure and a possible comeback could’ve been on the cards. However, BOE held their nerve with some resolute defending and finally put the game to bed when, with 10 minutes to go, a Chris Harden penalty corner was well saved but the ball landed to the alert Michael Lawrence who expertly smashed the ball with great power and it rifled into the top right of the goal to make it 4-1.

Almost straight afterwards Gore Court did manage to grab the elusive goal they sought, but that was merely a consolation and too little, too late. BOE had this game won and finished strongly as Sacha De Marigny grabbed a second goal for himself with a terrific, turning finish to make it 5-2. That final goal capped off a very good squad performance for BOE, who had a number of key players missing and were up against a team who had remained unbeaten since they last lost to us. The fine win extends the teams unbeaten run to 14 games!

Overall it was an impressive performance physically and mentally and one that sets up the team for a great forthcoming weekend of hockey at The Meadow. The 1st Team can win the league against Crawley this Saturday and then have the chance to book their place in EH Trophy Semi final draw on Sunday with a quarter final match against Gloucestershire side Wotten-under-Edge. As much support from the club this weekend as possible would be greatly appreciated by the whole team, as we look to continue what has been a great season for us on the pitch so far and where hopefully we can deliver more success in the coming weeks for everybody to enjoy and participate in.