L.A.X. - DESTINATION '3 POINTS'

The Men’s 1s returned to College Meadow, for a tough fixture versus a typically well drilled and organised Canterbury side. Buoyed by last weeks win away at Horsham, there was an air of anticipation throughout the warm up and into the game.

The game started slowly, Canterbury enjoying over 3 minutes of possession from the start as the looked to find an opening. BE were disciplined in their press and an opening was not forthcoming. The half was one of few chances, Canterbury had some penalty corners, but the BE back line and keeper kept them at bay. BE themselves had a back post chance, agonisingly deflected over the bar. A final PC for Canterbury in first half overtime enabled them to open the scoring and go in at the break 1-0 up.

BE’s halftime team talk was focused on maintaining possession. Too many cheap turnovers in the first half had resulted in the boys doing a substantial amount of running.

As the second half wore on, BE were able to win a few PC’s themselves, and from the second, Laxman Karan opened the scoring with a rocket high into the right side netting. 1-1, game on. The pace of the game picked up, and the play became more stretched and chances began to appear at both ends. BE thought they were ahead only to see it chalked off for hitting a BE foot on the line. A wonderful flowing move allowed Ian Harvey to break into the right hand shoulder of the circle and finish smartly across the Canterbury keeper with less than 10 minutes to play. Advantage BE.

Canterbury cranked up the pressure, forcing BoE deeper and deeper into their own half, a quick counter put BE through for Harvey to flick high from a tight angle and watch his effort cannon out of play off the crossbar with 2 minutes remaining. In a sense of déjà vu, Canterbury again won a PC and the final whistle blew. Excellent post work from Alex Manton-Jones kept Canterbury at bay and secured back to back wins for BE.

MoM - Charlie Spellar
DoD - Ian Harvey