Fantastic Fives get burnt

And so the season begins with a friendly against Burnt Ash Fives, a division higher so a good test.
But the fives start the campaign dessimated !! As Moroccan flu takes one man out, normal man flu takes another, one goes to hospital with a broken bum bone and to ice the cake one goes to the wrong ground !!!! A big thanks to Dave F for staying on to give the fives a starting line up of 10.!!!! yippeee !!!!

But lets not get ahead of ourselves.
first its time for the warm up.
instead of the normal jogging about, feeding the chickens and Jonny Wilkinsons, the fives opted for the Blackheath Nature Trail. this consisted of the team sifting through the thick nature debris covering the pitch and collecting the most pristine items to display in their notebooks. Top marks here went to Zac who managed to collect a conker, acorn, double spinning sycamore, catkin and a fine nugget of squirrel dung. all were finely sellotaped into his notebook and presented excellently. his book will be on display in the clubhouse at the end of the season. Top marks Zac!!

And so to the game.
So 10 took to the field. Sam and Dave fresh from the threes game. Young Louis and Tom stepping up from the dynamos and one legged Adam ready for an easy jog around to get his fitness up !!!!! Ha. No chance of that. Burnt Ash had a wealth of experience and some classy young lads and so strung together some good hockey. Matched by the fives fire and enthusiasm it was a very even game, but slightly dominated in possession by the 10 man fives. however the halftime scoreline did not reflect this with Blackheath going into the break 1-2 down. BA had put together a couple of fine moves to slot home 2 goals. We had also put together some fine moves with the ball been smashed at the posts with just the final touch missing. Zac took the honours of the first goal with a great strike into the corner of the net. Dan Ridge put in one monster of a shift during the first half as the lone striker, but to be honest you would not have realised this fact.

The second half saw us take to the field with 11, as Jamie finally turned up after opting to watch the ladies at College Meadow instead of playing with us at Blackheath High School !! Things were looking up. Consistently more game play and pressure from the fives with once again the final touch deserting us, but eventually Dans hard work came to fruition with a fine goal and its all even. The fives continued to work hard and it looked as though the game would finally turn in our direction, but alas disaster struck !! In the space of five minutes a loss of concentration and 2 silly mistakes at the back lead to BA pouncing and taking a 2-4 lead.

The fives did not give up. They kept running and fighting but just could not find the net. So we finished 2-4 down, but we were the more dominant team. We had more possession and a lot more chances. On any other day we could have scored 8 or 9, but we didnt !!!

Positives
Fitness was pretty good. Team spirit was strong. The hockey was pretty sharp for the first game. The young guns Tom and Louis put in fine performances, especially Louis who was playing out of position. Zac and Dan were mighty. Really promising outlook to the season.

Negatives.
Oh come on !!!! This is the fives. There are no negatives !!

Team
Sam Hannon, Joni C, Carney, Jamie C, Tom Farrant, Paul W, Louis Brown, Adam M, Zac, Dan R, Dave F
MOM - Adam M with Zac and Dan hot on his heels