A goalie, a goalie, my kingdom for a goalie

"It'll be sunny in Ashford," we said, suffering under the ironically dripping parasols adorning the frontage of the Princess of Wales [INSERT CRUDE INNUENDO HERE]. "It's always sunny in Ashford."

Alas, the rain on our arrival was neither the first not the last mild disappointment of the day. 14 went to Ashford, but no natural keeper amongst us, and so we severed our valiant leader, Paul to the goalmouth. The sudden influx of talent to the club proved to be a double-edged sword for the fighting Fives - a wealth of new/returning talent, but perhaps at the cost of fluency.

Sun burst through at times in the match, and so did the potential of the new line up. For much of the game we looked dominant and had we scored early, the day may well have been different. But nothing should be taken away from a solid Ashford team who used their strengths well to their advantage and played the counter attack with good effect.

Our goal, when it came, was great - Andy slamming the short out to Brett, who slipped it right to Cam, who finished powerfully from wide - a goal that spoke of the simple hockey we need to take forward. But what also needs to be taken forward is a keeper - 5 minutes later, Ashford got their own corner, the defence didn't squeeze it out quickly enough, and a firm shot squeaked past Paul's boot. A keeper would have saved it. An on-field captain would have scored 3 anyway.

Despite the disappointment of not getting the win, it was a solid first match - we'll become a team, these draws will become wins, and Kent Open Division 2 will creak as the mighty Fives Colossus strides ever upwards!

MoM: Cam - running, tackling, scoring, the boy did it all

Big thanks to Mark for a steady hand on the whistle, along with one of theirs, starting the season with an umpiring performance we'd be happy with every week!