FANTASTIC FIVES FINALLY TASTE BITTERNESS OF DEFEAT

On a warm and sunny October afternoon it came to pass that the Fantastic Fives unbeaten league run came to an end !!!!
Game 22 on the nature reserve that is Blackheath High hosted the Fives against Folkestone Fives. A hot contest was anticipated as Folkestone always field a good side and give us a good run. The battle plan was the same as always and BE settled straight into some good hockey. Folkestone were good, but not as good as we had anticipated, and the first half saw BE having probably 70% of the play, with the majority being in the Folkestone half. However squandered chances were the order of the day. Shots scraped the post, deflections missed and final sweeps miss hit or just missed. Short corner routines working well but again not converted.
And Folkestone just plodded on. We defended a few short corners well and it was obvious that Folkestone were quietly going about business and could be dangerous.

So the first half ends with no goals but with BE still clearly in the driving seat.
But what happens next ???
El capitano will have to look at the midway team talk and maybe take a leaf out of the “Mellow Moore Guide To Team Talks” for the future !!
As often has happened the fives simply go off the boil for the first 15 mins of the second half !!!!

And so it came to pass. The fives did go off the boil. Folkestone plodded on and from a well worked short took the lead. Uncharacteristically our heads dropped, and even some inter team frustration crept in, which has not happened for…………. But with our heads down the boys in blue stepped up a gear and their young lads gave us the run around for 10 mins ending with their second creeping over the line. Valiantly we fought on and momentum came back but we could not get it together enough. Finally the whistle went and it was all over. The Fives had been beaten.

Heads were down and the atmosphere was indescribable.
But positives are always to be taken.
We are a match for any team in this league. If we had taken our chances in the first half we would have gone into the break 4 goals to the good. That’s what we will work on. Being more clinical, put the game to bed early. It is a long way to the finish line !!

Any team can be great winners, but a great team is defined by the way they handle defeat.
The fives will dust themselves off, and show how great we are !!!

Thanks to Ravi and Seneka for keeping order

MOM Danny Lewis – well played sir