HIGHWAYMAN MUGGED AT THE DEATH

BOEHC Highwaymen 2 Maidstone Men’s 5s 2

What a difference a year makes … or even four months. When the two teams met back in the autumn the Highwaymen were riding high in the table and performed less of a “smash’n grab” raid on their opponents than they did a demolition job, turning in their best performance for over two years. On a surprisingly balmy January lunchtime Maidstone’s development team rode into Blackheath High School with half a season’s experience under their belts, the same number of wins as the Highwaymen, and a definite hunger for revenge on away turf.

Nevertheless, it was the home side that dominated proceedings throughout in terms of both territory and possession and they only had themselves to blame for ultimately having to settle for a share of the spoils, having led twice. There were some fine cameo performances across the team, with Jamie Rendell catching the eye at left-back, Dylan Smulders doing a grand, yet unfamiliar job as a solo striker, and Greg Dowse showing his value as a utility player capable of slotting seamlessly into wherever he is asked to play, not unlike a bespoke tailor’s best client.

The home side’s first goal appeared it would be the first of many, as man-of-the-match Ali Burnett blasted in from the first short corner of the game, but the team’s customary carelessness and profligacy meant that Maidstone were able to equalise in identical fashion just 10 minutes later. Thereafter, the woodwork was tested, the ever-inventive David Leverton came oh so close, and Josh Clark was very unlucky to see his “goal” chalked off by the home umpire, as nearly 50 goalless minutes chugged by. The sense of relief was palpable when the Highwaymen scored what appeared to be a brilliant winner with only five minutes left to play, some fine work down the right flank being capped off by a magnificent centre from the busy Peter Robinson which picked out Ali Burnett who had the time to both control the ball and pick his spot before smashing the ball in.

All that the hosts had to do to chalk up their first win for nearly three months since early November’s home victory against Canterbury was hold on for about 300 seconds, use some sensible game management skills, and not concede any penalty corners. During the first 100 of these, they could, and maybe should, have even added to their lead, before then deciding to concede two more penalty corners, the last one proving to be the ultimate play of the game which, inevitably, was converted at the left-hand post to give Maidstone a last-gasp equaliser. Ironically BOEHC won an away fixture at Maidstone in similar circumstances in early 2015, so what goes around …

Clutching for positives, this was the first time the team had lined up with a true 50/50 mix of experienced pros and young bucks, even if the rust of the side’s first game for exactly eight weeks was occasionally hard to shake off for all concerned. In-between, however, there was some great two-touch hockey, particularly on the break, and also on the rare occasions where the team opted to use the width of the pitch rather than implement route one down the middle. There is definitely something to build on with two potentially winnable fixtures coming up against two of the four teams below the Highwaymen in the table, before a difficult run-in at the end of the season.

Team:
Tom Conway (GK), Tim Walters (C), Alex Godwin, Steve Miller, Peter Robinson, Richard Cleall, Ravi Wickramamsuriya, James Rendell, Greg Dowse, Josh Clark, David Leverton, Alex Turner, Dylan Smulders and Alastair Burnett.

Man-of-the-match:
Alastair Burnett – an all-action display, two great goals, and not even a tut-tut from the umpires to boot.

Umpires:
Mark Ainley for the home side, plus one player for each half from the visitors, ensured that a good-natured game remained that way.