DIAMONDS ARE FOR NEVER

Sutton Valence Men's Vets 1 BEHC Highwaymen 1

The hospitality of the Sutton Valence Vets is the stuff of legend, and the pub grub, banter and beer after a convivial post-Christmas friendly did not disappoint, which was to be fully expected. It is to be hoped that this fixture makes it back permanently to the Highwaymen's schedule in future seasons too, as it also gives the men from south-east London the rare opportunity to play a team with a markedly higher average age than their own. In addition, it gave the away team from SE London the chance to experiment with the much-vaunted diamond formation, the theory being that when a team lines up in this fashion, dominance of both possession and territory should then follow. And so it proved: the Vets from Sutton Valence played the ball at will and random around their younger opponents and generally outplayed them for long stretches after the opening exchanges where BEHC briefly had the better of things. The hospitality was indeed predictable, but the quality of play from Sutton Valence was even better than the men from BEHC had imagined.

After watching their opponents plodding around like Christmas puds for the first quarter, it was no surprise when the home team took the lead with a breakaway goal prodded under keeper Tom Conway's body from close range. In truth, the visitors had still been in festive mood from the start, feeling that the season of goodwill and giving should extend to the needless and frequent concession of possession to the opposition. "Twelve Drummers Drumming"? More like "Eleven Plonkers Playing"! Or maybe it was the retro Arsenal-esque shirts that the opposition were wearing that caused confusion to the white-wearing visitors, judging by the number of precision passes that found their way right onto the stick of a Sutton Valence player.

Eventually, once the frostbite had subsided and the men from SE London had got used to the remote, cold, hilltop location and the dry pitch, the team in white started to play some half-decent hockey. Sadly, the BEHC forward line seemed singularly unwilling to accept the gifts presented by the three wise men in midfield, presumably "Caspar" Dowse, "Melchior" Wickramasuriya and "Balthasar" Bernard, although in truth they were all actually a day early for Epiphany on January 6. The equaliser, when it came, was more "Frankenstein" than "Frankincense", as Matthew Robinson kept up his scoring streak after a very lucky deflection put the ball at his unmarked feet in the D. The ensuing monster shot past the home keeper made it 1-1- at the break.

And so it stayed until the end, with the away side looking both unlikely to concede as well as equally unlikely to convert any of the opportunities that came their way. But the real winners were hockey, the Corinthian spirit of amateur sport ………… and the landlord of the local hostelry. And long may this, and this fixture, continue.

Team:

Tom Conway (GK), Tim Walters, Phil Kinch, Steve Miller, Richard Cleall, Chris Bernard, Ravi Wickramasuriya, Greg Dowse, Sammy Chana, Paul Whitney, Matt Robinson and Stephen Gilbert (C).

Man-of-the-match:

Steve Miller had an excellent game in the centre of defence, his steadying influence and distribution skills becoming even more effective once he had finally established that his teammates were actually wearing white on this occasion.

Umpires:

Both home umpires were brilliant in a very friendly, yet competitive encounter, where everybody was on their best behaviour.