DOWN, BUT CERTAINLY NOT OUT ...

Folkestone Men’s 6s 4 BOEHC Men’s Vets 0

In terms of a heavyweight clash at the top of Division 3 this was not exactly Klitschko versus Fury, and there was neither fury nor anger in evidence as the BOEHC Vets lost the only remaining unbeaten record in the division to a well-drilled and resourced Folkestone side who should win the league at a canter based on the evidence of the first half of the season. However, this was more a comprehensive and unanimous points victory than a knockout blow, although the margin of victory – whilst never in doubt nor undeserved on behalf of the hosts – was a bit harsh on the plucky visitors who were not exactly helped by some erratic umpiring by both officials, who both made very hands-on contributions to the first three goals, whilst the fourth rattled past excellent man-of-the-match and goalkeeper Tom Conway with virtually the last hit of the game.

In the red corner, the current leading contenders cut a somewhat vulnerable figure, fielding a bare eleven held together by bandages, Velcro and Deep Heat, and including the brave and courageous Richard Cleall whose injured hamstring would have made him a fitness doubt for the queue at the bar, let alone for a continuation of his on-pitch heroics. Whilst in the blue corner, the confident hosts were not only over a century younger cumulatively than their opponents but also appeared to have about 10 “seconds” in their corner, although as someone rightly pointed out, their collective ages meant that they were actually only fielding about two and a half substitutes in real “adult” terms.

Not surprisingly the BOEHC team found itself under the cosh from the first bell but showed huge determination to stay in the game, even with a number of players finding themselves in unfamiliar field positions. Richard Cornick was once again a busy and effective presence on the left of midfield, whilst Jason Walsh and Pat Gainey both made valuable contributions in their second respective matches following returns from injury. The former was able to hold the ball up to give the back four the odd breather, whilst the latter always posed a threat with the few opportunities that came his way, testing the home keeper’s pads on a couple of occasions, and oh-so-nearly converting a cross from the left wing in what constituted the visitors’ best flowing move of the match. Steve Miller too was an inspiration in central midfield and actually found out that the most effective way to stop the opposition was by (accidentally) sitting on one of them, although all that this meant was that one nippy, talented teenager was substituted off and merely replaced by yet another.

Folkestone are one of the best teams in the division for set-plays so it was no real surprise that one of these was the catalyst for the home side taking the lead midway through the half. The more pernickety of the two umpires seemed desperate to help out the home team, so the award of a short corner after a ferocious hit into the D was blocked and the ball hit a few nasal hairs (Vets somehow seem to have more of these) on its subsequent upward trajectory was not much of a surprise. But all credit to the Club, as at 0-1 down and with the weather starting to turn, it would have been all too easy to just stay down on the canvas for the count. In fact, the opposite was the case, as the visitors dusted themselves down, got up and bit hard into their gum-shields to keep the deficit to a single goal at half-time.

The second half was in most respects a re-run of the first, although it just seemed to last twice as long. As always, Richard Cleall was at the heart of the action, and seemed to be adopting the role of “target man”, but less as a striker and more as a kind of darts board, as the ball seemed to be hitting him with alarming regularity, often when it was just being harmlessly knocked back onto the pitch for a restart. Inevitably, his ailing hamstring, aching body and inability to convince the umpire otherwise led to two virtually identical goals midway through the second half. On each occasion he was dispossessed in the defending D and Folkestone capitalised and scored, on each occasion he felt he was fouled, and on both occasions the umpire believed otherwise – that’s hockey for you. For the last ten minutes, however, he wisely sought refuge in the away dugout and left his remaining ten teammates to it, during which time he still nearly got hit by the ball on at least one further occasion.

Special mention must go to the heroic defence, to whom the score-line was decidedly unfair. Apart from the magnificent Mr. Conway in goal, Peter Robinson showed plenty of initiative as part of the visitors’ “southpaw” approach, with some jabbing forward runs from his right-back berth. And the central pairing of Phil Kinch and David Maltman were monumental in the face of the perpetual pounding to which they were subjected. This was never more clearly evidenced that when Mr. Maltman’s trusty hockey stick was once again severed early in the second half, forcing him to revert to his less favoured substitute which was manufactured about a century later than its broken counterpart. Nevertheless, this did not stop him from performing a number of ambitious aerial passes, one of which would nearly have cleared an average garden gnome, as long as it was one of the seated variety with a small fishing rod.

And last not least, hats off once more to captain Stephen Gilbert. Lesser men and teams would have taken the easier option of throwing in the towel beforehand and taking a 0-5 walkover instead, especially as the Vets had lost 0-7 on the same ground in December 2014, but not he. “Be Proud, Be Worthy” … he was, they were, and the team can still get to Christmas in second position if they win their last game before the break. At least there is two weeks’ grace before then to perform a few emergency repairs to both bodies and equipment alike.

Team:
Tom Conway (GK), Phil Kinch, Steve Miller, Peter Robinson, David Maltman, Tim Walters, Richard Cornick, Richard Cleall, Jason Walsh, Stephen Gilbert (C), Pat Gainey.

Man-of-the-match:
Tom Conway.