If some players have career-defining games, then this was certainly Peter Robinson’s, as the erstwhile defender relished the opportunity to play in a right-sided midfield berth and indeed graduate into the big-time by scoring two, narrowly missing out on a hat-trick and nearly laying on a couple for his playing colleagues too. The odd thing about his brace was that the first had seemed to give the visitors breathing space at 3-1 up, whilst the latter – smashed in after a scorching run which parted the OB’s defence like the waters of the Red Sea – ultimately salvaged a point from 3-4 down. Like London buses, the goals arrived in bursts, but the team were indebted to both Peter and the evergreen Ravi Wickramsuriya to get them across the bridge over troubled waters in a second half where three goals were somehow conceded in under 10 minutes’ play.

In truth, the result was no more than the hosts – perhaps slightly strengthened on the pitch and the bench by a fixture cancellation earlier in the day – deserved, as they generally out-passed, out-thought and out-manoeuvred the BOEHC Vets in a fixture than was played in amore convivial atmosphere than the last couple of meetings between the sides. Even if the visitors from South London never really got a grip on the game, things had looked promising early on thanks to Ravi’s brilliance in firstly setting up Pat Gainey for a trademark finish, and then getting into DIY-mode himself with a driving burst and thunderous shot to make it 2-1 at the break. He nearly won it at the death too, narrowing dragging his shot to the left of the goal after another mazy run. It was a great relief too for the team to see Richard Cleall fit and back in the thick of the action, with Graham Green and Paul Whitney also constantly probing the opposition in their own half.

Defensively the team looked a little ragged at times, especially after the hosts had made some tactical switches at half-time and moved their playmaking winger from right to left. Nevertheless, all the short corners conceded were once again safely repelled, even if 10 goals conceded in the last three fixtures does give some cause for concern for defending in open play. But in fairness, Old Bordenians’ finishing was almost as spectacular as that of the BOEHC team, and based on the overall performance, this was perhaps still more of a point won than two lost. The pre-match smile on stalwart David Maltman’s face also betrayed the confidence of a man who knows he has now acquired a good spare stick, in his case from an online supplier allegedly called “Zambezi”. As his current weapon of choice appears to have been carved from a piece of hardwood fished from a tropical mangrove swamp at some point in the mid-20th century, this was perhaps a wise choice.

If there was a mitigating circumstance, then it was probably visibility, or rather the lack of it, that did not help the Club’s cause. No, there was neither fog despite the cold temperatures, nor was the sky overcast for the late 16.00 start, but it appeared that the either the school had not been paying their electricity bill, or the groundsman had cornered the global market in 10-Watt bulbs. Whatever the reason, the ball seemed at times to be invisible, and the first five minutes of the second half turned into a re-run of the early 70s BBC TV hit series Pot Black, as the white ball was initially replaced by a pink, and then by an orange one. After further brief consideration of a yellow alternative, however, the match officials reverted back to the original white choice, which everybody had agreed that they could not see in the first place, which all made perfect sense (of course!). “Any chance of one with a bell in it then?” yelled a wag from afar. Clearly the concept GPS has not reached Sittingbourne yet.

And so it ended a draw, with the Club unable to go all the way after both teams had contented themselves with a dose of mutual “four-play”. At least the Vets have now had a post-Christmas run-out unlike next week-end’s opponents, Sevenoaks, whose home game fell foul of the week-end freeze … bring it on.

Footnote:
For those avid readers of the Vets’ match reports (yes, both of you), you may have noticed vast numbers of references to David Bowie songs in the narrative over the past few months. It seems oddly prophetic now that the last hockey report before Christmas was actually titled “Ashes to ashes”, and that the band I play in performed “Ziggy Stardust” as the first song of our gig on the Friday night before his untimely death last week. Besides being a product of Bromley / Beckenham (the area, not the hockey club), Bowie has provided a lifelong musical backdrop to many people of a certain age’s lives, and after a respectful gap in time I suspect that he may well start to figure in the reports again.

In the meantime, however, all that can be said is that “Planet Earth is blue, and there’s nothing I can do”.

Team:
Keith Elliott (GK), Phil Kinch, David Maltman, Chris Bernard, Tim Walters, Peter Robinson, Ravi Wickramsuriya, Paul Whitney, Richard Cleall, Graham Green, Pat Gainey, Stephen Gilbert (C).

Man-of-the-match:
Peter Robinson … a performance to tell the grandchildren about one day. Trouble is, they probably won’t believe you!

Umpire:
Johnny C. – very competent, alert and decisive.