ROMAN CONQUEST REACHES BECKENHAM

Bromley & Beckenham Men’s 7s 0 BOEHC Men’s Vets 1

If last week’s virtual stalemate was rather surprising given both the opposition and the history of the fixture, then this week’s tight and low-scoring affair was nothing other than wholly predictable, as prior to this game the Brombecks’ team shared the strange dual honour of both the league’s second-best defensive record (only 15 goals conceded), and the second-worst attacking statistics (only 15 scored). A bit like the reverse fixture back in October, the hosts – promoted from Division 4 last season – look more than capable of holding their own at this level and boast some very talented youngsters alongside a number of seasoned pros, and the game was anything other dull as a spectacle …

… which could be said for virtually all of what went on at Langley Girls’ School’s ground on Saturday. BOEHC Veterans’ stalwart Richard Cleall achieved what – even by his long and illustrious standards – must have been a first by being banished from the field of play even before the game had started! His allegedly “unhelpful touchline commentary” did seem to have some credence, however, based on the stretcher cases, naughty-chair occupations and endless short corners being played out in the BOEHC Ladies’ 3s match on the same pitch beforehand. Once the carnage had settled over what was an almost prescient 1-0 away win, Mr. Cleall returned to the fray to help mastermind a first win in three with another wholehearted midfield display before retiring with a jarred back, which will hopefully heal up before next week-end.

The big difference between this week and last was the return of Richard Cornick and Graham Green, who both offered movement aplenty to unsettle the hosts’ defence and lessen the necessity for hopeful long balls, which the likes of the father-and-son-partnership of Mark and Ross Ainley would have not wished to play anyway. Almost inevitably, the team’s talisman Ravi Wickramasuriya was once again the catalyst for the game’s defining moment, playing Pat Gainey through via a short corner for the latter to finish with a shot of such ferocity that he actually reached the backboard before the ball did. The sense of relief was akin to that of a man cured of a month’s constipation, even if the flow of goals will still have to wait for another day, but come they will from the team’s excellent, if rather injury-prone, striker.

What was no different from a week earlier, however, was the team’s profligacy in front of goal, where the current rate of exchange for penalty-corners to goals is reminiscent of hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920s, and currently stands at around 1:26. The Vets have now scored only one single goal in the last 2½ hours of hockey played, and that was not from open play either, but the signs are always positive that this can, and indeed will change. It was good too to see the defence recovering from a bit of a mid-season wobble to record a fifth clean-sheet with a thoroughly deserved shut-out. El Presidente David Maltman played a composed first 30 minutes alongside the almost ever-present Phil Kinch, with Peter Robinson again showing his versatility by effortlessly swapping between midfield and full-back berths. The defensive cameo of the game was provided in the second half as the back four retreated in line like a bunch of synchronised swimmers to cover a Brombecks’ attack, for central defender Steve Miller to then pounce like a praying mantis and steal the ball back to launch a counter-attack ….. marvellous stuff.

It is symptomatic of the team’s season, nonetheless, that yet again it was the keeper who deservedly grabbed the headlines with a man-of-the-match display. Brombecks never carve out a lot of opportunities but have a tendency to produce at least three nigh-on dead certs, which they duly did on Saturday. Not only is Roman Buckle famed for his occasional blue hair, for he is most surely part of a blue-blooded line of royal keepers too, but also for his concentration and general command of the D. The pick of his saves was when the score was still 0-0, changing direction to palm away a fierce near-post shot to safety via his left-hand glove. On the one occasion he was beaten he still managed to push the home forward wide enough to enable a goal-line clearance round the post to preserve the zero in the away goals column. So keen were the Vets’ defence to maintain the shut out that at one point the ball was even headed to safety behind the goal ( … this is actually true!) Fortunately the ball received no permanent damage.

So a great day all round for the Club. A first double of the season, along with a record number of victories and points haul at this level with a third of the league fixtures still to play. Captain Stephen Gilbert has done a fantastic job of juggling his resources around the “hard-core hard core” of the squad, a feat he will need to repeat against next week-end’s tough opposition … Maidstone. Well done too to Brombecks for a cracking couple of matches this season, both played in a highly-competitive but well-tempered fashion, and both a credit to Kent League 3 hockey.

Team:
Roman Buckle (GK), Phil Kinch, David Maltman, Steve Miller, Tim Walters, Peter Robinson, Ravi Wickramasuriya, Mark Ainley, Richard Cleall, Graham Green, Richard Cornick, Pat Gainey, Stephen Gilbert (C) and Ross Ainley.

Man-of-the-match:
Roman Buckle … yet again a match-winner – it is no coincidence.

Umpires:
Both home umpires officiated fairly, squarely, and with both sympathy and good humour throughout, although in fairness it was a fairly easy game to manage.