MIGHTY 3s FOUND GUILTY BY GORE COURT

Match Report: David Forsyth

An early morning start for the Mighty 3's at the Marathon Ground looking to realise their full potential against title chasers Gore Court. With Raf amazingly making the meet time sans phone and wallet after a night of debauchery the details of which would shock even our resident deviant 'Milky', the 3's were in high spirits. A frozen pitch delaying the action provided Dan with the chance to watch most of the Ladies 2's game, his wholehearted support and persistent cheering knackering him so much he relegated himself to the bench.

The pre match talk was of taking our chances, being ruthless in the D and playing our usual slick passing game. With Jonny 6x marshalling one flank the gore court umpire was resplendent in Blackheath red on the other side, was this a sign of where his hockey heart lies, the first half would provide the answer. Blackheath started well, moving the ball around and finding plenty of space. The umpire in red proving his complete impartiality by awarding the 3's with a short. Up stepped Basra with his now classic flick to the corner to extend his lead at the top of the goal scoring charts. With the early goal Blackheath needed to compose themselves, and then disaster! Browner was found guilty of rolling the ball onto an oppo foot, the sheer audacity of this provided Gore court with a free hit in their own 25, two passes later and they were in our D popping in the equaliser. Baines and Basham were then in serious trouble with the ump in red, what did they do? Nobody knows. GUILTY!! Blackheath down to 9 men and soon they would lose another to go in 2-1 down at half time. Ram tried to gee up the 3's with a spirited half time team talk filled with profanities.

To the 2nd half, with the game in the balance the men in red upped their tempo, the ump now covering his Blackheath red with a lovely orange number it was now not clear at all which hockey club he supported.

We were soon rewarded as the rampant bad boy Baines, now on parole, released his partner in crime Basham to dodge the Court defence and slam home the equaliser.

Court proceedings where far from done however, a quite shocking incident near our D would mean another big decision for the jury. Dirty Dom Lester decided to battle a member of the court in what initially looked like a 50/50 race to the ball. With the ball running out of play the verdict was read.....GUILTY!! A yellow card.

With the 3's now pushing for a win, they slipped up again. 3-2 down with 10 minutes left.

All we needed was that one golden chance to equalise before pushing for a win, with Blackheath attacking the D from all angles the ball broke to Milky, fresh from his stint playing bagpipes in Thunderstruck he twisted and turned the Court goalkeeper to leave a gaping open goal, spotting his Scottish friend Forsyth outside him he slipped the ball left. Surely this would be the Justice we were looking for?!?! But no, a weak attempt saved on the line would leave Blackheath desolate. A final flurry in the last few minutes couldn't get them out of jail. A 4th 3-2 defeat of the season leaves the team wondering what they need to do for that elusive win.