BLUNT BLACKHEATH BLUSTER & BOMB

This was another ‘Dirty Dozen on the Road’ fixture with a much depleted 3rd XI team battling the elements for the trip down to Canterbury. Injuries within and above plus half-term holidaymakers gave the Skipper a selection headache but twelve trusty souls did their best to fly the Mighty 3s flag against a resurgent Canterbury 4s in another consecutive fixture against a top four side. We valiantly dodged fallen trees, sink holes and flooded roads to get there and took to the Polo Farm pitch 2 (the bottom one that’s fully exposed to the elements) in gale force winds.

We were strong in spirit, determination and good intentions but unfortunately we faced a well organised Canterbury side full of running and pace and we didn’t quite have the quality and competence to force a positive result. Although the Canterbury defence weren’t the strongest we’d faced and looked more than vulnerable on many occasions we only achieved one decent shot on goal and three penalty corners in the whole game. Our build up and approach play was often good and our forwards made some decent forays into the Canterbury 23 but without a recognisable striker or a forward with a selfish streak in the D we were pretty blunt and ineffective. Goals win games and we didn’t ever really look like scoring. Not for the first time we let in a scrappy ping-pong opening goal which trickled over the line much to our collective dismay. The 1-0 half time deficit wasn’t a bad score considering our ineffectiveness. We had plenty of possession but couldn’t make it count in the final third. Then two quick goals in 5 mins from Canterbury at the beginning of the 2nd half really hurt us. Once again one came from a catalogue of turn overs and errors in the 23 and the other following several bad attempts to clear our lines. It wasn’t good enough and betrayed the ability of some players. But it’s how you perform on matchday that counts and too many ‘off’ days don’t secure a victory. Collectively our basic skills – trapping, hitting, tackling, dribbling were very under par and not worthy to win this game. Two more goals came (one a penalty flick for a foot on the line) as we pushed in search of something but it wasn’t going to happen. Yes the conditions were difficult but we didn’t help ourselves by failing to do the simple things well. Lots of energy, effort and endless running from plenty of players but it was a fruitless pursuit. Not a match to remember.

Onwards to next week where we hope a change of fortune will occur as we tackle teams in the bottom half of the table for our remaining fixtures. The Mighty 3s must improve and get the results some of their excellent but inconsistent hockey has promised.