RAVI RUNS RIOT

Folkestone Optimists Men's 7s 0 BEHC Highwaymen 3

This had all the potential for a giant-killing.  Folkestone away for an early pushback ... cheerless weather conditions (every team picture from the past five years has exactly the same cloud cover as above) ... four regulars missing from the starting line-up ... a bare 12 bodies available ... and opposition on zero points with a goal difference of 1-40 for the season to date.  Fortunately for BEHC, only the third statistic above in the goals against column for the home team had changed come the final whistle, but the intervening 70 minutes had seen a fiercely competitive game.  Folkestone, as ever, were extremely welcoming hosts, and played some very good hockey for a team rooted to the foot of the table.  They are probably only two or three bodies short of being an even more competitive outfit in Division 2 if they can hang on for the rest of this season, as the overall standard throughout the league is good and fairly even, apart perhaps from the top couple of teams.

The backbone of the team was strong enough, with Pat Gainey leading the line with great physical presence, and the returning Steve Miller showing plenty of backbone himself, particularly in one head-on collision which deflated his unfortunate opposite number from Folkestone like a punctured Zeppelin. Rupert Greaves in goal also epitomised what a great asset he is to the Highwaymen, when - even at 3-0 up - he flung himself at three goal-bound efforts within 10 seconds during a rare home breakaway to maintain a richly deserved clean sheet.

But it was the man in the middle, Ravi Wickramasuriya, who made all the difference, setting up the first goal from a short corner for the waiting Sammy Chana to convert skillfully at the left hand-post on 22 minutes - straight off the training pitch (ahem!)  Although it is hard to believe, the visitors actually scored a second from a penalty corner (yes, two in one game - that is not a misprint) before half-time, as a gun-barrel straight shot from Wickramasuriya himself smacked against the backboard.  The pick of the three was probably the third goal, as a classic one-two with the visiting left-back saw the latter gallop the entire length of the pitch with all the grace and elegance of a drunken Bambi on an ice-rink.  Clearly sensing a satnav malfunction on reaching the unfamiliar surroundings of the opposition D, time seemed to stand still as the man in white weighed up his options.  When the pass back to the top of the D eventually came, Wickramsuriya applied a sublime finish to effectively settle matters in favour of the Highwaymen.  You would have to be a complete fool not to give him the man-of-the-match award, which is doubtless why he ended up as runner-up in this regard.

Other chances came and went, and the visiting defence held firm against a number of short corner awards.  Late call-up Matt Southgate once again showed his commitment and composure by both turning up at short notice, and by turning in yet another cool, collected display at the heart of the defence.  The fixture also saw the return after a lengthy absence of Rod Harrington, who - like many of his team colleagues - produced a solid display in an unfamiliar starting position.  The length of his absence could also be gauged by his attempted long-corner from the touchline, although he later shrugged off what looked like a muted raised-arm offside appeal by explaining that he was merely scratching his left armpit at the time.

With a slighted "enhanced" Old Beccehamians handing BBHC their first defeat of the season, the Highwaymen have jumped up into third slot in the league on goal difference, with only two points separating the top four teams and the Highwaymen still with a game in hand.  The next two fixtures will be critical, however: Old Beccehamians at home, and BBHC away, both very tough assignments, but the gallant men from BBHC are still right there in the mix.

Team:
Rupert Greaves (GK), Tim Walters, Richard Cleall, Steve Miller, Matt Southgate, Phil Kinch, Ravi Wickramasuriya, Sammy Chana, Rod Harrington, Chris Bernard, Pat Gainey,  and Tony D'Cruz.

Man-of-the-match:
Tim Walters - somehow managed to lay on Ravi Wickramsuriya's decisive glorious second goal early in the second half, whilst showing all the discipline and silence of a Carthusian monk on the park.

Umpires:
Three officials from Folkestone undertook whistling duty, and they all did a very good job indeed, keeping their cards in their pockets during a full-blooded encounter that often went end-to-end very quickly.