Week 19: Men’s 1st team had their local derby in a short trip to Southgate Adelaide.
A wet day saw us start with 10 (we knew Jake could not make the start) which went OK as Adam Machray and Sam Turmaine controlled the centre of the park. Adelaide did figure out how to make the extra man count and began to threaten. Fortunately they were not in finishing mood and were kept at bay by our defence with a strong performance from Harry Franks, Matt Dray and Joshua James Rider. Going forward WHE had a strong lineup and were always a threat with Tim Mall, Joe Turmaine and Harry Stones giving the Adelaide defence a tough time. The better late than never arrival of Martin Dwamena made the difference adding a solid performance to the midfield to make us the controlling team. The deadlock remained and needed something extra. It came in the form of a John John Adam Elliott Lappinperformance of the season highlight of which was a beautiful trap and slide rule pass through to Tim Mall. Tim still had plenty to do but showed his class to provide a fine finish. Half time 1-0 and in control.
Second half saw Adelaide come out hard leading to a few nervy short corner situations for us but bringing out the best of Josh with a superb diving pass.
Shorts apart Adelaide were not a huge threat in front of goal. The tireless running of Adam Machray and Martin Dwarmea kept the opposition wary as did Sam’s passes through to the forwards. The short corners came for us through some tricky stick work from Harry in the D. Finally the lead was extended to 2 with a thunderous hit from a short by Joe nutmegging the keeper. We should have gone on to finish it off with a few more but that would have been boring. Adelaide always seem to snatch one and they did with a blatant back stick. In the end it didn’t matter as we stayed strong to the end. The umpire apologised if they had missed the back stick and even thanked us for making it an easy game to umpire. Well done all 3 points to celebrate.
Wait for it…
WE WON!!!!
The Ladies 1s beat Eastcote 3s 5-1! Yes that does say 5!!!
We started a little slow but eventually woke up. We opened the scoring with a great short corner strike by Caroline and well kept in by Lucy for me to tap it in. Second goal was another great strike from briers. Finally actually using gav’s deflection training from a few weeks ago Samantha beat the keeper. Final goal in the first half made it a #deaneteamdreamteam with Bethburying the ball right in at the post in another short corner. Second half didn’t quite start the way we wanted it conceding a very soft short corner which they converted, but never fear! Bethany brought it to 4-1 with a physics defying goal, putting the ball in from the baseline whilst throwing herself across the floor. Some more pressure gave lucy the opening to finalise the score at 5-1 with only a couple minutes to go!
Man of the Match was Bethany for her goal. She also managed Dick of the Day by being late and not knowing when the game was!
The men’s 2s kept up their push for promotion with a fine 4-1 win over local rivals Southgate Adelaide 2. It was Adelaide who took the lead early on with a well worked goal swept past Nick Smith in the Winchmore goal from close range. However, we fought back bravely and after going close from a penalty corner that hit the post, it was a training ground move that brought us back on level terms as Simon Gatland, returning from 3 months out with a back injury, swept the ball into the D where Christopher James deflected the ball high into the net giving the young Adelaide keeper no chance. This was followed soon after with a straight strike from Dominic at a penalty corner, and Winchmore were in the lead.
However, the pivotal moment of the game came at the end of the first half when an Adelaide shot hit Balazs ‘s foot on the goal line – penalty stroke. But the flick hit the post and the momentum swung back to Winchmore once more.
After the break, Winchmore played with great focus and determination and there was only ever going to be one winner. A switched penalty corner was saved by the Adelaide keeper, but Leo pounced on the rebound to volley home from close range to make it 3-1. And this was followed up with another great run from Burdy who was picked out with a diagonal ball behind the defence, where he controlled the ball and neatly slotted home on reverse stick to make it 4-1.
Special mention today to Hitesh, who despite being injured still came and played for some of the game, despite clearly being in pain. And thanks as ever to Chris Moran and Lisa Jobson for umpiring on another miserable afternoon. But another great win for the 2s, and with 3 games to go, promotion is still in our own hands!