Hockey is back! Or is it? It is! But not for Harry Lewis who sadly had to sit out the match because his feet ‘feel like broken chocolate’. Despite his tough guy exterior, he’s got a sensitive sole our Haz and we hope his feet get better soon (Nb in the M1’s lockdown counterintuitive Keep-Fit-But-Not-Hockey-Fit-Running-Competition, Harry ran his first half marathon but hasn’t been able to walk properly since!). Anyway, thanks Haz for the chocolate analogy that we won’t forget anytime soon!

Time for the hockey! Or is it? It wasn’t quite yet as Joel enjoyed James’ 2 year old Baklava which joined Harry Lewis’ chocolate feet in the pre-match entertainment. It was also great to welcome back Herbs after a nasty broken nose from training in September.

The hockey started, or did it? It did and Blueharts started strongly for the first 5, though South found the best opening with a quick transfer up to the Winter Soldier who almost buried the chance. After weathering the storm, we started to put the squeeze on and largely dominated the rest of the first half. The press got on top and the first goal came from a turnover and slow-motion drive to the baseline by Chalk (just out pacing their aged CB), pulling back to Brownie, across to Tim at the far side who smashed past the keeper. Winter is here!

The press paid further dividends for the 2nd goal too, with the increasingly abrasive Scott Catley nipping in front of their midfielder, driving to goal and bundling past the keeper.

2-0 half time, easy money I hear you say? Not so, Blueharts hatched a halftime plan and came out firing, elbowing their way back into the match with a good press of their own and lots of pressure. 2-0 became 2-2 with 20 left to play. Fortunately, Blueharts hadn’t planned for another Winter storm and Tim struck his second with a really neat lift of the keeper. The build up was sharp and I’ve directly quoted Brownie’s take on the goal:
Controlled the play from pushback, good passing round the back, Ed’s eyes were showing a pass down the right of the pitch but the clever man passed it left to me, I controlled the bouncing pass, smoked my marker with skill and pace, smoked the next defender and passed it across the face of goal to Tim who calmly flicked it over the onrushing keeper. Basically a solo effort from me, minimal skill from Ed and Tim…”
This is a largely exaggerated account and I’m told Herbs got the last touch to claim the assist for Tim.

3-2 to the South with 15 to play, would it be 3 points? It would! South saw out the rest of the match under a fair bit of pressure which saw a couple of good 1v1 chances for Williams and Herbs on the counter but otherwise a great back’s to the wall defence. There was still time for a mazy Tim Winter run which saw him come out of a crowd of Blueharts players miraculously still with the ball. Runaway PoM for Tim.

Shout out to Will T for breaking down all play in the hole, Stu Rimmer for amateur dramatics and Mark Williams for kicking the ball off when through on goal. Thanks Harry Lewis for helping Paul to run the subs bench, though Brownie tells me he’d rather not play the entire first half next time!

All in all, a great 3 points against a strong and physical team. Incidentally, my knee now feels like a Wispa, Joel’s toe like a Mars Bar and James Bailey has just finished his 4th Terry’s Chocolate Orange of the day.