It was an early start for the M5s, everyone making their way to Long Sutton at varied levels of lateness, but the match started roughly on time once James P and Nev arrived. The first 25 minutes of the match were not as bad as the scoresheet might have looked, as many many chances were had from both teams, but Long Sutton just had the edge, until a deflection (not a stolen goal, however much Rob may claim)  from Jordan during a short corner with a few minutes left in the half brought it closer together, 2-1.

An optimistic half time talk from Sandy seemed to instantaneously make everything click, as we had a 10 minute spell of domination over the pitch, never falling into our own 23 and scoring twice, once from a deflection from the keeper brought down by me and absolutely smashed point blank by Craig, and another from Jordan which I have no recollection of (but I am sure was of the highest quality). The game then turned into a back-and-forth scramble, with opportunities up and down the pitch from both sides, which makes me of the firm belief that this game could have easily been 6-3 to either side, if not for some close misses and quality defence from some of our newer arrivals such as James W, who is already showing to be an integral part of the team in only 3 matches, and Seb, who earned his second MoM of the season in only 3 games, which should tell you enough (honourable mention to Jo for deflecting the ball off of the crossbar with 2 minutes remaining). Unfortunately, despite the incredible defensive efforts, Long Sutton managed to sneak one past us from a cheeky left slip in a short corner, the game ending 3-3 in easily the closest and most intense game I have ever played in my season-and-a-little-bit of league hockey.

Jan acquired LoM for choosing to umpire (as everyone is aware, we do not have enough) and help out the club as a whole instead of coming to Long Sutton for 11am. It was Rob’s idea, and everyone else found it funny enough to agree.