I woke up this morning thinking about St. Ives 4ths, and unbeknownst to the rest of the team somehow decided that the best way to warm up to play them (in a match beginning at 12:45pm) would be to go for a 5k Parkrun (at 9:00am). I was slightly late to the Parkrun so ran there as well. Have got there, I decided to take it fairly slow for a solid and respectable time of 27:32. Unfortunately, I had absolutely no way of anticipating at the time that this heralded great pain to come [Ed - James is a Doctor by profession...]

A few hours later, our full team with two subs gathered for the pre-match teamtalk. Captain Nev reminded us to keep our heads up and make good decisions, to make short effective accurate passes between ourselves, and to go out and have fun.

The match started and for the first 5 to 10 minutes we forgot all about this. Heads were down and we played scrappy - but quickly warmed up and got into gear. For most of the rest of the match we played some of the most beautiful Hockey we have played as a team. Myself, Andy, Sandy and Etienne were sold at the back and effective in getting balls away from the Ives pressure and into midfield. Just ahead Man of the Match Harry played a dynamic and impactful CDM, making moves and distributing the ball to Nev and Luke, and then out to Noah and James "The Wolf" Parsley on the wings. Tight passes of triangles and squares abounded. Rob lurked near the D, always ready to hold the ball up and pass - or to turn and quickly shoot. Coming on from the bench old hand Jan and new debut Henry brought fresh legs and from Jan an incredible game of interceptions and passes.

One opposition goal in the early, just getting ourselves together, stages managed to slip past an otherwise wall-like Ryan, our form meant goals from us were inevitable - and good things came in threes with goals from The Wolf from a short, from a clinical finish from Jan, and from an amazing connecting move finished by Noah.

We reached half-time ready for drinks, having worked hard - and the combination of Parkrun and first half sprints took their revenge in the form of nasty calf cramp. But my affliction could not stop the energy, as we went into the second half to continue the domination. Other than a short loss of concentration somewhere in the middle which allowed the oppo to slip a couple more goals in, we continued to play heads up, precise, and teamwork-rich hockey which saw Rob, Henry and Noah again with various degrees of elegance place balls past the keeper. Rob also gracefully dived and fluffed one finish to let the youth have a chance at reaching his goal record.

Back for pizzas. MoM was highly contested with Jan, Noah and Henry all receiving multiple votes but with Harry winning by a slither. Talking of slithers... Lemon looked set to go to Rob for his penalty spot acrobatics, but then I told James Parsley in confidence that the Terrible Cramp Attack MAYBE, MAYBE could have been my own fault for running 5k+ before the match (and then only having a mango yoghurt for lunch). And he laughingly announced this to the table! The votes flooded in and I sat citrusy and betrayed. Is he a wolf or a snake?!?

Overall, a fun match, played with our heads up. Well done team, looking forward to the next one!