Good win in local derby

Match report from Captain Colin

The Men’s 3s had a short trip down the M5 to Weston Super Mare and found captain Colin arriving well after the arranged meet time due to umpiring in Bristol, but Vice captain for the day, Jon Venn had already done the team talk, got the players ready and had them all warned up ready for what we expected to be a close match. The team was buoyed by the availability of James Moseley who has rarely been able to make any matches this season. The game started and showed that the Weston team was very youthful and had some good skills, they frequently drove into our 23, but found the experience of David Colling marshalling around in front of the back three and there was limited opportunity for them to get shots off. Over time we were able to establish ourselves more into the game, with pace on both our wings using the two Dans, Chris Welsh and Lewis Wherrat-Payne making his debut, they were a constant threat and helped move the ball forward constantly. The midfield found a lot of space, allowing plenty of passing, but the Weston backline had nearly as much experience as us and made opportunities limited. We did however have a lovely passing move through several of our youngsters and the umpire played a good advantage for a foul in the D as the ball fell to Dan Kaye unmarked but at a tight angle who slapped the shot home well to go into the break 1-0 up.

The half time team talk included a discussion that Weston would try to close down the space in the midfield, but they didn’t seem to have notice the space we had and although they came out with great intensity, they still left a lot of space in the centre of the pitch. The intensity paid off for Weston and they drove well into the D pulling out a fine save from Rob Orton, the ball flying into the air and striking a Weston player on the head on the way down, before that player tapped in to the now unguarded net, the scores level as befitted the game, however the game went on and North had more pressure, gaining a range of chances for us, we couldn’t manage to put any away, with the keeper making good saves and us putting some wide. The pressure paid off and a penalty corner plan was hatched, DC putting it to Colin at the top of the D for a Moseley drag flick…… The ball was put in, Colin just about managed to get the handle end of the stick to it to get it back for James to have a firm and slightly raised push to the keepers left and we were 2-1 up. The time ticked down and the umpires stopped for a chat as it appeared that at least one of their watches had stopped. After a discussion, they decided there were two minutes to go, which North saw out without further incident to get our second win of the season and well deserved.

Man of the match was Lewis, just pipping Rob, but there were quite a few players with votes, showing how well the whole team played. Other memorable moments included Andy Turnbull passing straight to the opposition from free hits and on a well worked short corner had no defenders with him, he completely topped the ball, causing to roll harmlessly wide. Andy Checkley also managed to be on the ball looking for a pass when a very young player came past him and Andy fell to the ground screaming as most of us looked around for the sniper that had apparently taken him out.