Men's 2nd XI vs Maidstone M3

MEN’S 2ND XI MATCH REPORT

Words:           James Perks

Oppo:             Maidstone 3, Home

Final Score:    W 3-2

Goalscorers:  Oscar Percival, James Provins, Simon Hooper

A rare 10.30 game at home for the 2's this week against Maidstone, who sat just one point ahead of us in the league before today. In the reverse fixture earlier in the season, Ville managed to let a 3-1 lead slip and only came away with a draw, time to make amends for that.

Ville again made a fast start and were on the front foot from the off playing some decent hockey and pressing well. Ten minutes into the game Oscar broke from the 23 metre line and drove with purpose at the Maidstone D, beating a couple and unleashing a shot the keeper wasn't ever stopping. 1-0 Ville.

Ville doubled their lead from a penalty corner ten minutes later. Prov injected, JB stopped it and Perks slapped it back to Prov who deflected it on his reverse past the keeper. 2-0.

That is how it remained till the break. A decent 1st half from Ville.

It didn’t take Ville long to extend their lead. Five minutes into the 2nd half, Simon managed to intercept a switch pass round the back by one of the Maidstone defenders. He drove towards the D and buried his effort into the far corner leaving the keeper no chance. 3-0.

Maidstone were awarded a penalty flick from a short corner of theirs that hit a Ville foot on the line. They tucked it away to pull one back 3-1 and 20 minutes to go.

Maidstone managed to somehow score again with a scrappy effort to make it 3-2. Was history about to repeat itself?

In the last seconds of the game Maidstone were awarded a penalty corner, the final whistle blew but the resulting corner needed to be taken. Fortunately, the Ville defence stood strong and Ville cleared their lines. A 3-2 victory for Ville.

A strong 1st half and a quick 3rd goal in the 2nd half was enough to get us over the line. They stepped up their game after the break but we also allowed them back into the game. The hockey wasn't quite at the same level as the 1^st, but the grit and determination was there. A very good win against a team who were joint 2nd before today. It then turned out to be a great afternoon when the other team joint 2nd (Burnt Ash) dropped points too. Ville now up to 2nd in the league!

SQUAD:

·        John Barrett (Capt), Max Hooper, Simon Hooper, James Hughes, Jonathan Kay, Oscar Percival, James Perks, James Provins, Adam Sidders, Jack Sweeney-MacQueen, Ollie Todd, Dave Walkom, Daniel West.