Bristol & West Hockey Club - Bristol's Friendliest Hockey Club

17 January 2010

Bristol & West 3s 2 -3 Robinsons c

Match Report:-

On a mild overcast day, 13 of Bristol and West’s finest turned out to play against Robinsons C at Riding College. After a five week mid-season break which for most included no fitness what so ever, the talk before the game revolved around captain Andy’s new training regime of “jogging” on the downs, at night, in the snow. No one was quite sure what to make of this, but before anything more could be said on the matter Andy managed to convince the team into a brief warm up. After a misunderstanding regarding ball colour (will Bristol and West ever play with an orange ball again after that one?), the game got underway.

During the early exchanges Bristol and West were clearly on top, and it was with the run of play when Chris scored, following a brilliant run down the line from Baz. Unfortunately, B&W then seemed to slacken off, and despite dominating the first half possession and territory, they were unable to add to the score sheet. Furthermore, when Robinsons scored just before the break, it meant a half dominated by B&W ended all square.

After the break B&W once again found some form, and Graham scored in a well worked short corner no more than 10 minutes in. However, it seemed once again that B&W had scored too early, and slackened off as the half continued. Following a series of Robinson’s short corners, a penalty flick was given. No one on the B&W was happy about this decision; partly because it gave Robinsons a cracking opportunity to bring the game back on level terms in a game that should have been all but over. Despite Pete’s best efforts, he could not get to a well taken spot flick.

Following this goal, B&W started to panic and to a certain extent fell apart. This didn’t mean they lacked scoring chances with a couple of shorts, and one opportunity for Ali, which he managed to put about 30 yards wide. With B&W pushing up high to get the win, Robinsons managed to counter attack and were very fortunate when their attacker ran into Andy’s goal line clearance 5 minutes from the end. This was the last major incident in the game, ending in a 3-2 loss for Bristol and West.

A disappointing performance from the side that on their day could have won the game with a score line resembling South Africa’s first innings. In a post match interview with Andy, he didn’t think he’d get over the loss until Wednesday, and that he recommended the whole team got into jogging on the downs at night.

Category: 3rd Team |