Bristol & West Mens 2s faced their toughest test so far this season as they fought hard to record a 5-2 win over a handy Whitchurch side.
‘Little’ Ross Osbourne, who recently recovered from a sore rib, sustained by walking into a digger, put in a man of the match performance dominating down the Whitchurch right hand side.
Much of the forward play was orchestrated by forward Josh Tester who produced another tireless performance up front. It was Tester who got the Bristol & West boys underway with a quick-fire double easing some of the pressure that the Whitchurch side were placing on the table toppers.
A misplaced pass by a member of the defender’s union (thou shalt not be named) led to Whitchurch scoring from the resulting long corner, despite the best diving efforts of Andy ‘Platty’ Platts who dived across the goal in an attempt to defend the open B&W net.
Top scorer and ‘fantasy hockey must have’ Dan Lusmore got the Bristol & West team back on track with a fine finish, making it 3-1 to the home side.
Whitchurch fought back to make it 3-2 before a delicious ball threaded into the D from MoM Lil Ross found Christian ‘Ronnie’ Elvidge who squeezed a Bristol & West fourth in, much to the delight of his handsome four-legged fan in the crowd.
A moment of madness followed as a mix up led to the match ball being replaced by a pesky imposter ball whose un-chuck-able and mischievous nature almost led to Whitchurch walking in a third. Fortunately for the boys in orange, the defender’s union were quick to recover and clear.
After the break, Whitchurch came out strong looking for a way back into the game, but Bristol & West continued to refuse to give anything away to their feisty Welsh visitors. The result was sealed after Joe John dispatched a sweetly struck chest height volley past the flailing keeper to break any hope of a Whitchurch comeback.
Whitchurch threw everything they had at B&W, after leader of men, captain fabulous, Si Barrett capped another all action performance by spending two minutes on the side line for throwing everything he had at an unsuspecting opposition player. In the dying minutes Whitchurch forced some decisive saves from keeper RJ and centre back Platty, who via some fine cricket strokes Ben Stokes would be proud of, denied all that the welsh side threw at them.
The result leaves Bristol & West leading the way in the De Cymru & The Marches 2 league looking onto next week’s tasty inter-club derby looking to make it five from five, next week won’t be one to miss!
MOM: "Little" Ross Osbourne
Written by DOD: Josh "This is De Witt. De What?" De Witt