Match Reports
14/10/06
Holcombe 3a's 3-5 Men's 3rd XI
(Better late than never - and it's worth waiting for . . . presenting match report no. 2 from Laurie - Ed)
Mighty, Mighty Brighton
Brighton 5 - 3 Holcombe
And so it was that Holcombe experienced the sour taste of the double edged sword of revenge, with lashings of style, skill, and fluency dealt to them by the mighty 3's. Perhaps a little dramatic, however it was a strong performance all round that ensured the victory.
A cunning tactical meet time from Captain Dan allowed for a very early arrival at the pitch, resulting in Andy Hehir going for a three course meal before push back. Perhaps the reason for his later cat like, I think not, agility from a short corner later on. Before the match the now trademark "dynamic" warm up helped to loosen and sober up the team. It was a patriotic, stirring speech from our gallant leader Dan that instilled the "belief" in the team.
Brighton were strong from the start with fluid movement, strong passing moves and Prucey wreaking havoc amongst the Holcombe midfield and defence. Brighton clearly had the upper hand and so Holcombe released their secret weapon, new star signing and retired Welsh international John Hartson. Unfortunately no one had told him
he was joining a hockey club, and the various vicious tackles that ensued were inevitable. Prucey gave him a master class in dribbling
and skill, I assume in an attempt to make friends, however this only angered him further. It was completely against the flow of play
however that Holcombe took the lead, completely unfairly. The Holcombe midfielder drilled the ball, outside of the D, straight onto the waiting stick of Tom Scopes, which was also outiside the D, no other player touched the ball and so Andy Hehir let the ball, as any keeper would, roll into his goal. The ump blew his whistle for a goal and all hell broke loose. Andy Hehir shouted abuse to both umps by the second, Scopes dropped his stick and in an attempt to out do Andy rolled on the floor in an almighty tantrum. Beggers feeling slightly left out also threw in a few insults earning him his inevitable matchly warning.
However the now enraged blues channelled their anger into champagne hockey and were dominating once again. And it was the flu suffering Duncan who scored the equaliser minutes after the restart. A classic finish and Brighton's confidence grew. Scopes was having a good game and it got even better when he skillfully slotted home with what can only be described as a "Norwegian Tremolo", whatever that is. Half time came and Brighton were ahead. Or at least I think we were ahead, doing this almost a week after the match and I can't quite remember, it felt like we were ahead anyway.
The thrills didn't let up in the second half. One incident sticks in the memory rather more clearly than the others. The defence were having a good game, debutant sweeper Paul closing ranks, and the Silver Seal dealing with every attack thrown at him. However nothing could prepare myself and the other four brave defenders for the horrific scene to emerge from a short corner that should have been a shining example of goal keeping proficiency. The ball was stopped at the top of the D and an unstoppable thunderbolt of a drag flick rocketed into the top left corner, or maybe that's what Andy thought was going to happen, as he decided to lie soaking up a few rays as the ball actually trickled past his feet. To be fair to Andy (why??? Ed) with the ball traveling that slowly it was hard to tell just what it might do next.
Heads could have gone down at this point but it is a testament to the belief and unrelenting passion that fired Brighton to a brilliant win. Beggers finishing was magical, and his Hat-trick was a pleasure to behold, his language, not so enviable. Altogether a very good win, surely sending shivers to the other teams in the league.
I would just like to add that the lateness of this match report was due to excessive amounts of homework dealt out viciously by my teachers, so take it up with them. (fair enough - Ed)
LJ