Match Report: Berkhamsted 3 West Herts 4

Berkhamsted lost by the odd goal in a seven goal thriller on Saturday 21st
November to a youthful West Herts team. In the first minute Simon Leathem
thought he had given Berkhamsted an early lead with a cross shot but this
was disallowed after he hadn't heard the umpires whistle.

Berkhamsted
soaked up some early pressure and following some trickery from Duncan
Hodges were awarded a short corner, this was initially saved only for Jason
Silver to crash the rebound in off the underside of the bar to give
Berkhamsted the lead. West Herts then dominated the next twenty minutes
with some good possession hockey and inevitably equalised and took the lead
just before half time, despite the efforts of the sober Berkhamsted keeper
Jay Cremin. The start of the second half again had West Herts having a good
deal of possession and West Herts soon went 3-1 ahead. Berkhamsted also had
to cope with the loss through injury of their two influential defenders
Gary Stanwell and the enforcer Adam Smith. This did not deter Berkhamsted
who produced some superb hockey through the likes of Simon Leathem, Rocky
Savage, David Seymour and trainee thespian Oliver Love. The continued
Berkhamsted pressure soon paid dividends as Pete Allam netted two goals to
make the match level at 3-3. As Berkhamsted went for the win they were
caught on the  break by West Herts who took the lead again to move 4-3
ahead. Berkhamsted then had five minutes to get an equaliser and had
numerous good chances to level, particularly Jack Peploe when put through
by captain James Barron, but he was halted following excellent work from
the West Herts keeper. The final whistle came and despite a 4-3 loss,
Berkhamsted could be pleased with their performance and commitment levels.
Thanks must also go to the two excellent umpires in allowing the game to
flow well.