Match Report: Bedford Town 2's 3-1 Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead 1's on

12 December 2009

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Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead Mens 1's final fixture before Christmas

was away against a Bedford Town 2's side, who after losing to

Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead in the opening league fixture of the

season, had won their ten subsequent games to top the East Hockey

NE14HOCKEY 3SW league by a clear margin.

 The anticipation of a tough

match was heightened by the extremely strenuous and professional looking

warm-up undertaken by the Bedford Town players.

The game started with both sides playing disciplined and controlled

hockey, with Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead's short and spiky passing

game contrasting with the style of their opponents, who moved the ball

quickly from one side of the pitch to the other using their sweeper's

long passes. Good work from the Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead defence

and a couple of superbly timed interventions from goalkeeper Jay Cremin,

meant that the game was goalless until midway through the first half

when a well drilled penalty corner routine gave Bedford Town the lead.

Berkhamsted & Hemel had a significant share of possession and territory

during the half, but failed to turn this into good quality

opportunities.

Early in the second half, Bedford Town increased their lead with a goal

in open play, and the nature of the game changed with Bedford Town enjoy

long periods in possession of the ball, but occasionally being tackled

within their own half, giving Berkhamsted & Hemel the opportunity to

counter attack. Bedford Town's third and final goal came from another

penalty corner, using a similar routine to the first goal but with a

pass across the face of the goal to a player at the far post, who

deflected the ball into the net, rather than the shot that the defence

were expecting.

With ten minutes to go, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead pulled a goal

back when Pete Allam scored with a lifted reverse stick strike. However,

it was too little too late. In the end, the game ended in a fairly

comfortable victory for Bedford Town, who but for some last ditch

defending, including an excellent interception by Jamie Holderness under

pressure from two Bedford Town forwards, could have scored more.

Both umpires should be commended as they allowed good advantage when

appropriate, particularly for Bedford Town's second goal, and kept

control without intruding into the game. This resulted in a fair, but

competitive match, which was played in the right spirit by both teams.

Whilst Berkhamsted & Hemel Hempstead can take many positives from the

game, as in the previous week's fixture, their penalty routines were

ineffective. This was in stark contrast to the high conversion rate

shown by Bedford Town with two of their three goals coming from a

similar number of penalty corners. There is much work for Berkhamsted &

Hemel Hempstead's captain, James Barron, and his coaches to do in this

area before the next league fixture on the 16th of January.