On a beautiful autumnal morning a team with both youthful exuberance and older cunning set out for an early morning match v Harpenden. In previous years the Harpenden team had been quite a handful
for the older legs but this time the Berkhamsted team had plenty of young legs with a few notable exceptions.
It was the first time the new youth policy had been implemented and James Baxter, Oli Rogers, Zac Farrell, Ryan MacDonald and Iwan Roberts meant the average age was now significantly less than normal.
We started under pressure and a few of the old lags thought it was going to be a long morning. However the team settled down and started to play some very good hockey. The skill of the opposition failed them in the final third and despite a large number of penalty corners Harpenden failed to trouble the scorer. That said, it took a very good save from Colin Izzard to keep the clean sheet. As half time beckoned an excellent move involving Jim Watson, Simon Barron and Trevor Whitehead resulted in a well taken goal by Trevor. One nil to Berkhamsted at half time.
The second half was similar to the first with Harpenden pushing forward but the team always stuttered near goal. Berkhamsted always threatened a break away and the team again showed good maturity when under pressure. Towards the end of the game, Colin was unfortunately unsighted when a rather speculative shot came in and whilst unlucky to concede a goal it certainly wasn’t against the run of play. Towards the final minutes both sides had chances but a most enjoyable morning resulted in a well earned draw.
Despite featuring extensively in the match report for the 4ths later in the day, Oli Rogers played very well and he is maturing very quickly into a solid full back. Iwan Roberts ran miles and together with Dylan gave us some solidity in the middle. Unfortunately a wild swipe by the Harpenden centre forward connected more with Dylans shin than the ball and he limped off but everybody contributed and the team should be very pleased to return with a draw. A lot of teams will struggle to beat Harpenden this season.
Thanks to Neil Peplow for umpiring and Mrs. Baxter for building the goal keeping kit before the game.
|
Men 
