Hertford VI 1 - 3 WGC IV

We didn't manage a win to mark our first league outing, but we gave it a good try.

Only 5 changes from the previous week, but it felt like a lot more with Mark Foster making his club debut (we only met him 15 minutes before the game), George Lynn making his debut in any kind of hockey, and Ewen MacPherson joining on loan from the 5s. With 4 of last week's side in the 4s and a late withdrawal from Adam, we were very grateful to have Graham Hinde back in the side and Chris Duncan just getting back from holiday in time to join us.

Despite all that, the side settled very quickly and we played a good first half, moving the ball confidently and playing some very neat combinations wide upfront. With a very senior back line (despite some tremendous tackling from Graham and Steve) we were a bit vulnerable to pace and leaked a couple of goals, but struck back before half time with Duncs sweeping in a rocket of an Andy Benson short corner off the keepers pads. In the third quarter we were playing much the better hockey and looked good for at least a point if not three, but couldn't quite turn the control into clear cut chances, and a handful of short corners didn't produce another goal. We flagged noticeably in the last quarter, WGC stretched their lead and our threat gradually petered out.

Andy Benson takes Man of the Match, playing deep alongside Steve to shut out anything down the middle, and marshalling a young but smart and confident midfield of Ewen, Noah and Rian (dropping comfortably into midfield). With Tor ghosting into space all over the place and holding the ball up well, George (who didn't look at all like a beginner) and Chris's pace kept up a constant threat. Mark, despite not knowing any of us before, held it all together beautifully from the front of the diamond.

Defence scrapped heroically as usual, Nicholas blocked and kicked with growing confidence, and the champagne moment was a WGC short corner where Nicholas, Clive, Nicholas again and then Steve cleared off the line in the space of 20 seconds before we finally cleared to touch.

I was particularly impressed by the younger players confidence and intelligence playing the ball between themselves and running off the ball. My only gripe is that as the game went on we increasingly forgot about the back pass and started running into tackles and blind corners. Maybe it was the tension of chasing the equaliser, maybe it was fatigue - but remember the best way to save energy is to keep the ball in our own ranks.

So, a good start, shame there were no points to show for it, but as the squad settles I see plenty of promise for the season ahead.