Braintree 4/5s 1 – 4 Hertford 6s

The 6s extended their unbeaten run in friendlies to an unprecedented two games, and chalked up their first ever friendly win against external opposition.

We made a long trek to see our old friends from Braintree (a fairly regular fixture back in ‘old 5s’ days). A dozen burly veterans slipped out of the bar for 70 minutes to jog around the hockey field with us, and we enjoyed something of an old fashioned festival game, which we largely dominated but only managed to make it count in the last quarter. Reflecting their limited mobility, Braintree played a simple 7 – 0 – 3 formation, defending in depth and counter-attacking with long balls. We had plenty of space and played the ball around nicely, particularly in the wide corners, and had regular short corners and scoring opportunities.

However, a combination of slow final touches, a packed defence and the former Colchester 2s keeper kept us at bay. Graham White presciently missed an early penalty in a piece of anticipatory jug avoidance, Daryl sent short corner strikes agonisingly wide of both posts, before Chris Duncan slipped behind the defence and struck home.

Statistically, one of their counter attacks was going to get the better of our equally veteran back three, and we were back at 1 – 1 before half time. We kept patient and kept up the pressure as the game approached the final quarter, and finally things started to click. Ewan cut inside from the right hand corner and pulled the ball back neatly for Graham White to beat the keeper with a first-time scoop. From a similar position he got his own reward as a ball towards the far post clipped a defender’s foot and looped over the keeper. Graham dribbled in from the 25 to add his 2nd and our 4th. The burley veterans then returned to their natural habitat in the bar.

MotM goes to Ewan for impressive positioning in defence and attack, good work off the ball and outstanding combination play with Daryl, Jon and Chris.

Big thanks to Peter Trendler who stayed on after an exhausting game for the 5s to give us a sub in midfield. We also bid farewell to Nick Izzard as he returns to Nottingham.

Good luck next week!