Stags Stutter off the Startline

Hertford had debutants Dylan Parker and Gary Brown in the match-day squad but were missing key men at both ends of the pitch in Simon Halfacre, Jamie O'Sullivan and Ben Tootell at the back and Scott Apps and Ben van Rooyen up front.

The encounter started quite evenly with neither side seeing much of an opening. The Hertford rearguard had to deal with a few flashes across the circle, but were comfortably marshalling their men.
The breakthrough came mid-way through the first half when a poor pass out of the Chelmsford defence was seized on, and sent forward to Archie Akers. The 20-year-old showed good composure to draw the defender and square for Arthur Twyning, who was able to dance his way around the goalie and - despite being brought to the ground, nudge the ball over the line on his reverse stick.

The goal boosted the confidence of the hosts who found some joy venturing down the left of the pitch and cutting in to win a succession of penalty corners. When Brown won a third is almost as many minutes, player-coach Nick Downer stepped up to slot home a cleverly switched move on the angle, beating the keeper's left foot and finding the inside of the sideboard to double the advantage.

Chelmsford forced their way back into the game to make it 2-1 just before half time. A poor short corner injection required some adjustment, but this put the charging defenders on the wrong foot when the ball was sent across the top of the circle and expertly dragged through a crowded area to beat Tom Smith high on his stick side.

Chelmsford continued to push, and, when skipper Ian Dunnett was made to take a 2 minute break after a mistimed tackle, the visitors drew level. A diagonal ball in from the left flank took a deflection and found its way into the circle where the Chelmsford forward let the ball roll past his right foot, connecting smartly with a first time strike sending it back across goal and into the bottom corner before Smith could react.

In a possible turning point, Hertford's Elliot Barling hobbled off the pitch with a knee injury, making the home side work hard on a hot day against a younger side.

Hertford redoubled their efforts and applied some pressure, edging their noses back in front. More industriousness down the left involving Darren Norman, fed Twyning whose shot was blocked, but Brown followed in to flick up past the stricken netminder to open his Hertford account.

Not to be outdone Chelmsford restored parity once more. When Hertford's shape deserted them, they left too much space for the forward, and saw a speculative reverse-stick effort from the right of the circle squirrel between the legs of Smith as he was caught on his heels.

Hertford could have put the game to bed, as Akers showed pace to create the space for the cross on the left, and set Twyning through on goal, but the teenager was only able to place his shot onto the keeper's left foot.

With the game becoming stretched as both sides pushed for a winner, and with Hertford tiring, Chelmsford got the winner. Hertford paused when a forward coming in from the left shaped for a reverse stick shot as he was being closed down, but didn't complete his swing, instead squaring for a teammate to tap into an unguarded net.

Next week Hertford travel to the Olympic Park to face Wapping 4s, where they will be confident of getting off the mark having taken 6pts from their two meetings last season.

Hertford - Tom Smith; Elliot Barling, Ian Dunnett, Dylan Parker, Taylor Weeks; Nick Downer, Alec Short, Mike Branford; Gary Brown, Arthur Twyning, Archie Akers. Subs - Adrian Fileczki, Darren Norman