5's Losing Run Continues

Potters Bar's new side certainly looked like they belonged at the top of the table, and despite playing some very committed, though only occasionally attractive hockey, we couldn't grumble too much at losing out by the only goal.

Bar were all over us for the first quarter, racking up 6 short corners, one of which led to the only goal. The rest we kept out thanks to some determined tackling and a spectacular save from Geoff. We played our way back into the game and by half time the defence was looking secure and we were challenging effectively in midfield, even managing occasional spells of sustained pressure. We raised our game again in the second half and began to find some fluency in our passing, but could only force a handful of half chances. As we took chances towards the end, we were grateful for another breathtaking save from Geoff and some rather careless finishing to keep us in the game.

Man of the Match goes to Geoff Hopkin in goal. Special mentions for Rob Davies who came off best against anyone of any size that Bar sent down their left, but the back line as a whole, helped by Andy Rawlings back in his old role in front of the back four, had learnt the lessons from our last couple of outings and kept good shape throughout the game. With unaccustomed midfield pace from Chris, Arjun, and our guests Luke and Steve Worrall, we fought PB to a standstill and just occasionally showed some of the short passing game we used to play. However, between a deep lying midfield and an agile defence, our forwards found very little space and few good balls to work with, though DPJ showed the value of keeping out wide, regularly threading the ball up the right with Luke. Only in the last 10, as Bar tired against our waves of fresh substitutes, did we really open the game up and get down into the corners, but no last minute heroics this time.

4 without a win, but we're playing better and playing with heart, I hope you all enjoyed the game as much as I did.