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Sat 27 Nov 2021
West Herts 5's
Mens 5th XI
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West Herts 5s 8-0 Hertford 5s
Josh Dear30 Nov 2021 - 17:04
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A tough morning in Watford for the 5s..
With a core of 8 regular 5s players missing, a ragtag team travelled to Watford through wind and rain (and countless temporary traffic lights) to face a West Herts side who sit top of the league for good reason.
We defied the odds by starting off in the first 10 minutes as the stronger side, working incredibly hard off the ball and making fantastic movement up the pitch, matching them for energy and ability and upsetting their balance. However we did drop off the mark when Jared unfortunately pulled up injured, and we never quite recovered after the reshuffle. We conceded one short corner after another and if it wasn't for some heroic defending from Jon, we would have been down by more than 4-0 at half time. West Herts also somehow comically cleared their own shot off of our goal-line - one of many lucky escapes.
At half time we reshuffled the pack slightly and again started off strong, but tired legs and silly mistakes started to show, against a side far too good for our division, and the floodgates were open. We still did provide a threat on the counter and we didn't allow them to become complacent, but we were unable to break through their experienced backline for a consolation goal.
We should not feel too hard done by - their skipper and one of the umpires said that we were one of the toughest teams they have faced this season and we did play exceptional passing hockey in passages throughout the game. Let's keep our heads up and move on from this result, to try and pick up a win or two before the Christmas break.
MoM goes to Jon for some spectacular tackles, but special mentions to Luke, James and Ed for continuing to fight right until the end. Steve and Nixon both had solid 5s debuts, we hope to see more of you this season.
The only way is up!
Josh
We defied the odds by starting off in the first 10 minutes as the stronger side, working incredibly hard off the ball and making fantastic movement up the pitch, matching them for energy and ability and upsetting their balance. However we did drop off the mark when Jared unfortunately pulled up injured, and we never quite recovered after the reshuffle. We conceded one short corner after another and if it wasn't for some heroic defending from Jon, we would have been down by more than 4-0 at half time. West Herts also somehow comically cleared their own shot off of our goal-line - one of many lucky escapes.
At half time we reshuffled the pack slightly and again started off strong, but tired legs and silly mistakes started to show, against a side far too good for our division, and the floodgates were open. We still did provide a threat on the counter and we didn't allow them to become complacent, but we were unable to break through their experienced backline for a consolation goal.
We should not feel too hard done by - their skipper and one of the umpires said that we were one of the toughest teams they have faced this season and we did play exceptional passing hockey in passages throughout the game. Let's keep our heads up and move on from this result, to try and pick up a win or two before the Christmas break.
MoM goes to Jon for some spectacular tackles, but special mentions to Luke, James and Ed for continuing to fight right until the end. Steve and Nixon both had solid 5s debuts, we hope to see more of you this season.
The only way is up!
Josh
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