Match Report
Match Report - 23 Jan 2010, Aldershot and Farnham Hockey Club Mens 1 beat Gosport 1
Three unanswered second half goals were enough to ensure Aldershot & Farnham avoided a slip up at Gosport last Saturday.
With many A&F players not having picked up a stick for six weeks due to the Christmas break and bad-weather postponements, it was clear to see in the opening exchanges that Gosport had the advantage of having played the week before and it was they who enjoyed what was to be their best spell of sustained pressure in the game.
However it was A&F who took the lead. A good link up between Matt deSouza and Fergus Lynch set Jonny Groves down and into the right of the circle who crossed to Ian Metcalfe to score.
Some sloppy marking and slow ill-directed passing from A&F allowed Gosport to enjoy more possession in the A&F half and in scoring two goals, led 2-1 at the break.
A&F knew if they could get their game together a bit they would be able to turn the scoreline around and although the second half continued to be pretty fractious and increasingly heated, A&F largely dominated. Driven on my midfield pairing Jon Attwood and Lynch who worked tirelessly for the full seventy minutes, A&F were also able to mop up any danger much more efficiently.
Groves equalised with aplomb from the penalty spot and A&F created several chances, winning a number of short corners.
When Attwood intercepted a ball on the halfway line, A&F had a two on one and dealing with that Attwood picked out Metcalfe who beat the ‘keeper on the reverse, to make amends for a fluffed shot from an excellent chance created by Groves, the skilful forward moments earlier.
The game was effectively wrapped up by a neat finish by the flu-stricken Chris Edwards whose pitch time was severely restricted and without his voice or breath was unable to take his usual role as sweeper, instead covering occasionally at left half.
A&F remained in control, with the Gosport captain finally seeing a long overdue yellow card in the dying minutes, having earlier received two green cards and a number of warnings for a variety of offences.
Gosport 1 2 - 4 Aldershot and Farnham Hockey Club Mens 1