Match report November 26 2011

A pair of head-to-heads with London Academicals ended with 2-1 wins for the 1st and 2nd XIs in two hard-fought encounters, the Ladies picked up a much-needed point with a 1-1 draw at Spencer, while there were defeats for the 3rd XI and both Veterans sides

1st XI 2-1 London Academicals

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Two weeks ago we set ourselves the target of 10 points from the last 4 games and with 2 down 6 points have been secured from the teams in the promotion mix. Following the victory against Barnes last week it was crucial we took soemthing from today's game albeit without both Woody and Hunts, the latter making his 2s debut.

Ultimately the game was very scrappy with neither side wanting to lose and as a result snuffing out the other side in a dour midfield battle with cards a plenty. We took the lead following a super run from CV who set up Bentsy whose shot was stopped on the line ( possibly just over the line) and Rippers despatched the stroke. CV had a vintage first 15 minutes carving holes in the Academicals defence with deft touches and using the space behind the defence well. The lead did not last long and Academicals drew level with a low dragflick to Coops left but we should have regained the lead twice when great breaks just of the half.

The tight game was dominated in the second half by 3 or 4 more green cards, 5 yellows and a red, our receiving 3 yellows and Academicals 2 yellows and a red. The match was just not that type of game and to an extent ruined the flow. Nevertheless we profited scoring our second through a Rob Merry short corner strike 7 minutes from the end having weathered heavy pressure for the 5 minutes we were down to 9 men. No question that the Dean defensive drills helped us defend with reasonable ease.

With time running out and Academicals down to 10 following the red, we made the cardinal sin of trying to score a third with a minute to go instead of keeping the ball in the opposition half and a break resulted in a stroke being awarded to Academicals with 20 seconds to go. Untypically for Rhys it was fired wide and we held on for a massive win.

We possibly shaded the game and deserved the win but Academicals did have a golden opportunity to level the scores but spurned the chance and how important will that be at the end of March? Rolf Harris


London Academicals 2nd XI 1-2 2nd XI

Spencer 1-1 Ladies

3rd XI 3-6 Surbiton

Hamstrings 2-3 Maidenhead

East Grinstead 12-0 Barnstormers