Men's 2s in Narrow Defeat to Staines
By Scott Evans
SHC Men's 2s 0 - 1 Staines
Player of the Match: Haycroft (again) / Shelton (on debut)
DoD: S Evans
Short version - They got a stroke after Doidge bravely let it hit him on the line. Mark nearly saved the PS and we lost 1-0.
Fuller version...
It had ‘bean’ a long, hard preseason where coach Creed had really put the boys through their paces. Doidge and Beau were looking in shape (just not sure what shape), Tinker had grown and was nearly as tall as White, (they were planning a trip to Thorpe Park soon as both are now able to get on all the rides), Redders was putting his cheap education to use getting stuck in toilets, Linnell had been working hard on running marathons and whitening his teeth and Evans was learning how to write in preparation for all the Match reports he would have to write. Creed had had such an influence on the team, Haycroft even decided to copy his haircut (all for a good cause).
However it hadn't all been plain sailing, Birdie had been very down after losing his funnier, better looking, better at hockey Nottingham friend Stu back to Uni. We also lost Scott 'quif' Jones, Charlie 'lob' Neat and Rory 'quick pint' Calnan to University. Where I am sure they will be working hard and making the most of the £27k they are spending. Harper and James Evans returned from Uni and we added a bit of Dutch courage to the team with De Leeuw. And Fulker had finally seen the potential in Nik the German and allowed him to play for the 2s. Not sure what Fulker had been missing as Nik has gone on to make his M1s Premier League debut - big congratulations.
So the wait was finally over (like this report), with a good turn out at training on Wednesday (of 5), we were ready to hit the ground running. Alas there were issues with availability, Linnell was double booked and was unavailable due to a holiday to Madrid. Beau, Bean and Lucy had booked a romantic holiday together and were also unavailable. Creed was making the long journey upt north to Brooklands by horse and cart, hopefully he will make it for the game on Sunday. Thanks to Glyn for managing in Creed’s absence.
Anyway, they got a stroke after Doidge bravely let it hit him on the line. Mark nearly saved it and we lost 1-0.
Next week the Men’s 2s play two teams, Tulse Hill & Dulwich, so hopefully availability will be better.