Men’s 2s Complete Undefeated League Campaign

Men’s 2s 5 – 0 PHC Chiswick 1s

#Invincibles #Centurions #London Champions 2021-22

The M2 travelled across the Thames to sunny Chiswick for a visit to the Liverpool Victoria ground. LV = 5-0 win to complete an undefeated league campaign.

It was a challenging week just to get a side out with weddings, holidays and last minute injury dropouts but we assembled Baker’s Dozen to attempt to close the season out in style. Good that Jake has a younger brother like Toby to provide bench cover, fresh from his double on U14 duty (if we keep Toby away from Portsmouth, he’s got potential).

After Dylan gave us the lead from a scrappy PC within two minutes, we dominated first half possession but only got one more goal from Dan at close range. Jamma was getting bored on the sideline and a bit grumpy from being forced to stand (no benches, dugouts or even a Bielsa box) so he tried to motivate the lads to maintain standards and have some fun (stop appealing Schnu!). 

Three more goals from Jake, Dodders and a second from Dylan completed the score line. Griggs has been safe as houses when called on in goal, so no surprise at another clean sheet. At one point, Buckle took matters into his own hands and drove the length of the field before firing just wide. Dylan had their winger in his pocket all day. Scotty even with only one good hamstring and missing his buddy Rhys, was still far too much for their midfield to handle (same as most weeks). After a season living on the edge, James Evans finally received his first yellow card from a startled umpire, which denied him minutes to tie the goalscorer table.

Season stats:

Played 22 | Won 20 | Draws 2
Goals scored 109 | Goals against 28 | Goal difference +81
Points 62 (out of a possible 66)

Top goal scorers:

Dave ‘Beanhead’ Bartram (12)
James Evans & Billy Winter (11)
Dan Hunt (10)
Caspar Beyer (9)

So what next? A potential ‘Double’ is still possible – the M2 visit Jersey on Saturday 23rd April for a quarter final in the EH T2 Championships. Of course there’s a potential ‘Treble’ for our U18s.

Then we start planning for next season with league games moving to Sunday. We lose Jamie ‘Jet’ Taylor, Tom Fox, Josh Grigg and Jake Thompson to University, and wish them well. We should still have Dylan, Dan, Matty and Caspar available for another season. 

It’s great to watch the progression year on year and the talent pipeline from the U14 and U16 performance squads looks strong. Having Jamma as coach has been a massive asset and the boys have learned so much from his coaching, standards, meticulous team briefings and his ability to adapt our play to what’s in front of him. It’ll be a big step up to National League Conference East so it would be great to attract some former Surbiton Colts who’ve played EHL (and their hockey mates) back to Sugden Road when they complete their degrees.  

A big thank you to all the squad (and their parents) for the commitment and support. There have been many standout moments on the field – but probably the news that Epsom had drawn with Wimbledon back in October and then beaten them in the February return were key as they created breathing space in a promotion battle with our neighbours that was always going to be tight. The fact it was my old club causing the upsets made it even sweeter. Our own performances in both games against Wimbledon, scoring six each time, and that we achieved our target of winning every game after the Christmas break ultimately made the difference.