Sparticans Record 100th Win
By Surbiton HC
Sparticans 7 – 2 Wimbledon 6s
Scorers: Sutton (3), Grant (2), Iffland (1), Curtis (1)
A momentous Saturday for the Sparticans as we reached the milestone of 100 League and Cup victories with an eventually comfortable victory against a spirited Wimbledon team.
Unfortunately Wimbledon turned up in white so the start was delayed as they procured bibs. Once we commenced proceedings, the Sparticans started created chances from the off, but seemed nervous around converting these.
Eventually a never-before-witnessed double right slip short corner routine ended up with Steve nutmegging himself and the keeper to put us one up. But Wimbledon fought strongly and gained a stroke. Cometh the hour, cometh the Save It Lee Creaser as our keeper kept out the penalty. Gary was also Gary’d during this period and had to withdraw from the game, meaning that the Gaffer’s cameo lasted 50 minutes, which was quite fitting given the occasion. Shortly after, Kev converted a short corner to give us a two goal advantage at half time.
We felt we could do better and our half time chat reflected this. Early in the second half we had a tactical shuffle, and Matt, restored to his customary right midfield role, eventually netted a hat trick. Kev scored a carbon copy corner and in the Moment of the Match, the Gaffer finished from a yard to everyone’s joy. Still, though, Wimbledon weren’t done and they scored a couple of consolation goals as our makeshift defence struggled to contain their stronger players.
So 7-2 it finished in a well-tempered and very well umpired game – thank you Andy and Barney. We welcomed a number of Spartican alumni to our team photo and subsequent debrief, where we reminisced around those who had got us to this milestone, in the company of the Father of the Sparticans, Paul Ronnie Whelan.
On the day, Toby won a closely fought contest for Spartican of The Day, eventually decided in a tie break by the opposition, which meant there was just the 43 year difference between the two trophy winners. A fitting end to a good day out.
