Magnets 3 - 0 Richmond Rogues (MO50s) (H)
By Mark Waller
Scorers: Beaney R (2), Todd
Umpires: Helen & Simon
The Magnets easily won this, their penultimate match of the season, and truth be told we should have scored far more goals. But, it was a decent enough team performance not to be too disappointed. As in our match last week, we did the hard work in the first half, pretty much dominating play as Richmond resorted to aerials and crash passes to try and find their front men. Our attacking play probably deserved more than the two goal cushion that we took into the break, courtesy of a stinging Toddy PC strike and a goal from Richard Beaney.
The second half was far more open and we created wave after wave of attacking moves. But some excellent goalkeeping and line clearances meant that we only scored once more. We spurned many chances to put the game well out of Richmond’s grasp but the ball just wouldn’t go in. Again, nothing to be too disappointed about. There was some really good interplay and linkages between the midfield and forwards and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. The defence wasn’t too troubled and calmly dealt with most of what was thrown at them. All in all, a good win.
The only disappointment was the constant chirping of some of the squad, particularly in the first half. We all get upset at decisions from time to time but have all been playing long enough to know that the umpires are not there to be shouted at and that we must play to the whistle. Time and energy wasted in complaining just disrupts the flow and distracts everyone. It also doesn’t help when the team has to cope with players being sin-binned. It is to their credit that Helen and Simon prevented things from getting too out of hand and it was pleasing to see the second half played in a less combative manner. Thank you to both. As one of them noted, we are like puppies - very excitable to start with before running out of steam and then becoming all cuddly!
Now onto our final game of the season, an away match against local rivals Old Cranleighans which should be a corker.