Men’s 2s 3 - 1 Canterbury 1s (A)
By Mark Haycroft
Even though I have been asked in the past to write match reports, without earning the right to do so, this week, actually earning the right to create a descriptive masterpiece seems utterly ludicrous - to harp back to a very early game and some greenery this season. Regardless, I shall enjoy the creative flow that will allow me to describe what was, in the end, a rather docile, unimaginative and quite frankly, not very entertaining game of hockey, albeit a very important game for both teams.
A relatively anti-social meet time, on a Sunday, beckoned for Surbiton M2s, away against Canterbury 1s. A once powerhouse of English hockey, Canterbury have found themselves in a relegation dog fight with Surbiton 2s and Havant 1s. Three points would have been huge for either team with Havant losing on Saturday. Surbiton have been fighting back from a tough start to the season, but now with a full complement of players in the squad, have picked up precious good points over the last few weeks to close the gap on their relegation rivals.
Scott Evans was late for his meet time with Captain Max Anderson and his merry men, more on Scott later, confusing comments and terrible tackles to come. The journey down was relatively long but pleasant until thick fog ensured visibility was only as long as Sam Geering’s spidery arms. Nick Nurse, sat in the back with Rorro, enjoying some matte, was anxious about whether the game could go ahead, in between sending emails to his 17,000 strong mailing list. Nursey did, however, produce a dominant display from the back, caressing passes forwards and stroking home a goal to make it 2-0. It must have been due to his uppers’ session yesterday morning.
To go back to the start, Surbiton opened the game well, some lovely passing moves but did encounter some pressure from Canterbury, only to go ahead after even more lovely passing moves and some attacking play, resulting in Josh Aynsley providing the finishing touch. He worked hard on the pitch defensively and in attacking plays the whole game. Josh was one of nine players who weren’t born when another member of the team had made some sort of debut at Canterbury, but I digress. The aforementioned uppers loving, email sending Nursey, made it 2-0 after 30 minutes, with Surbiton cruising. Canterbury had a few moments of possession in and around the Surbiton 25 but never penetrating through the experienced wall of Luke Taylor, Max Anderson, Toby Balls, Tom Cowling and Nick Nurse – most of the experience belonging to Luke as the others are still incredibly young! Until however, the aforementioned missing the meet time, Scott Evans, made a tackle that could only be described as late as his punctuality! We won’t go any further into the confusing comments about soap as it’s part of the reason why I’m typing this literary bombardment. This led to a penalty corner which wasn’t able to be kept out by the usually strong PCD unit. 2-1 after 34 minutes.
Half time came and went with the instructions from coaches Rodrigo Elias Levy Favier and Erica Sanders to keep things simple and adhere to all the astute comments made by the individual lines, a sign of cohesion that has grown throughout the season. James Baker provided excellent substitutional guidance as manager in Rory Hogan’s absence. It did take some teamwork from the coaching team to notice that Jack Hobkirk had taken Captain Max’s stick when trying to re-enter the field of play, however!
Nevertheless, the second half didn’t start as planned with Canterbury earning a PC almost immediately. Different personnel on the pitch meant Mr. Uppers luckily saw the direct flick fly wide of his post. A tight few minutes ensued, with Canterbury holding firm at halfway but managing to play a debilitating type of hockey and earnt them some forays into the Surbiton circle, forcing three saves. Status quo remained at the end of Q3 but Luke Taylor, soon into Q4, put the finishing touch onto the game. A delightfully powerful PC flicked between keeper and post man saw Surbiton take a 3-1 lead which ultimately saw Surbiton earn all three points.
Owen Barnes ran nonstop, Ben Park ran the fastest and the most he has in a very long time - the tubi-grip may need to stay on for the whole week in a desperate attempt at recovery, Tom Hebert was solid and electrically fast whenever he was on the pitch, Ben Hanson was a menace upfront along with Taheem. Scott Evans was also a menace in midfield, making numerous other clean tackles, incorrectly called by the umpires and as much running as Owen, Faz provided baking delicacies, which Hanson ate most of, and bossed the midfield again, while the previously mentioned spidery arms Sam Geering was calm and cool winning back possession in tricky areas and deserves a mention because he chose to drive down on his own, without offering any lifts…!
A necessary and solid performance all-round at a great club and tough away fixture. The pie, spuds and veg was a great post-match tea. Hopefully, Canterbury, if they do go down, can rebuild to their once former Premier League glory.
Surbiton march on in search of security and safety, with three games to left. All to play for.
POM: Nick Nurse
DOD: Ben Hanson and yours truly