Mens 3 Vs March Town 2

We arrived at March having struggled all week to put 11 players together and just managed this on the night before the match. The importance of getting 11 together was made that more urgent with March informing us on Thursday that they were going to be doubling up 4 players from their 1st team.

Now, before I go onto the match report, let me say that although what March did with doubling up their 1st team players on Saturday appears to be within the rules (just!), it does make a mockery of league positions and the sense of fair play. I appreciate the league want to get as many players getting out to play hockey as possible, but surely this cannot be at the detriment of players wanting a level playing field to go out and play their matches? Yes, many players want to go out and simply enjoy the game, but a very large number actually want to do well and win as many games as possible too. It is a competitive sport after all and a growing number of us are concerned about the element of fairness that exists within the existing league rules. This is something that we will be raising as a club and proposals will be put forward to the league, hopefully with the support of other clubs, who are equally unhappy with these rules and or have been exposed to this situation themselves before.

I just hope that fair play now prevails and that March don't try and postpone the reverse fixture later this season and replay the game on a different date and bring in 1st teamers...again. 

I should also give credit where it is due and state that the lady umpire (Marie?) on Saturday had a very good and efficient performance on Saturday. One of the best umpiring performances we have seen this season.

On to the game. The 1st half fell into a usual pattern when the 3rds are playing against good players - be organised at the back, lots of support for each other and hitting quickly on the break. 10 minutes into the game and it was already 1-1, March scoring after around 8 or so minutes and Paul Ray replying almost immediately afterwards through a well worked goal with Adam and himself - a combination which worked really well all afternoon.

March were a bit rocked by this. Their 1st team players in central midfield and attack were probably expecting an easier game and their attempts to cut through our organised lines were largely unsuccessful, to the extent that their passing had to be pinpoint accurate and their movement top notch. The  back line of the 3 Chris' and Steve were snuffing out danger for the most part superbly. On the 3 further occasions March managed to break through in the 1st half, Simon stood firm with 3 excellent reflex saves, 2 down to his left and 1 to down to his right.

During this time, we were also making it crystal clear to the March team that they were not going to get all their own way. We had further very clear breakaway chances and overall the chances being created were pretty even. After 22 mins, Adam scored a great breakaway goal, with further good work by Paul and Will and with Adam lifting the ball calmly over the keeper. 2-1. This clearly started to create a bit more panic amongst the March team and they knew full well that if their passing was even the slightest bit off, they could be punished by St Neots. Saints had a further very clear breakaway chance towards the end of the 1st half with Adam and Mark almost breaking through, just to be thwarted by the younger 1st team legs who had got back just in time to save their flagging defence. We also had 2 short corners 1st half, but unfortunately both came to nothing.

So onto the 2nd half. One of the March 1st teamers in their midfield decided enough was enough and within 5 2nd half minutes, he scored 2 standout individual goals, going past 3-4 players each time to shoot past Simon. I've not known a single player in this league or even perhaps league 4 to do this and when I talk about uneven playing fields and a sense of fairness, this is what I mean. That sort of thing simply doesn't happen in this league, especially against experienced St Neots players who know a thing or 2 about tackling. On reflection it felt a bit like Maradona scoring 2 goals in quick succession vs England at Mexico 86, although of course there wasn't a handball involved this time.

There was a player in the Louth team earlier this season who had an extremely quick turn of pace and I couldn't keep pace with him, which in this league is, believe it or not, not all that usual! This Louth player however never went past half our team en route to goal. The March player had perhaps an even quicker turn of pace and waltzed past many of our team en route to scoring the 2 superb individual goals.

We were still in the game though. 3-2 with 20 mins left, what could we do? We tried, we tried hard, we had some good ball in and around their D and both Nathan and Will had a couple of shots their keeper saved but it all came to nothing as a minute or so before the end, the young March left sided midfielder managed to flick it into the goal after Simon and Chris B had worked to keep out the initial effort. By that time I had got back to the goal line but I couldn't keep it out. I didn't even see the goal go in and I initially thought it had gone wide - I'll blame that on the floodlights.

A huge shout out to the team today  - we all played really well, there wasn't much wrong with our team performance against a team who had a good portion of a side flying high in league 3. Our team shape was again excellent and Olly Colbert came in and did a really good job down the left. Frankly, we have played worse and won this season.

Man of the Match goes to Adam for his great work leading the line all day, giving the March defence kittens.

No Dick of the Day today, especially given the sour taste left in the mouth after a game with a strong sense of unfairness about it. One final point. March had a 12th player on the sidelines who wanted to come on at half time, but of course was not allowed. I don't know if this was a 2nd team player or a 1st team player, but either way, a question should be asked here.