Hockey v Dover College and St Lawrence College

Date: Saturday 30 January 2010

The 1st Xl won their second match of the season beating Dover College 4-2 on Thursday afternoon. Missing their captain Ben Pape through an exam, the team started cautiously, but went 1 nil up through Nathan Deeble, following Rafi Stone's quick free hit to Jonathan Clarke who played a nice through ball to Deeble. However, St Edmund's were a little casual at times and allowed Dover to score a breakaway equaliser. St Edmund's then started to exert greater pressure and managed to go into half-time 2-1 up following Deeble's neat reverse hit in when the ball was bouncing in the Dover D. However early in the second half, Dover equalised again and this prompted a much needed improvement from the home side. With lots of possession it needed some more clinical final passing to break the Dover defence, and with 12 minutes to go a good move down the right saw the ball crossed to the far post where Declan Connor finished coolly with a nice lift over the advancing keeper. St Edmund's secured the victory with a goal from Jonathan Clarke just before the end. Overall, it was a decent performance; however better use of the ball and tighter defending will be required when the team face St Lawrence on Saturday.

After school the Under 14s played their third match of the season against St Lawrence College. The team started poorly, with some late arrivals meaning there was little time for a warm-up. St Lawrence started brightly and caught the home side napping with two quick goals. St Edmund's fought back and although they created chances through Tickridge and Glynn-Williams, the front 3 of Draper, Gibbons and Green could not convert when given the opportunity. With the score at 2-0, St Edmund's had it all to do in the second half. However, they came out strongly and started to produce a much better perrformance. The switching of left-wing Draper to centre-forward provided some much needed strength and power up front. St Edmund's dominated the second half producing many chances; however they only converted one with 10 minutes to go - nice play from George Gibbons provided Steven Draper with the opportunity to round the keeper, which he did successfully. St Edmund's continued to create chances, but in the end they could not find the equaliser their dominant play deserved, leaving the final score at 2-1 to St Lawrence.

Thanks again to Mr Middleton for such detailed analyses of two closely contested matches.