Men's 1XI vs Fareham 4

The last time the 1’s played at Henry Cort School back in March 2024 we got absolutely drenched in a hailstorm of biblical proportions and suffered a loss which impacted on our push for promotion. This time, despite the threat of thunderstorms, the weather was sunny and rather warm.

A change of the guard for this season saw TOM WATSON take over from BRYN WEBBER as captain.

We came out of the blocks at an incredible pace and I was concerned as to whether we could keep it up. Penalty corners were won after 5, 6, and 8 minutes. A fourth followed on 10 minutes which, after a bit of shuffling the ball around, was slotted away by WILL ANDREWS.

That goal seemed to hit Fareham hard and gave us the incentive to continuing pressing hard despite the high humidity. The result of our continued pressure was three field goals in a five minute spell. BENEDICT RIGBY (13 mins), THEO STACEY (15 mins) and WILL ANDREWS (18 mins).

Plenty of changes using our one sub ensured that the front four were able to keep testing the Fareham defence (or should I say wear them down. We ended the first half with a slightly surprising 4-0 lead.

Not long into the second half JACK HAYS upset the umpire by knocking a ball away and earned himself a green card in the process. After that we continued to attack when we could and seek to counter Fareham’s efforts to score. The rest of the game seemed a bit of an anti climax compared to the first twenty minutes. NATHAN (NOBBY):O’BRIEN though was delighted with a clean sheet.

David Rigby, Team Manager