After a bitter defeat 2 weeks ago and the game cancelled due to the weather last week Slazenger men’s 2nd team were hoping to get back to winning ways with a home game against Lincoln Roses 3s.It was a close match with end-to-end hockey which saw slaz win 3-2. From the start you could tell it was going to be a close match with both teams set out for the win. It was slaz who created most of the chances in the first quarter of an hour but were soon under pressure when they went down to 10 men through injury to Eddie Taylor. With slaz forced to rearrange their formation Lincoln capitalised and scored from a counter attack with a scrappy finish in the slaz D. Slaz were soon level with a goal scored from a short corner, the ball came out to Anwar Al-Khaili who passed it off to Byron Dean who crossed to ball for man of the match Matt Green to score his first of the match. Surprisingly with slaz still down to 10 men they managed to take the lead through a well-worked team goal.
Byron Dean started the attack with a run down the right wing and passed the ball Anwar Al-Khaili who passed the ball through Lincolns defence to Simon Randall who took the ball round the keeper and finished with a well-struck shot from a tight angle. To Boost Slazenger’s confidence they were soon back to 11 men on the pitch with Andy Fisher offering his services. Lincoln were soon level from a strong attacking run down their left with a pass across the top of the D and was finished with an unstoppable shot. With the scores level and half time approaching both teams were pushing for the next goal. Lincoln were forced to finish the half with 10 men when a player was given a yellow card for a repeat offence and had to leave the pitch.
From the restart both teams were pushing to take the lead, which created end-to-end hockey. Anwar Al-Khaili and Steve Roberts teamed up well and between them controlled the midfield with none stop running. With twenty minutes to go the match seemed to be heading for a draw, slaz were boosted by latecomer Matt Banks who was subbed on and made an immediate impact.
For the last ten minutes Slaz were camped in the Lincoln half and were aided by the waterlogged pitch, which made it hard for Lincoln to clear the ball. Slaz were creating chance after chance but it seemed Lincoln were going to hold on to the draw until slaz were awarded a short corner in the second to last minute. The ball came out to Matt Banks who passed it to Byron Dean on the right who crossed the ball into Matt Green who put it past the keeper for his second of the match. There was not enough time for Lincoln to get an equaliser and slaz took all 3 points.
Next week Slazengers have a double header with an away match on Saturday to League champion contenders University of Leeds 6s and a home match on Sunday against bottom of the table Lincoln 3s.
From match played at Slazenger hockey Club on 26th February 2011
