An early evening match for the Slazenger 5ths saw the floodlights light up the Horbury sky as they battled against Doncaster. The back four of Dave Smith, Danny Croxall, Matthew Chilton and Adam Drake held the line well protecting Harry Buttery in goal. They were tested throughout the first half with penetrating runs from the wings and through the centre, however Danny Croxall was tenacious and recovered the ball several times when the Slaz team were dispossessed.
Geoff Birkett and Harry Gunning held the centre of the park with George Fealy and Elliot Golding using the wings and making some telling runs. Disaster struck early as Slaz weren’t up to combating a swift counter attack from Donnie. Matthew Chilton and Owen Bland both played well for such young debutants but the agility and dribbling skill of their centre caught Slaz on the hop and they were soon ruing a one goal deficit.
Spurred on by Geoff the team regained their composure and pressed home 2 to 3 good attacks. The final move of another George Fealy foray up front saw a ball desperately scrambled in front of goal but it landed in front of the team’s talisman scorer Peter Gunning who swept in his sixth goal of the season past a decent Donnie keeper. Slaz had to absorb sustained pressure for the last 5 minutes but held out to regroup at the half time interval.
An even start for both teams in the second half saw an almost tennis match type of game with the hockey moving from attack to counter attack but finally saw the young mercurial red headed Donnie player slot home another telling goal.
A sustained period of attack from Slaz saw Ben and Adam push forward and wave after wave of attacks bore fruit as Peter Gunning telegraphed a goal home from a telling pass off Adam Drake and through his brother Harry to make honours even.
Slaz weren’t finished there though an intense barrage of shots from both Gunnings, Fealy and Golding were fruitless but showed the tenacity and spirit of the team.
A well deserved draw against a Doncaster side who beat Slaz in their last meeting showed what this team can do.
