Slazengers latest match against strong opponents Lincoln was a tough, feisty encounter, with both sides keen to win. After a fairly even opening 10 minutes Slazengers did start to gain the upper hand with Jack Mumford and Rob Whawell working hard in midfield to close the opposition down and deny them time on the ball.
Slazengers created several scoring chances but failed to capitalise on these opportunities. So it was particularly frustrating when collective poor defending resulted in Lincoln taking the lead from an innocuous looking attack.
Fortunately Slazengers maintained their composure and it wasn’t long before winger Ian Hedges well executed reverse stick shot was tapped in by captain Byron Dean for the equaliser. Once again Slazengers continued to press without success and once again, against the run of play Lincoln took the lead.
After a bit of reorganisation in the team shape, Slazengers went about looking for an equaliser. Simon Taylor caused chaos down the right flank when time and again he powered his way into the opposition penalty area setting up some great chances for Slazengers to score. The equaliser finally came when Luke Gueli dragged a low flick into the bottom left hand corner, from a penalty corner.
It was time for deja vu once again when Lincoln were allowed to retake the lead after yet more defensive mistakes.
It wasn’t until the final quarter of the match that the Horbury team finally got the game by the scruff of the neck. First Jack Mumford’s well drilled shot found the back of the net. Then Mark Kitchen gave the home side the lead for the first time, from another converted penalty corner. Finally Luke Gueli sealed the points with his second of the day after some intricate passing at a good fast tempo allowed him to slip the ball under the diving keeper. He was unlucky not to get his hat-trick when after another good passing move, he was through on goal and his shot smashed into the keepers helmet, The keeper didn’t know too much about it as the power of the shot nearly lifted the helmet off his head.
Final score was a hard fought 5-3 against traditionally tough opponents.
