BDHC versus Havering

Yet again, Bourne Deeping 1st XI found themselves travelling to a beatable opponent with just eleven men when they journeyed south to face an in-form Havering on Saturday.
Despite this disadvantage, the away side stuck to their game plan and worked hard to maintain their half-court press. Havering moved the ball around well without really making Bourne Deeping defenders move and thus failing to tire their opponents. Their freshness and numerical advantage - a squad of fourteen - did eventually tell and they scored two well-taken but slightly lucky goals before Will Cook, often isolated up top, found some space in the Havering D and held off two defenders to squeeze a shot into the bottom right-hand corner.
2-1 and a glimmer of hope, extinguished on the stroke of half-time when Havering reacted fastest to the second phase of a short corner to squeeze a shot in from a tight angle.
The second half was far more one-sided as Havering took charge and added a further five goals, some very well-worked but some simply fortuitous with the ball falling favourably for them after good tackles or strong saves.
Bourne Deeping did muster two more goals in response, Oscar Morley skilfully tipping in a bouncing ball at the left post and Joe Youngs deflecting a slick short corner into the net at the same post, but it was nowhere near enough against a strong, if frequently unsporting and unpleasant, opponent.