BOURNE DEEPING HC MEN 1ST XI VS COLCHESTER HC MEN 1

Again winning the toss and electing for the ball, the Dragons started the game well with possession and attacking evenly matched between the 2 sides. Early on the difference was with the visiting side as they were able to test the home keeper who was displaying some stunning form early on making some great acrobatic saves. At the other end the Bourne Deeping forwards were finding some space and having some joy until the other Glover followed the way of his brother in the last home game slipping at the crucial moment of striking the ball on the reverse. Fortunately he was able to resume and continued causing trouble in the Colchester D, winning a series of penalty corners. The Dragons drew first blood after a penalty corner strike from Richard Collins found the stick of Ben Slack to deflect the Dragons into the lead. The advantage was short lived though, as a penalty corner awarded at the home end managed to find its way into the goal after plenty of pinball action in the D. Going into half time the scores were level at one a piece.

In the second half the away side came out of the blocks looking to penetrate a determined Dragons defence. The breakthrough came for them when a hopeful crash into the circle from the 23 deflected off a stick onto the keeper’s pads and into the goal. Even though the ball was apparently played dangerously into the D and after one of the home side players admitting to the umpire it had came off the keeper, the goal was awarded as an own goal and the visitors were in front. After this the Colchester side then put everything they could between their goal and the hungry Dragons. Joy was found numerous times through some nifty stick work into the D but only penalty corners that were not converted into goals were the result. With minutes remaining the away side broke and after some scrabbling defending managed to emerge with a penalty corner. The resulting corner routine saw the ball played straight into the face of the defending runner, Phil Arnold, who felt the full force of the shot on his cheek. Fortunately for him he managed to escape after a trip to A&E confirmed no breaks with only some bruising as a remainder of his body on the line and commitment to the cause. The home side couldn’t find the equalizer and for the first time this season were defeated at home and endured back to back defeats.

Final score BDHC Men 1st XI 1 – 2 Colchester HC Men 1

The winner of this weeks silver wand was Captain Page for his superb goal keeping display throughout the game.

The wand of the week is shared by Nick Glover, for wearing a pair of slicks and looking like Bambi on ice throughout the game, and Ben Slack for his distinct lack of rules knowledge and talking the umpire into awarding the visitors winning goal.

Join the Dragons elite at the Arthur Mellows pitch again this week as the welcome league strugglers Ford, 12:30 push.