Worcester 2's strike back with a 0-0 draw against Bournville away

Bournville vs. Worcester KEGs 24th Oct 2015-10-27

On the back of a heavy defeat and poor performance Worcester 2nds needed to produce a much higher standard of hockey against a team they have traditionally struggled against in previous years. With the skipper laying down the law in the warm up on how the seconds need to play their hockey from now on it seemed to have the desired effect. From the first whistle Worcester took control of the ball and kept it for long periods moving it around the pitch before attacking the Bournville D. The first real chance came from an excellent passing move starting on the left and ending with debutant Oli Davis beating his man a finding Hooper on the top of the D the Bournville defence scrambled and made a well timed tackle just as the trigger was being pulled to deflect it wide.

Worcester continued to apply pressure and chances fell to Jeff Drake who was again denied with desperate last ditch tackle again to deflect it wide of the post. Both Ben Martin and Joe Hughes also found them in front of goal in a melee of players trying to get a shot away with no success. Bournville were able to escape this sustained pressure without conceding a goal to keep the score 0-0. Worcester playing a much better style of hockey with the ball being moved around the pitch via Hooper and Hughes both pulling the strings and reuniting a CM partnership which worked well but couldn’t manoeuvre a clear opportunity to take the lead.

Bournville then managed to get hold of the ball for short periods of time but did manage to create a couple of good chances, their biggest problem was beating the Worcester keeper who most of the time was stood at the top of the Worcester D orchestrating the midfield and defence into position and when called in to action had time to put his kit back on and swat away any form of shot bournville managed.

The 1st half ended 0 – 0 but with Worcester dominating the game.

The 2nd half started and as the game progressed it evened out to a much closer game with chances at both ends of the field but no goals coming from either team mainly due to a solid defensive display from both teams. James Neal, Chris Watling, Fin Stanley and Tom Allen taking care of most problems that the opposition threw at them and if that defensive line was broken Tom “the cat” Dalton was ready to pounce on any loose ball and did make 2 unbelievable double saves in quick succession to keep Worcester level.

As the legs tired Worcester went back to bad habits and started to invite pressure on to the defence but time and again Dalton was there to snuff out any hope of a Bournville goal. Even when Tom Allen had to put his body on the line and produce a fine tackle in the D to make the attacker swing and miss the ball…. actually he didn’t miss everything as Tom Allen’s stick took the brunt of the air shot and broke in to 2 pieces. Unbelievably the umpire shouted play on and with Allen dancing around the D with handle in one hand and the hook end in the other Worcester were still able to clear the danger and regroup thanks to another great reaction save from Dalton and James Neal. With the game halted so Tom Allen could change his stick luckily Sam Glass was on hand to offer Tom a selection of sticks and advice about the weight, size and amount of bow on offer this was like watching a Harry Potter picking his wand, after all the stick picks the player. After settling for the dragon heartstring, redwood mid bow gryphon normal service resumed

James Neal was then subject to a bit of gamesmanship as he made ground to receive the ball on the top of the Worcester D someone thought it would be funny to throw a banana skin under his feet which saw him fall flat and when he tried to recover and get up he slipped again and again AND AGAIN AND AGAIN. No one saw the banana skin and no one knows where it came from and when we looked for the evidence there was no sign. We can only assume that James slipped on it so many times he actually wore it away. No drama though as the ball just ran out of play. The game finished 0 – 0 and Bournville the happier with that result. But with a much improved Worcester performance plenty of positives to build on.

Man of the Match Tom Allen well done but how Tom Dalton didn’t win this honour this week is another mystery like James’ banana skin, another one that we will never know the answer to.

James Neal got a slightly different award for his Bambi impression and will be baking something for his team mates ready for the next game.