2nds leave it late to enforce dominance!

Saturday saw the visit of City of York HC to George's Road. With BMUHC 2s unbeaten in 2017 and their opponents registering five losses in the same spell, things looked promising for the red, white and blue going in to the game.

The first ten minutes were played at a very high pace, Brooklands applying a "full press", giving their opponents little space or time on the ball. A well worked chance down the left wing brought an excellent save from the visiting goalkeeper as Matt Lakin-Hall fed Steve Andrews who was unlucky not to notch up another for the season. More chances followed but the deadlock remained.

The remainder of the half went less smoothly for Brooklands as they allowed City of York to get in to the game. A long ball to their striker gave him the chance to show the team's newfound confidence with a sharp finish past VanBentum's near post. Half time, 0-1.

A rallying team talk from coach Mulford and captain Gilbody saw the men in white start the second half strongly. Controlling play from Vincent and Cuttle gave space for the half-backs to advance, whilst the hard work of midfielders Simpson and Prentice gave more opportunity for expansion further forward.

Chances came from short corners but the tension grew as none were converted. Errors continued and BMUHC went down to 10 men for periods with ill discipline and poor tackling. It took until the 56th minute when an excellent counter attack saw a leveller. Breaking down the left wing, Dudley played in Poots, who found Andrews on the baseline. A sharp pass back to Watton left a simple finish over the floundering goalkeeper. 1-1.

The Brooklands boys took spirit from the reply and finally began playing the kind of hockey which has seen them take 23 of their last 27 available points in the league. From the restart, excellent defence fro Virabi lead to another attack which resulted in a short corner. The familiar sound of the backboard rang in the ears of York as Poots slotted a dragflick in to the bottom right. Cue celebration from the players, bench and the team's lucky charm, Noah Lakin-Hall.

The final ten minutes continued to be end-to-end with yet more chances for both teams. Brooklands struck the upright but that didn't prove telling as they held out for a 2-1 win.

Sighs of relief at the full time whilst showed that the team knew they'd hadn't played to their best but had found yet another three points in a promising 2017. They face Beeston 2s tomorrow in the next round of the EHL Cup where they will surely have to be at their best in order for progression