Perfect nine for the 2s

Whitley Bay made the journey over to civilisation to attempt to derail the 2XI assault on the north prem league title. Mulford’s men were keen to maintain their 100% record but knew they were in for a tough afternoon against a traditionally tough opponent. Owing to a number of injuries several players were playing out of position, vice vice captain Prentice was up for the challenge, the challenge being how he was going to pass predominantly backwards when playing at full back...

The game started at a sedate pace with the visitors looking to contain the league leaders and prevent Brooklands from playing the free flowing attacking brand of hockey we’ve seen on YouTube once. Too often patience bordered on placidity and the home team struggled to impose their dominance on the opposition. When the team finally started to go through the gears a quick break was rewarded with a short corner and Joe Hillyer showed his big game mentality by thundering a drag flick into the bottom corner. 1-0. Although in control of the game, the visitors maintained a threat on the counter, and indeed some lax marking allowed the opposition skipper to turn and rifle the ball into the top corner past Robbie, who was deputising due to Jacob being sat at home still trying to get over his brutal comeback takedown of Steve Murray last weekend.

The game looked like being locked at 1-1 at half time until Brin stepped up and injected some much needed quality into the match. Picking up the ball on the edge of the opposition D, the Saffer turned and drilled the ball into the far corner off his reverse stick giving the keeper no chance. We hadn’t seen such a display of devastating shooting prowess since the Oscar Pristorius trial. 2-1 at half time.

Despite Jimmy stating how much he was enjoying the match, everyone else felt there was more to come and set about the second half with a steely determination to actually trap the ball and find a colleague with a stick to stick pass. Sure enough, another good break saw the award of short corner and Poots stepped up to dispatch the ball straight down the middle of the goal under the keeper. Rowan was delighted as he has shown again and again in training that this particular drag is very effective, so to bring it out on match day was very satisfying. 3-1.

Despite being two goals down, Whitley Bay continued to look dangerous on the break and scored their second goal when the ball somehow found its way past several sticks to the penalty spot and the opposition midfielder gobbled up chance. 3-2 and the game was in the balance. The usually unflappable vice vice captain Prentice was showing signs of angst and took it upon himself to utilise his blistering pace and show why he’s almost certain to add to his four national league caps in the not too distant future. The Ritual boys (AG and JC) had a spell of only passing to themselves for a while, but eventually let Dr ‘go go gadget’ Watton have the ball and he mazed his way into the D before finding captain Trigger who turned like a cross channel ferry and dispatched the ball into the goal. 4-2 and the game was settled.

With a couple of minutes remaining there was still time for Kev to wave at another ball which came whizzing by him in the D, much to the disappointment of his supporters on the side who some of the team were keen to meet after the match. With the final play of the game Brooklands were awarded yet another short corner, a slick routine enabled 4 caps Prentice to roll the ball under the keeper via a helping hand from one of the defenders. 5-2 and the 100% record remains in tact. The team will continue to look over our shoulders and prepare for another local derby against Alderley Edge next week, only without Coach Mulford who has been rewarded for his success with Brooklands 2XI with a call up to the GB squad for their trip to India. Working with hockey’s elite is nothing new to Peter as he gets to work with some of the finest athletes in our sport on a weekly basis. And Steve Murray.