Mid Sussex 2 - 4 KAHC

So, game four of the post-Christmas programme and the squad was shorn of 5 players though injury, holiday and other social engagements. Luckily, in the absence of the captain and vice-captain, your correespndent stepped up to the plate to deliver a slick, seamless logisitcal performance, the only black mark being one of the students being waylaid by an errant tube. Notwithstanding the minor blemish, the squad rumbled serenely into St Paul's Catholic School, Burgess Hill, complete and admirably early.

The pre-match formalities dealt with, the team was clearly up for the challenge of keeping pressure on league leaders, Herne Bay. The emphasis was very much on focusing on the passing game which has served us well and lead to the team playing some of their best hockey. The platform provided by a composed defensive unit was impressively solid, personifed in the exceptional versatility of stand-in skipper Parnell, imperious throughout. Mid Sussex can be a useful side and this match was no exception, though they didn't seem to want to do more in the first half than sit back and soak up pressure.

Eventually that pressure told with the Old Boys engineering a short-corner which, while not the slickest, was suitably despatched at the second attempt by one of the lads. However, rather than settling into a sensible rythym and looking to play the ball around and dominate the game, an aire of lazy complacency seaped into the play which allowed Middies to creep back into a game they had no right to compete in. Unfortunately, the desire to play cock-out hockey can prove too strong to resist and so it was that the Old Boys coughed up possession in midfield leading to a mad-scrambled concession of a short-corner. In fairness to Middies, a well worked routine back to the injector was clinically put away. Not even Parnell, putting body on the line, could do anything about that.

1-1 after 20 minutes was slightly disappointing given the dominance shown by KAHC. However, CP was increasingly able to exert influence on the game and soon control was re-established, leading to further excellent chances and cumlinating in another penatly corner opportunity. The call came from the skipper to do a slip-left, having spotted a gaping hole on that side left by their defence, and the lead was re-established albeit in moderately controversial circumstances. The goalscorer had cunningly lifted the shot slightly, maybe an inch or two off the ground, and it clipped something (defender's foot, keeper's pad?) and was diverted into the webbing. Umpires: no doubts. KAHC: no doubts. Mid Sussex, the keeper in particular: furious! 2-1 at half time was a fairish reflection, though with 75% possession and maybe 8 decent chances (incl goals scored), KAHC could have been slightly disappointed with the return at that point.

The Churchillian talk at half-time from the skipper, clearly absorbed by the entire team, had some impact in that we set out our stall to play for time, stroke the ball around and hit them on the counter-attack. They did try to put greater pressure on our defence though this inevitably created vast open tracts behind the press for the KAHC forwards to gambol into. The result was the game became quite loose and Middies made a decent fist of trying to get back into the game. Mercifully for the Old Boys, Parnell was absolutely inspired in defence, making slick tackles, timely interceptions and calmly mopping up whatever the opposition could throw at him. The finest example of this was the third goal - the Middies' play-maker was allowed to ghost into the top of the D and unleashed a fearsome shot. However, there was the skipper to heroically take the shot on the run. He duly rounded two desperate tackles, reminiscent of Phil Bennett at the Arms' Park for the '73 Ba-Bas (one side-step, two), and calmly cantered out of defence, delivering the ball to a deep-lying (backtracking?!?) forward who set off to combine with two of his chums before finishing off the sweeping counter-attack. 3-1 Old Boys and surely, game over!

Once again though we seemed hell bent on making things difficult for ourselves and Middies manfully set up a series of attacks on the back of loose play from KAHC. A couple of short corners almost ended in disaster when the ball was cleared off the line by one of the other defenders. They were convinced that he had applied one of his size 12s to the ball in the process and appealed bitterly for s atroke. KAHC were unmoved and neither were the umpires. This did little for their ire, nor did the non-awarding of a further shorty minutes later. Fury ensued, leading to the umpire being told to F*** Off and yellow being wafted at the Middies no. 6. Moments later, a further decision went against them, a quick break ensued and a 4th was scored to finish the game once and for all. Even after this further chances went begging but Middies were determined to keep us honest and some awful work from forwards and midfield allowed a 70 yard ball to sneak though and their centre midfield, left totally unmarked by the marking centre back (who was cavorting up the pitch totally out of position). Parnell desperately sprinted back to save the day but was just thwarted and the ball was fairly rifled into the backboard past a stranded keeper.

All in all a fair performance by the team with 3 points won in a potentially tricky encounter away from home. Consequently second place retained and with Folkestone only managing a draw, a superb opportunity next weekend to keep momentum going and strike at the heart of their own promotion hopes. The real highlight was the Bobby Moore-esque performance from KAHC's own no. 6, Charlie Parnell, who had the sort of afternoon mere mortals can only dream of. In fairness, the only mistake he made was to stay in Sussex to visit an old friend, thus ensuring he was unable to influence things further on the return journey. In what can only be described as a miscarriage of justice to the same scale as Derek Bentley, the Guildford Four and Barry George, a Man of the Season performance was rewarded with a D*** of the Day gong - remarkable given the number of other incidents worthy of the title.

Worth a Mention - S Wilson missing the train, S Wilson failing to turn up with correct kit, A Buckle missing (another) open goal, J Rattay for failing to mark back leading to their second goal (having spent the previous 20 minutes eschewing the chance to step up citing the need for a rest, though why is unclear), O Parmenter for giving the ball away horrifically for their first goal, C Ryder's size 12s, the curious umpiring, the rare (but very welcome) appearance of the lesser spotted P Riley, the dereliction of duty by the captain and vice-captain, the quality of the pre-booked waiting minbuses at Burgess Hil station, J Milsted, S Wilsonn and C Ryder's pre-match tactical chalk board, E Fuller's marathon warm up, O Bell's ball roling game (no readers, this is not his party trick), O Parmenter's pikey 30p doughnuts, former King's Old Boy Colin Foad playing for the oppo, the unbridled rage of their team generally in the face of some fairly rum umpiring, D Selvon's pass to O Bell in the dying moments which was nothing short of exquisite, P Nash's headgear (and generally fine performance), the slipperiness of the pitch (everyone fell over at least once!), C Ryder and A Buckle both continuing their impressive scoring run of now strecthing to 3 consecutive games each, the much improved interlinking between forwards and midfield (including greater selflessness by the forwards), E Fuller getting pinged repeatedly for dribbling.

Team: Ellender O, Nash P, Rattay J, Parnell C*, Ryder C, Riley P, Parmenter O, Milsted J, Selvon D, Bell O, Fuller E, Wilson S, Buckle A.

MoM: Ryder C (match saving clearance)

DoD: Parnell C (miscarriage of justice, mistaken identity, peer group envy)

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