Lost 3-4
Scorers: B. Kelleher, M. Sabine, C. Lloyd Hughes
MoM: A. Fourie
DoD: A. Dunn
The first thing about Eastbourne is that as the crow flies it’s only about 47 miles from Canterbury but getting there is a lengthy process. On Saturday the journey was not helped by both rail workers and the M2 taking a day off, so if you’re going to make the effort to drive there for a game of hockey, you don’t want to leave empty handed.
The second thing is that it is a different proposition to playing at Polo Farm. Don’t get me wrong, Saffrons Sports Club is superior to many of the away venues we play at. For a start it has a pitch next to a clubhouse, which the teams playing are allowed to access at whatever time necessary. However, despite its plus points, it reminded us that we really are spoilt with our patch in East Kent.
And so it was that on a blustery Autumnal day the 2s just came up short against an industrious and enthusiastic home side. It wasn’t for lack of effort on Canterbury’s part, it just didn’t quite come together and the young side, containing seven season debutants, will learn from it and improve with every performance.
There were glimpses of what the promising second team squad can achieve and a more consistent performance would have seen them take the points.
After weathering early pressure Canterbury opened the scoring through the lively Blue Kelleher, Electric Blue. However, with the strong breeze behind them, Eastbourne found their way back into the game and a scrappy first half, dominated by errors and aerials rather than quality, saw the home side ahead 3-2; Michael Sabine scoring for Canterbury.
A more circumspect second period saw fewer chances and it wasn’t until late in the game that Eastbourne scored a fourth to give themselves some breathing space. Pressure in the final stages saw the deficit reduced to one when Charlie Lloyd Hughes scored a rebound from a penalty corner, but the equaliser eluded Canterbury and a disappointing narrow defeat meant four hours in the car and no league points.
Aidan Fourie was Canterbury’s man of the match, giving an energetic and relentless display in the middle of the pitch. It should be said that there are some good signs for this squad, but there are going to be some tough times and challenges this season. The true measure of this team will be how it deals with these moments – will they stand up and face it? Or will they be blown over? Maybe on this occasion it was the latter but it was very, very windy.