Won 4-3
Scorers: Bean x2 , Laslett, Rasmussen
MoM: Degiovanni
DoD: Carney
Late Drama at the Fortress!
After a 3-3 draw the previous week, the green and white were back at Polo for one final time before the winter break as they faced Brighton in what was set to be a thrilling encounter.
The day started with the juniors section having mini interclub tournaments for Presidents Day in the rain, but as that came to a close the sky opened up and rays of sunshine blessed Fortress Polo.
Looking to keep the pressure up on the top of the table, the boys knew they had to come out of the game all 3 points to do so. Canterbury lost J. Prebble in their warm up after an unfortunate injury and were down to 14 which was not the start that they were looking for, but got their heads down and put in the extra work.
After dominating the play for the 1st quarter local hero A. Laslett deflected from the top of the D into the bottom corner to send the home side 1-0 up right before the whistle. Canterbury kept the pressure on in the second quarter but failed to take their chances, until A. Rasmussen nicked the ball in the opponents D and slotted a backhand through the goalie’s legs on the 29th minute. Soon after Brighton converted from a penalty corner which ended the 1st Half 2-1 to the good guys.
The second half proved the be another tight encounter as Canterbury struggled to take advantage of numerous chances until T. Bean slotted a penalty corner into the net giving the home side some breathing space in the 50th minute. Yet again Brighton got an opportunity and brought the game back to 3-2. With the home team pushing to get another goal in the final quarter to put the game to bed, they were caught on the counter and conceded a penalty corner which saw Brighton level the score with a minute to spare.
With another draw looming over the Canterbury side, a quick restart resulted in Rasmussen winning a penalty corner on the final whistle. With another do or die situation for the boys, (Reading at Home was the vibe that was going round) T. Bean got his second of the day as he flicked high to his left which ended up in the roof of the net giving Canterbury all 3 points in a seven goal thriller.
Thank you for all those that came up to watch in what was another successful Presidents Day. We would also like to thank The Hockey Paper for coming down and giving club hockey a spotlight and the rest of the UK an insight into what Canterbury HC really is.
See you next week in Bristol for our final game before the winter break.
Squad: C. Rea, M. Carney, M. Puzey, T. Richford. B. Young, C. Boyne, T. Degiovanni, J. Tritton, T. Bean. H. Roberts, A. Laslett, J. Prebble, A. Rasmussen, J. Valentine, C. Brown-Lea
