Won 4-1
Scorers: John Aikin (2), Ashley Hooker (2)
MoM: Alex Ricketts
DoD: Alex Ricketts (for lobbying too hard to be MoM – rightly so – but wrong technique!)
FRIARS HOBBLE ON
To those many readers who enjoy our reports full of equal dollops of fact and fiction but who think they are a trifle long (eg a farmer, ex-CHC chairman and current Polo Exec member whose name we can’t publish for legal reasons) we’d also like to mention those who we know look forward to reading our reports by ensuring they time a work coffee break on the dot for 10.01am on a Tuesday when this report drops into those many inboxes – so….. just sayin’.
Having had his annual haircut Skipper Corporal Jones was AWOL treading the boards in the annual Ash Village Panto as Wishy Washy in Aladdin, the deputy skip Brian Hurlow took command with some fine managing of his many injured players all using the Friars as a repository, indeed sanatorium, to come back, ever so gently to hockey.
The usual service was resumed when our veritable goal machine John Aikin, though goaless last week, got his name up in lights with a 7th minute strike, and so the score remained until half time. Phil Dowling, back after a 4 year break for back pain, showed he hadn’t quite lost it or indeed his ball awareness, though his tackling was a little on the lazy side. Unfortunately the poor fella, looking very dapper, clean shaven and slim, then went and tweaked his hamstring so it might be 2027 before we see him again on a pitch. Still, his prescence always adds colour to a Friars day out. Someone else who is becoming more colourful by the game is yet another pillar of the Friars defence – Alex Ricketts (ex Southgate HC). He had a very good game and has taken to charging out at short corners emitting Braveheart sounding battle cries (as he told us he did at Southgate). Apparently this seemed to frighten Trigger in goal more than the oppo and was remarked about with amusement from some of the considerable number of supporters on the touchline.
Into the second half and Aikin, with metronomic regularity, scored again 7 minutes in. That was it for the day from him and he couldn’t stay afterwards to buy beers had he scored 3. Into the breach stepped Ashley Hooker using the Friars to come back to elite fitness after his agent Alex had gone stright to management the night before. This he did with 2 excellent goals and so both narrowly avoided DoD for their blatant jug avoidance.
Apart from this there was yet another youngster on adult debut – Rhys Jones – who showed great promise with darting runs up front along with young Louis Bennett in his second senior game. Trigger in goal was brilliant with 2 outstanding saves, and Ratty Ratcliffe in his own inimitable way quietly went about his job. Hayward came on in the second half (and another trying too early to come back from injury – but he is a busted flush these days apart from a few sprints down the right wing. Sir Geoff Philpott plays hockey like cricket and many was the hit out of defence that hit so hard was a 16 to the opposition as the Friars forwards couldn’t handle his power!
A very friendly game with Gillingham also bringing no less a full-time manager and quite a few supported. Thanks to noble Phil Sandy and evergreen Mike Macey for umpiring).