Drew 1-1
Scorers: Ollie Neal
MoM: Chris Upton
With thanks to team sponsor MMil http://www.batchelorcoop.co.uk
The Batchelor Coop Millers, entertained top of the league, undefeated Marden this week. The visitors, having brought their own coach/ manager, were perhaps hoping to win the pre-match psychological edge; pitching their ‘professional and considered’ approach against Sharratt’s ‘back of a beer-mat’ philosophy.
The return of ‘whispering’ Ben Lawford into their ranks was a positive boost, but despite this ‘boomerang’ signing, the Millers (predictably) needed to weather a storm in the first few minutes of the game: popular opinion later held that this was merely an elaborate ruse (oft employed) to lure their opponents into a false sense of security.
As the half wore on, the home side were creating the better chances and forcing Marden to resort to ‘aerial bombardment’ in order to clear their defensive lines. Having lost the toss though, the Millers were playing into low, bright sunshine and it was somewhat inevitable, that one of these long-range projectiles managed to sneak through the ‘high’ defensive line to leave Marden with a two-on-one with poor Oly in goal. An outnumbered Oly reacted well but there was little he could do to stop a temporary advantage going to Marden.
Marden came out of the half-time break well and it was only an exceptional triple-save from Triggs the younger that kept the scoreline creditable. This seemingly buoyed the Millers and, in homage to the start of the Six Nations, they employed what appeared to be a driving maul in the Marden D. The equalising goal was credited to Ollie Neal, although later reports suggested that a Marden defender had simply been driven back over the goalline as Canterbury leveraged their superior pack weight
With the score level, both sides went all-out to find the winner. Ollie, Ben and Thomas all came very close but the visiting keeper managed to deny them, with a series of ‘last-gasp’ saves and thus it remained one apiece at the final whistle.
Our thanks to Hursty and Stu for officiating.