Won 1-0
Scorers: John Aikin
MoM: Chris Hendy with one spectator saying “what fast legs” he has!
DoD: Alex Ricketts for forgetting how Teamo works.
With thanks to team sponsor MFri
Well we turned up 20 minutes before PB to be faced with a second in the league table team with an average age half that of the Friars that had been there for 45 minutes doing their moves with a blaring boogie box. Are these really our opponents we wondered, had we got the right pitch? Some of our lags who shall not be named had been on the juice the night before so the omens were not good.
However ye of faint hearts…..we started well and surprisingly were competing. Trigger had already earnt this match fee 10 minutes in but our demographically balanced midfield of old Hendy, mid age Merve the Swerve and young Cook were taking the battle to the opposition.
John Boy was already into his hit, swing and mainly miss routine however he brilliantly latched onto a pass from Will Cook that saw him back flip (as usual!) the ball and open the scoring (his 1 in 12 scoring shot!) – wow this both surprised (esp. Trigger!) and encouraged us to keep playing some decent hockey.
A half time talk from a bevy of wizened hockey heads, Guy (Dowling), John Mayhem and Simon Triggs ensued – almost too much info.
Armed with this top class input Friars upped their game further. Bert Andrews on the left wing was scrapping hard and his speed was causing Sittingbourne problems. Jammer Harris was puffing a bit but he works! We even managed to get some short corners served up on a plate for Cllr Alex but it was Will Cook who got the ball in the net only for the whistle to go for a PC (not enough advantage played-ed). However Sittingbourne sensed the game was getting away from them and put huge pressure on the Friars defence with Geoff Philpott especially dominant and Hendy running his socks off!
The last 10 minutes saw the Friars on the front foot again and there were opportunities for a couple of goals but these went wide.
An excellent win – the best performance of the season from the Friars with everyone working flat out as a team.
Many thanks to Phil and Tony Schweitzer for umpiring
Squad: John Aikin, Bert Andrews, Mike Barton, Will Cook, Jamie Harris, Geordie Hayward, Chris Hendy, Tony Jones (C), Mervyn Lewis, John Maylam, Tim Lewis, Geoff Philpott, Alex Ricketts, Simon Triggs (GK), Manager: Guy Dowling
