Drew 1-1
Scorers: Geordie Hayward
MoM: Tim Lewis – son
DoD: Merv Lewis – dad
With thanks to team sponsor MFri
With tactics to the fore The Friars started off with their Kitchen Cabinet on the bench (see rare pic). This was to lull the opposition into thinking they were going to get bench-bombed with our elite a la Rugby. However things went pear-shaped & as soon as all 3 came on (av age 74) after 20 minutes or so Old Willies saw their opportunity & scored. Bit obvious really when you think about it!
Apart from Bert Andrews patrolling the right wing energetically & Jamie Harris reliable in defence it was an inauspicious first half for the Friars with some poor passing and we were lucky not to go further down but Trigger as usual saved our bacon despite Bert getting a somewhat harsh green card which he took with good grace.
After the usual top level strategic talk at half time from Trigger & Mike B and a pearl of wisdom from manager Phil ‘The Owl’ Dowling the Friars started to play a bit better though passing to the opposition was still as ever an issue. Young Tim Lewis showed he could mix it physically and had a consistently good game.
After Lucas Codas-East had shot agonisingly wide at a penalty corner it looked like it might be another loss however The Scribbler somehow managed to find himself in the congested D with the ball and the keeper to beat. So thinking ….. “what would my partner in crime (John Boy Aikin) have done?” he lobbed it over the keeper catching a deflecting opposition stick on the way. Somewhat lucky but they all count.
A somewhat frenzied last 10 minutes saw the Friars concede 3 penalty corners including one a minute from time when Merv (for it is he) having run his socks off all game, couldn’t resist one last enthusiastic tackle and got the resultant greenie. Luckily for him and The Friars, Old Willies fluffed their opportunity and the final whistle blew and the game was won with a draw!
Thanks to Phil & Matt Ratcliffe for umpiring. A tough one next week but our 15 inch gun battleship returns for his first outing in 2026 so we shall see.
Squad: John Aikin, Bert Andrews, Mike Barton, Lucas Coda-East, Guy Dowling, Jamie Harris, Geordie Hayward, Chris Hendy, Brian Hurlow, Tony Jones (C), Merv Lewis, Tim Lewis, Geoff Philpott, Simon Triggs (GK)
