Won 6-0
Scorers: B. Lawford, S. Hurlow, R. Upton, W. Hanys, O. Neal (2)
MoM: Reef Upton
With thanks to team sponsor MMil http://www.batchelorcoop.co.uk
Eagle-eyed followers of the Batchelor-Coop Millers will have noted the absence of a match report last week, following a feisty encounter with local rivals Ashford. Unfortunately, strict publishing guidelines from England Hockey meant that the report had to be so heavily redacted that only the score remained printable.
However, this week saw the Millers back on terra firma taking on Tunbridge Wells on the Polo Farm show pitch, at prime-time. A display worthy of this ‘headline slot’ duly ensued. The home-side dominated proceedings and Ben Lawford opened the scoring, fifteen minutes in, following a lovely assist from Will Hanys. 1-0. When skipper Sharratt deployed a trademark ‘Exocet-strength’ cross into the D, Ollie Neal added the deftest of back-hand touches, to deflect past the keeper. 2-0.
Half-time cliches came and went.
Early in the second, Will Hanys made a lovely solo run into the D and finished off with a nice reverse-stick effort, from a narrow angle. 3-0. Influential Anglo-Brazilian midfielder, Hurlowdinio, added a fourth when he applied a judicious touch to deflect Reef’s (goal-bound) penalty-corner drag-flick into a slightly different part of the net than everyone had expected. 4-0. Not to be denied his place on the score sheet Reef drag-flicked a fifth from the next corner. 5-0.
The final goal came when the effervescent Neil Barnes intercepted a pass around the back of defence and rolled on into the D. He generously put the ball back to perennial jug-avoider Ollie Neal, lurking on the P-spot, for a ‘shoe-in’ sixth. 6-0. A good performance worthy of such an auspicious stage, particularly from the younger team members of Connor, Reef and Will. Thanks go to Chris and George for umpiring.
Finally, the world-class Sharratt stables are fielding a number of thoroughbreds at the CHC Race Night this Friday (13th) at 7pm. With such a stellar line-up be sure to book early (via Teamo) to avoid disappointment: tickets may not be around ‘Furlong’…