M4s 2 - 2 COWs Rustlers
A well fought draw up in Croydon as the M4s came within 2 minutes of securing a 'from behind' victory in our first league game of the season.
We had the better of the early stages with Hayden Griffin in goal, the skipper, Dave Houston, George Earle and Thomas Caine in defence, Josh Parr, Dave Smith, Simon MacDowall and Martyn Garvey in midfield and late addition Matt Harding and Riley Morrisroe upfront and it was a surprise when the Rustlers took the lead following some untidy defending.
This galvanised us and we played some excellent hockey, particularly moving the ball up the pitch and into threatening areas and with Laurie Wheeler and Jim Harding giving us fresh legs we were soon level. The goal itself was a little fortuitous as Riley's pullback was kicked into the back of the net by a hapless Rustler as the umpire played an excellent advantage. But a goal is a goal (and Riley's under the current rules) so we weren't complaining. We'd lost Josh at this stage as a heel injury meant he was relegated to the sidelines.
We went ahead from our first short corner as Dave S's impeccable injection was controlled by Matt and blasted about two inches (5cm) inside the left post to give us a lead our superior approach play had deserved.
The Rustlers' approach was one we're familiar with in the lower leagues. Hit it hard at the circle and hope something happens and on a number of occasions for the rest of the half we had to scramble the ball away when such a tactic got the ball close to the goal.
The second half continued in much the same vein with Hayden having to deal with no real venemous shots but a number of untidy scrambles in front of him. We could have scored on a number of breaks and kept their keeper a lot busier, but never quite managed to get one past him and into the net and just when we thought we'd hung on for the win we conceded a short corner. The initial ball out was closed down but then broke to their centre forward who struck a shot that flew high into the back of the net "Too high" was the shout, but unfortunately the height had come from an angled stick from Dave H who confirmed his deflection was the cause of the ball's height. No VAR to confirm or deny the ball's original path so the goal stood.
The final two minutes of the game were played out with us trying to get the winner our earlier play had deserved but it was not to be. A draw.
MotM - votes were shared amongst the team but was awarded jointly to Simon and George.
DotD - Dave H's deflection for the Rustlers' equaliser got an early vote but as Josh behind what looked like a very expensive drinking bottle that was picked up by Hayden (a definite upgrade from the skipper's used Tesco squash bottle), it fell to him (injury and all).