10/10/15: On Saturday 10th October Mendip registered their first points of the campaign with a hard fought win against fellow strugglers OBs A.
The visitors came out strong and played some very neat hockey in the Mendip 1/3, probing the defence for an opening but it was Mendip’s direct style of play that was more effective as they won a short corner with their first attack of the game and with the match only 5 minutes old opened the scoring from the set piece as Liam Young was on hand to deflect home a strong shot from Giles Denning.
OBs had a potent attacking force and were a constant threat going forward but the central defensive pairing of Giles and Rich Penn were more than a match for them and controlled the situation, thus allowing the Mendip defence to settle. Their composed distribution from the back gave Oli Beechener and Will Lawton the incentive to run at the heart of the OBs defence with both skill and pace to carve out numerous chances of their own.
Midway through the half Oli picked up the ball in midfield and drove forward into the D, gliding past 2 or 3 players with ease only to see his shot on goal illegally stopped on the line. Steve Smith calmly stepped up to dispatch the Penalty Stroke high into the roof of the net and put the hosts into a 2 – 0 lead, which they held on to going into the break but only thanks to a brilliant goal line clearance from Liam that saved a certain goal.
OBs opened the 2nd half in much the same way as the 1st, going for all out attack until they were eventually awarded their first short corner of the contest. They did not squander the opportunity and a well executed switch between 3 attackers outwitted the Mendip defence and the deficit was halved.
Mendip suffered further misfortune 10 minutes later when they lost their inspirational captain to an annoying hamstring injury and as the “old timer” limped off to take no further part Mendip quickly reshuffled positions and looked to steady the ship. The following period of play was frenetic with OBs trying to wrestle control of the midfield and put pressure on the Mendip defence and Mendip defending steadfastly and counter attacking with John Lippiatt now playing as a lone striker whilst Steve Smith dropped deeper to help out in the centre.
As the match progressed to its conclusion OBs started to turn the screw but for all their pressure in and around the Mendip D the rearguard managed to keep them at arm’s length and ward off any real goal scoring chances until literally the final minute when Oli skipped past the last man and sprinted the length of the field to unselfishly square to Liam who swept the ball home for a 3 – 1 win.
Mendip man-of-the-match was Will Lawton for his influential midfield display in the 1st half and his dependable defending in the 2nd.
The team was: Leigh Taylor, Andy Flint (Capt.), Giles Denning, Rich Penn, James Lovell, Toby Green, Oli Beechener, Will Lawton, Pete Waddington, Liam Young, Steve Smith and John Lippiatt.
Thanks to Hayley Bullock and Hayley Young for umpiring.
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