17/10/15: On Saturday Mendip’s depleted and injury ravaged squad faced a West Wilts side who last season was promoted from the East Central 1 division.
Things did not start well for the hosts when only 2 minutes into the match a speculative through ball was apparently going nowhere when the reliable James Lovell “pulled up” on a dodgy ankle and the West Wilts forward sprinted past and converted an opportunist goal. Lovell gamely battled on but eventually had to concede to injury and make way for the ever green Paul Woolway who had only stepped in as substitute 24 hours earlier and now faced the daunting prospect of 50 minutes or so of 1st team hockey against a very nimble and skilful opposition.
Mendip shrugged off the early set back and immediately got into the match with the midfield trio of Oli Beechener, Liam Young and Josh Sutton working well in tandem to advance up the field and bring forwards Steve Smith and John Lippiatt into the game with first time ball.
Both teams were fairly evenly matched and as the game settled down the play flowed from end to end with both sides playing free flowing hockey. However, on the half hour Mendip burst into life as man-of-the-match Will Lawton picked up the ball and went on a mesmerising dribble down the right flank and threaded the pass through to John who committed the keeper and squared for Steve to tap into the empty goal.
Now having levelled the scores it was disappointing that parity only lasted a mere 3 minutes and with half time looming Mendip “switched off” and allowed a player to ghost into the D unchallenged to pick out an unmarked forward for a simple close range goal so the hosts went into the break trailing 2 – 1.
West Wilts came out with their tails up and initially forced Mendip back but the outstanding Will Lawton did not put a foot wrong all match and all too often would turn defence into attack with total authority and simplicity. However, with Mendip on the back foot it became increasingly more difficult to launch any meaningful attacks until 10 minutes in it took a piece of individual ingenuity from Oli when he surged forward and deftly lifted the ball over the defender’s stick on the edge of the D and while the entire West Wilts defence stood still bemoaning an alleged infringement, Oli ignored their protests and simply slotted the ball home from a narrow angle to level the scores.
From then onwards it was pretty much all West Wilts as they went about seeking to redress the injustice and ramped up their tempo, pushing Mendip back into their own half, playing with quick incisive passing and movement. As always Mendip defended with stout resilience and defensive stalwarts Giles Denning and Rich Penn played their part to stem the flow but the hosts rode their luck on occasion and might easily have lost the match in the dying minutes but for a remarkable 60 seconds of play that involved a superb save from Leigh Taylor, a goal line clearance and two consecutive shots that hit the post when Mendip were unable to clear their D.
The visitors were unable to convert their territorial advantage into a further score so the match finished all square at 2 – 2 and Mendip gained a well earned point.
The team was: Leigh Taylor, Giles Denning, Rich Penn, James Lovell, Will Lawton, Oli Beechener, Josh Sutton, Pete Waddington, Paul Woolway, Liam Young, Steve Smith and John Lippiatt.
Thanks to Carol Holmes for umpiring.
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