Bourneville 2 (0) v Charnwood Mountsorrel 2 (0)
(CM won 1-0 APS)
Charnwood Mountsorrel won their first Masters Over 50s match, played against Bourneville at the King Edward VI High School, Edgbaston Park, Birmingham.
Late withdrawals due to illness and injury meant that only nine players made the journey to the West Midlands, including debutants Vavak (Ken) Assi, Kevin Moore and Stuart Burton. Despite this disadvantage, Charnwood took the game to the opposition from the start and played some enterprising hockey, with only good work by the home ‘keeper preventing Moore from opening the scoring on a couple of occasions, whilst the Charnwood defence, well marshalled by Paul Carter, remained largely untroubled. The half finished scoreless, with Charnwood unable to press home their superiority.
Bourneville began the second term with renewed vigour, testing the Charnwood defence on a number of occasions. After a series of penalty corners that Charnwood defended well, the home side struck – Burton saved the first shot from a penalty corner, but was unable to block the follow up. Charnwood responded almost immediately, with Kevin Stanton-King switching play to fellow midfielder Chris Waterfield, who fed Nigel Calow for a clinical finish from the edge of the circle. The game now ebbed and flowed as each team created further chances to break the deadlock. Having soaked up some pressure, Charnwood sprang out of defence to score their second – Calow fired into the circle and Moore got the vital touch past the diving ‘keeper. Bourneville struck an equaliser with five minutes to go, working a nice penalty corner routine to get in behind the first runners and their striker finished well.
After a very good game, the penalty stroke competition was disappointing. Goalkeeper Burton enjoyed himself, however, saving each of the home side’s attempts. It was left to Calow to decide matters, converting well to give the spirited Charnwood team a deserved, if slender, win.
This was a brilliant performance by an under-strength Charnwood, who now look forward to a trip to Khalsa in the second round.
Squad:
Stuart Burton (GK), Ken Assi, Nigel Calow, Paul Carter, Tony McKee, Kevin Moore, Kevin Stanton-King (c),
Chris Waterfield, Mark Weaver.