13.3.16
Charnwood Mountsorrel 4 (1) v Prescot 1 (1)
Waterfield
Wilkes
Rollins
Oakman
Charnwood Mountsorrel HC hosted the Masters O50s semi-final against Prescot HC at Mountsorrel Leisure Centre on 13th March 2016.
The visitors started well, retaining possession without ever hurting Charnwood in the final third – the home defence was well marshalled by Ravi Matharu and Dave Allen and the industrious midfield of Will Relf, Nigel Rixon, Chris Waterfield and Guy Rollins gradually asserted their superiority, creating a number of chances before Captain Waterfield opened the scoring, calmly finishing after concerted pressure following a penalty corner. Prescot’s keeper made a number of crucial saves to keep the visitors in the tie and it was somewhat against the run of play when they equalised just before half-time, the Prescot striker wrong-footing Tom Metson in the Charnwood goal with a mishit shot from close range.
Charnwood began the second half well, with strikers Paddy Oakman and Kevin Stanton-King a constant threat to the away team. It was Oakman who created the next score, his dribble into the circle and deft pass left Ian Wilkes to dive forward to score from close range. Rollins extended the lead after a nice penalty corner routine had been kept out by the busy Prescot keeper – and what a goal it was! The keeper’s the clearance came to Rollins ten yards out and he powerfully flicked the ball across the goal from left to right into the far top corner, leaving the keeper with no chance. At 3-1 up, Charnwood could afford to sit back and soak up some pressure exerted by the away side, but in truth, Metson was hardly troubled thanks to some excellent defensive work from those in front of him. Prescot gave it a real go, but it was left to Oakman to get himself a deserved goal on the break, combining well with Stanton-King to split the stretched Prescot defence and calmly finishing passed the advancing keeper.
The match was played in good spirits, aided by some good umpiring, and Prescot played their full part in a good game.
Charnwood Mountsorrel travel to the Lee Valley Hockey Centre at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 1st May in a bid to retain the trophy that they won last year.
Squad:
T. Metson (GK), E. Allen, D. Allen, T. McKee, V. Patel, R. Matharu;
W. Relf, C. Waterfield (c), I. Wilkes, N. Rixon, G. Rollins;
K. Stanton-King, P. Oakman.