19.1.14
Kingswinford 4 (2) v Charnwood Mountsorrel 3 (1)
Charnwood
Mountsorrel’s involvement in the Masters Over 50 competitions ended at the Dell
Stadium in Dudley at the hands of Kingswinford.
The squad featured a debut for
Pete Fowkes and the welcome return of Andy Seymour to bolster the midfield.
Kingswinford started the brighter, scoring from an
early penalty corner that was initially saved by Tom Metson but they were
quicker to the rebound. Charnwood
struggled to get into the game at this stage and Kingswinford’s England
International Billy Jawanda dictated play for long periods. Charnwood conceded a second in copycat
circumstances, with Metson defying a couple of penalty corner strikes before a
Kingswinford forward scored from close range.
Gradually, the visitors began to express themselves and created a number
of chances of their own - finally a slick move down the right involving Kevin
Stanton-King and Greg Marshall led to striker Andy Moran’s clinical finish past
the advancing home ‘keeper. A half-time
score of 2-1 to Kingswinford was probably a fair reflection of the first
period.
The second half began much better for Charnwood,
with prolonged periods of pressure, some great flowing hockey and the creation
of a number of chances – the best featured a point-blank, headlong save by the
home ‘keeper to deny midfielder Paddy Oakman.
The home team were down to ten men at this stage, the umpire having eventually
lost patience with some wayward and somewhat cynical tackling. The chances kept coming and Seymour was
eventually on hand to finish after another bout of pressure. At 2-2, Charnwood were in control and it was
very much against the run of play when Kingswinford got their third – a mishit
shot from a penalty corner deceived Metson and the softest of goals was
conceded. The home team followed up with
another shortly afterwards when their unmarked striker had a simple tap-in at
the far post. Undeterred, Charnwood came
again, with Mark Taylor scoring scored a penalty stroke to make it 4-3. Kingswinford, marshalled by Jawanda, saw out
the final minutes to gain a close victory.
This battling performance from a squad finding its
feet at this level was encouraging, but they need to reflect on key areas for
improvement, such as better ball retention and denying the opposition chances
from penalty corners.
As expected, Kingswinford entertained us
royally afterwards – great curry, cheap beer, good company – so the day ended
on a good note.
Squad:
T. Metson (GK), P. Carter, T. McKee, M.
Weaver, N. Rixon; A. Seymour, P. Oakman, K. Stanton-King,
C. Waterfield (c), P. Fowkes; M.
Taylor, A. Moran, G. Marshall