At 3.55pm the Mens 4s looked around the astro to see we only had 9 bodies, Darran France had been called away last minute for a family emergency (hope all is well?!) and Zach Christodoulou was still ambling through the car park with all the urgency of tax inspector compiling a sizable rebate.

The squad was boosted by the watching Chris Riley and Digger who kindly offered to help make up numbers , as not only were the 4s short they were missing 5 regulars and had a debutant of Sam Giddings ‘mate’ Jay who insisted the following seventy minutes were going to be interesting. The only issue with Digger and Chris’ late inclusion was the lack of kit seeing them borrow everything from shirts to socks to boots and sticks, Digger also pointing out he had neglected to put on any pants this morning after making himself comfy in Dan Coverdale’s tracksuit bottoms.

The game started with WGC launching several attacks and Shefford mostly kept them at bay for the first 10 minutes. However some poor marking allowed the visitors to bang one home and set the precedent. Elliot Wood did his best to boss the left wing but some experienced players were quick to block his path. A second goal followed via the help of Coverdale’s shinpad and a third a couple of minutes later with another hapless deflection from the skipper. WCG grabbed a fourth just before half time after luckily gaining a short corner. Shefford did bring the Welwyn keeper into action on a couple of occasions with Jack Protheroo and Riley linking up well and Toby Morlidge continuing to improve with each game he plays.

The half time team talk was positive and the lads started the second half in buoyant mood with Robbie Richmond almost creeping in behind the Welwyn defence. However WGC continued the siege of the Shefford goal often appearing to resemble a biblical plague as they swamped the defence with some penetrating runs from midfield to support their forwards. James Steer pulling off at least a dozen saves in the process and Sam Giddings himself seeming to teleport around the pitch to put in countless authoritarian tackles! Welwyn added another 4 goals to their tally but Shefford did pull one back with Gully ‘passing’ the ball along the goal line for Elliot Wood to push home.

Whilst a bit of spanking on paper the lads continued to push on regardless and some very positive link up play on the right wing between Morlidge, Christodoulou and Richmond was worthy of praise as was the versatility of several players showing they can play in multiple positions….Digger managing to play in most of them in the first half alone.

A tough day at the office but with half the regular XI unavailable it could have been so much worse! Thanks again to Digger and Chris for stepping in last minute and Jay who did himself proud having never previously held a hockey stick.
Final score S&S 1 – WGC 8

Shefford & Sandy Hockey Club

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