| HARPENDEN
II: 2
BROXBOURNE II: 4
2.10.04
Despite
fielding a side with 6 changes from the week before, Harpenden
IIs put in a creditable performance against a strong Broxbourne
IIs and were unlucky to run out on the wrong side of a 4-2 result.
But, skipper
Fraser Tant will be able to take plenty of positives from the
game, which bodes well for the rest of the season. “Toby
Pickard scored his first goal for the club and is looking more
and more suited to hockey at this level with each game he plays,
while the accomplished performances of Steve Piercey, in his first
game for 6 years, and regular 3rd teamer James Rodwell were a
real bonus.”
Pickard’s
goal game after just 3 minutes as the youngster collected blues’
man-of-the-match Pete Kneale’s incisive pass and drilled
the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the D. This
somewhat shocked a Broxbourne side who had hit 11 unanswered goals
the week before, and they soon put the hosts under considerable
pressure. The blues defence, and in particular Andy Lunn, were
resolute and largely kept Broxbourne out of the D, while Ben Brind
pulled off a number of top saves when the defence did get breached.
However, with ten minutes to go before the break, the blues midfield
was caught napping and Broxbourne broke quickly, with the resultant
shot flying past Neil Liles’ ear and into the top corner.
Brind acknowledged that he might have done better from the shot,
although on another day the shot itself wouldn’t have been
allowed due to dangerous play. Regardless of this, both teams
would have felt that a draw reflected the balance of play before
the break.
Shortly after
the resumption, the visitors took the lead, but it was a great
credit to Harpenden that their heads stayed high and they fought
valiantly to draw level. From the move of the game, Dan Pickard
matched his brother’s goalscoring feat by slotting home
from close in after a tremendous team-move involving a wonderful
ball out of defence from Neil Liles and a one-two-three-four between
Tant and Kneale.
Two-all would
have been a fair result, but shortly after Pickard the Elder nearly
put the blues ahead, Broxbourne took their next change to go a
goal to the good, and with just seconds left on the clock they
were awarded a flick when Lunn blocked the ball on the line with
his shoulder. The penalty was duly converted and Harpenden were
beaten.
With a host
of regulars back to strengthen the team next week, Harpenden will
be confident that they can apply the positives from the Broxbourne
game to take all three points away at West Herts. Check out the
match report from the blues' last visit to West Herts in HHC
Gold
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Toby Pickard:
Bagged his first HHC goal
Related
Stories:
HHC GOLD: West Herts Away last
season
SECOND
TEAM FIXTURE LIST 2004/5
SEASON REVIEW 2003/4
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