HARPENDEN II: 5
BLUEHARTS III: 3
10.11.2007

A youthful Harpenden 2s kept up their unbeaten start to the league season by cruising past a Blueharts 3s in a confident display of attacking hockey.

Fielding four junior players and without either defensive talisman Sam Martyn or pint-sized right-sided veteran Paul Nash, Harpenden played with a refreshing attacking verve while maintaining just enough defensive solidity and organisation. Under 16 stars Ollie Moore and Bradley Hudson on the right and Tom Gosling and Simon Evans on the left gave Harps pace to burn on both flanks. The first half goals came from more expected sources, however, namely the ever-reliable forward pairing of Fraser Tant and Nigel Timms. Tant was later to be laid low by the Blueharts keeper and spent the rest of the day in casualty getting his mouth repaired. “Mmmf umm grrhw hhmmph,” he commented later, which roughly translates as “gutted to have missed the rest of the goal-fest, Brian.”

Reaching half-time 2-1 ahead, Harps knew there was still work to do. Blueharts were creating chances and only the indomitable triumvirate of Ben Brind, David Waters and Graham Smith stood between them and equality. Mid-way through the second half Harpenden finally started to reassert themselves and stretched their lead to 5-1 in a pulsating 10 minute period. Hudson and Moore bagged deserved goals, but yet another reverse stick strike from Timms was the highlight of this purple patch.

The game won, Harpenden were guilty of a little complacency and sat back too much. Two quick scores by the visitors created a 5-3 scoreline that was probably a fair reflection of what had been a competitive game, but the points were never in danger.

Match report: Peter Kneale

Scorers
1) Fraser Tant
2) Nigel Timms
3) Nigel Timms
4) Bradley Hudson
5) Oliver Moore