| BERKHAMSTED
II: 2
HARPENDEN III: 3
26.01.2008
Young goalkeeper Matt Beggs was undoubtedly
the star of the show as HHC 3s picked up a useful victory away
at Berkhamsted last Saturday. Extended musical metaphors are a
staple of this correspondent’s style. However, in this case
reference to the keeper’s namesake Nick Beggs (dreadlocked
bassist with eighties chart toppers Kajagoogo) would be required,
and is thus best avoided. The self-effacing teenage shot stopper
is surely “too shy” (hush hush eye to eye)
for such flippancy in any case.
The home side started
the game with 10 men. Last season in the corresponding fixture
when similarly one short, Berko had comprehensively outplayed
Pete Evans’ side on the way to a comfortable victory. History
appeared to be on the point of repeating itself, as the home side
took the lead, converting an early short-corner courtesy of a
routine that would continue to cause the Harpenden back line problems
all morning.
Luckily (or not depending on your point
of view), the home side’s missing player turned up after
5 minutes. As it happened the newcomer was easily one of the most
accomplished defenders encountered by the 3s in division five
south west this season, which makes the resultant score line even
more impressive.
Harpenden set about addressing the early
deficit by playing some graceful and fluid hockey. An intricate
passing move between youngsters Simon Evans and Tom Gosling saw
the ball move swiftly around the D before Gosling almost as if
apologetically equalised, finding the back board with a crisp
finish.
The rest of the half was evenly contested,
with the fast pitch contributing to some end- to-end tactics that
rather by-passed the respective midfields. It looked 1-1 would
be the half time score until Stuart Berry showed excellent persistence
in chasing down what looked like a lost cause after a Harpenden
attack broke down. Emerging with the ball the Death Metal loving
left half showed excellent composure in picking out Pete Evans
with a cross, the skipper completed a deft finish to put the visitors
2-1 up.
However the home side showed their mettle
by attacking straight from the push back and earning a short corner
as the half time whistle blew. The resultant firm strike was turned
in at the near post, ensuring that the sides went in level 2-2
at half time.
Both sides went full out to win the game
in the second half of an evenly matched encounter. Chances came
and went at both ends, and fittingly it was the skipper who scored
Harpenden’s third, Evans finishing with precision into the
far corner following a short corner.
The home side continued to push for an equaliser,
and were consistently dangerous from short corners, where their
polished routine resulted in a number of excellent strikes. Gosling
deserves much credit for his willingness and skill in combating
these by his aggressive running at one. However even the young
midfielder could do nothing against one particularly slick move,
which resulted in a foot on the line and a penalty flick.
Enter Matt Beggs. The increasingly confident
keeper had already made a number of good saves along with ensuring
that his defenders were kept on their toes courtesy of his ever
more assured instruction. However it is in the realm of penalty
flicks that Beggs really comes into his own. He has already successfully
repelled 3 in the league this season, along with another great
save in a recent friendly. Normal service was almost reversed
after an initial flick found the back of the net. Beggs however
was insistent that he’d been waiting for the umpire’s
whistle and thus the ball was brought back to the spot. The re-take
was firm and well directed, but Beggs flicked out a glove to direct
it past the post maintaining his amazing 100% unbeaten record
against penalty flicks for the threes this season.
To their great credit Berko kept coming
forward, but when one particularly vicious short corner strike
went narrowly wide Harpenden sensed they had done enough to secure
all three points. Although their performance was scrappy at times
and a number of individuals were below their best, the third eleven
were just about good value for a victory, which should stand them
in good stead for the top of the table challenges in store over
the coming weeks.
Report by Tom Preest.
Team: Matt Beggs, James Bird,
Neil Liles, Geoff Gould, Andy Lunn, Tom Gosling, Pete Evans, Joe
Pagan, Simon Evans, Adam Cole, Andy Barradell, Stuart Berry, Tom
Preest
|
Scorers
1) Tom Gosling
2) Pete Evans
3) Pete Evans
|
