The Men’s 1s took a wet, windy trip to our old adversaries, Gore Court. There was a real buzz around the changing room (school hallway) before the game with boys needing a win to keep the pressure on the top teams in the table. After a strong “warm-up”, the tactical genius, Norval, decided we should switch ends to really shake things up. Despite having the wind behind us in the first half and playing good hockey, Folkestone struggled to convert their chances in front of goal. After a few successive short corners, Gore Court managed to finally break the Great Wall of Gaz. 1-0 to Gore Court going into half-time.
An inspirational speech from Coach Norv lifted spirits and belief was strong that we would overcome the adversities and win this match. Unfortunately, this belief was briefly hurt when Gore Court managed to score another scrappy short corner. This is when the tide changed, 30 seconds later, a well-positioned Isaac Hopkin found himself free on the back post and after a beautifully executed pass from captain Josh Clifford (Cliff) tapped it in to begin the comeback. Folkestone continued to create sustained attacking pressure which led to a short corner. After a save from the Gore Court keeper, the Folkestone forwards pounced on the rebound. Carelessly, the keeper wiped out one of our young guns and a P-Flick was given to Folkestone. Much to the dismay of Gore Court this subsequently led to a yellow card for their keeper. Cliff tidily put away the P-Flick against an outfield player who was just wearing a helmet. 2-2, Folkestone were in full swing. 2 minutes after our second goal a masterful pass (much to the dismay of Tom Bean), from Will Mead (Meady), slicing the defence in half found Josh Bondzio (JB) loitering at the back post and just about put it in the back of the net. 2-3 to Folkestone. Soon after, Tom Bean (Beany) found himself driving with the ball and was allowed to enter at the top of the ‘D’ and flick the ball into the open net. 2-4 to Folkestone. For the fifth goal, Cieran Payne (Cez) finds himself peeling against the grain and has an acre of space in the middle of the ‘D’. With the Dimitri Berbatov-esque composure, he rifles it into the top corner. 2-5 to Folkestone. It was safe to say that Folkestone were now dominating the game and Gore Court had started to crumble. Will Mead then found himself driving at one of the Gore Court centre backs, what can only be described as an unfair match-up, and after some eye-catching skills, tucks the ball away into the bottom corner past a stationary Gore Court keeper. 2-6 to Folkestone. A strong performance from the boys who showed great character and perseverance despite challenges along the way. On to next week where the boys will host Cliftonville at home. Steve Shaw take it away …