This week saw our heroes fielding a more ‘mature’ lineup, with the average age only brought down marginally by the last-minute appearance of the ever-eager young Reedy as club favourites the Mighty Sevens™️ travelled for a late away fixture to Old Willies.

The previous fixture at home saw the Sevens lose to the Willies, so for this return game, our boys had revenge in mind, looking to invoke the motto of the French Foreign Legion: Give no quarter, spare no prisoners. The Willies might not be topping the table, but they were a well-drilled team, so the Ops needed to be on form.

From push back, it was apparent that this was going to be end-to-end stuff, with both teams to be stretched and working the entire pitch. Early forays were made by both teams, but the ever-stout back line was holding firm – Crab, HB, Tumble and Luce weren’t about to let our boys slip to an early goal. Forays were being parried and the ball fed back through the midfield to push towards the enigmatic front line as the visitors sought to break the deadlock.

And they didn’t have to wait too long: some excellent work from the mids of Gizmo and the Fronz saw the Ops first short corner which, from Messy’s injection was hammered by that man Mjölnir for the keeper to reaction save and fall back to the formidable striker who promptly reversed it into a billowing net: 1-0.

Some cagey play and continued pressing from the hosts ensured that the Ops couldn’t be complacent and, despite some excellent work from Luce and the OG, a home side foray saw the defence pulled out wide for a neat pass and their young forward to smash the ball past Milk Tray to equalise: 1-1 and shortly on to halftime.

A half time team talk and some tactical direction from Messy saw a more structured and considered Ops play for the second half…loud marshalling to ensure that the home side’s play was being kept more in their half was opening more opportunities by the minute. In addition to his incessant yelling at the forwards, Messy was dropping ariels with the accuracy of a German Stuka ace to ensure the Willies were shrinking ever back towards their own goal line. Surely this hard work would pay off soon?

Well, yes: having secured yet another short corner after some good work from Jonno ‘undercover Sweatshirt’ Fronz, Messy’s injection saw a one-two back from Mjölnir on the P spot and promptly roofed the ball past the hapless keeper. Game on: 2-1.

With our boys now firmly in their stride, one could feel the tempo of the game swinging in their favour as more opportunities were being created. Tumble was pushing well on the right – for once staying (mostly) on his feet that man Luce careening into the opposition and – some might say uncharacteristically for him – using his stick and not his feet to pass the ball away; this was sterling stuff.

With Messy’s ariels, the Crab scuttling and HB shuffling here there and everywhere, The OG slapping away any threats, Gizmo weaving some midfield magic and Reedy, well, being Reedy, wave after wave of opportunities were being created. One felt the best was yet to come….and it was, but not quite yet.

With Borris charging up the left yelling like a Beserker, a swift thread to Mjölnir saw the formidable forward drive towards the baseline and reverse slap the ball towards the Mule’s waiting stick, only for the defender to get the lightest of touches to deflect the ball into his own net: 3-1 to the visitors, and the home side’s heads were visibly dropping.

Such was the Ops dominance of the game now that HB found himself bobbing and weaving through the centre to find himself in strange territory: upfield. With everyone roaring him on (well, not the home side, obvs) by the time he’d realised he was closing in towards the home side’s D, vertigo had clearly set in, and he was dispossessed. But, what a moment of magic that he’ll surely cherish for many a year. With more forays catching the home side napping, at one point the lonely home side’s No.6 was literally singing ‘All by myself, don’t wanna be…’ as it became three on one. And then it happened.

With Reedy being fed yet another long ball from Messy, he brought the keeper out to make a fine save before clattering into him. With the keeper grounded and defenders chasing down, the ball rolled out towards the far-right corner – to safety, surely? Not if one man had anything to do with it. At this point, some say the air went still. The birds stopped chirping. It was but moment, frozen, nay, immortalised in time. The Mule, charging down the goal dived headfirst, stick extended to slap the ball convincingly against the backboard. The crowd roared in approval as the skipper returned to scoring ways. Electric stuff.

The last few minutes of the game really served to underline the Ops performance as the home side clearly just wished for the final whistle: it had been another vintage performance and three more vital points in the Sevens campaign.

In the post-match media melee, we gabbed the Sevens skipper for a few words: “Absolutely stoked with today’s performance: from front to back, everyone did their job. Whilst we held well in the first half, we were perhaps a little skittish in some of our play, but the second half was a very different affair as we bedded in and played our style of hockey – simple play, positioning and passing, and once again it’s delivered the result.

“It’s really difficult to identify any standout performances as I think everyone can stake a claim; Tray at the back ensuring it was only one shot on target, our epic defence, Messy’s tatical direction, some sterling running from Reedy and Borris, The Fronz snapping away in the middle despite the poor love feeling the cold, he was well wrapped up. And Mjölnir notching up yet another hattrick and just shy of thirty goals for the season – what’s not to love?

“Clearly happy to be back on the scoresheet – it’s been a while – so this game is perhaps extra special for me. We’ll certainly be raising a glass or two later, but we know it’s just one more game done and won; as I keep saying, this is tough league with no easy fixtures and we’re taking nothing for granted. We go again next week to our old local foes the Canterbury Friars, so that should be a highly competitive affair!”