MHC 1s vs Glos 1s

Match report by Hamish Fyfe

On a pleasant morning, a confident Marlborough side after some positive results turned out to face Gloucester at the college. The home side were in especially good spirits after the usual, explicit team talk from JB and in the knowledge that we could rely on 4 (yes 4!) subs.
Despite putting Gloucester under sustained pressure the away side managed to net the first goal. Marlborough quickly fought back with Toby Sampson putting the first away for the home side nicely. Some more fine play caused the opposition problems which led to another goal and we could have had more before the break, but for some poor finishing (Fyfe in particular). Nevertheless, a 2-1 lead at half time was encouraging.

However, somewhere between Ramage’s departure and Craig’s team talk, something quickly unravelled as Marlborough started the second half sluggishly. We conceded 3 goals in quick succession through a lack of concentration, albeit for some good play from Gloucester. With the score now at 2-4 and 20 minutes or so left, we needed to dig deep. We found some energy and a determined display of hockey late in the game saw us net 4 goals, 2 more for Sampson (bagging him a hat-trick), and contributions from Kinder and Freddie ensured a brilliant 6-4 victory for the men in green.

Overall, a great game of hockey, played in a good spirit, with both teams playing in a positive, attacking manner. Standout performers included Hodge, Kinder, Sampson, Alex M, and Anil.

MoM – Hodge
DoD - Fyfe