SONNING 2 - 2 HIGH WYCOMBE
27th October 2007

High Wycombe were the opposition this week. A team that looked to be easy meat to us, fielding 3 schoolboy players (one fresh out of Junior school). But they were cunning! Even before the game started we were put onto the back foot.

Firstly, we were abused by their groundslady for warming up on the muddy grass and cleaning our astroboots on …….. Yes! ... The boot cleaner at the side of pitch ... Believe it or not, all the mud came off our boots, and SHE was going to have to clean it up!

Then she struck again … a siren sounded, the opposition smiled knowingly from their covered dugout, and yes, you've got it right, it was a water based pitch! The pumps pumped, the pipes piped, the sprayers sprayed, and Sonning got soaked. What a bedraggled sight we were.

As he was tossing in the centre circle with the opposition captain, Skip Handford was considering a formal complaint. PhsyOps warfare was more the stuff of Bush, Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and CIA Rendition, What was it doing in MBBO Division 4?

Hockey? Yes there was some of that too, but a lot less interesting than the pre match goings on. Despite Sonning dominating the early phases of the game, Wycombe took the lead with a breakaway goal. Sonning continued to press with strong attacks from right and left courtesy of Handford Jnr and 5's captain Hill but couldn't score. Then came the moment when Boole won his second award in two weeks. See below for detail, but what a fall from grace - Man of the Match one week, Dick of the Day, the next.

Then the recovery started. Continued pressure from Sonning won a short, Matt Price, steps up to receive the ball, works it in a yard of two, before unleashing the Sonning comeback. Two One down at half time.

The second half continued much as the first ended. Continued pressure from Sonning, the odd break from Wycombe. Then with no more than seven or eight minutes to go, Pricey stepped up to his reputation of having a killer eye for the goal, smacking the ball high into the net and drawing the game Wycombe 2 - Pricey 2.

Consistency? Sonning Mens IV's know all about that word, with their third draw from five league games to date. Credits this week to Pricey for the goals, stand ins from the 5's Brendan, Tim, and to the hard working (on the pitch that is, not the Uni) students Andy and James.
 

The goal scorer this week was Matt Price x 2.
Man of the Match: goes Craig Handford for an all round strong performance, narrowly defeating Matt in a second vote.
Dick of the Day: Liam Boole for deftly saving a ball running out for a sixteen, before accurately picking out the Wycombe centre forward from seven yards, rolling the ball neatly to the end of his stick then pulling off a miraculous pirouette over the ball as the afore mentioned centre forward rolled it into our net for a 2 - 0 lead to Wycombe!

H Jnr