SONNING 2 - 1 AYLESBURY
1st March 2008

Well we did it! With Aylesbury only 3 points behind us, and still very much in the chase for promotion, this was a must win match for both teams and we pulled off a great victory against a good side.

Mind you, it didn't look like we would do that given our first half display - patchy would be a kind description. We started brightly enough with Dave, Carl, Bilaal, Jordan and Antony combining well to create a few chances, but it was Aylesbury who were moving the ball around. We struggled to pick players up at times and then seemed to go off the boil, and this put the defence under pressure. Fine defending and a great saves from Andrew kept us in it, until we gave the ball away unnecessarily and the unmarked forward scored a beauty.

This was not what I had in mind and we were lucky their short corner routines weren't polished, though we didn't help ourselves either - with 12 minutes to go to half time, they had yet another one. Clive ran '1' and did very well to close their receiver down, but he took the shot full on the foot. He may have got away with it if he'd stayed on his feet but he did insist on shouting "ouch" and fell to the ground clutching his foot. This kind of gave the game away and they got another short corner. (Note to Kingo, at training on Thursdays can we practice being hit on the foot and pretend it didn't happen despite the searing pain?)

Jack came on at right back and did a solid job for the last 10 minutes and Manning Senior went on with 5 to go, just to impress his sister and nieces who had come along to watch - needless to say, they weren't particularly. The half time talk wasn't pretty but the fighting spirit was there so it was 35 minutes of make or break.

It was Aylesbury's pushback to restart, but we won the ball almost immediately and with John driving on, he slipped the ball to Antony who took it deftly around a defender then reverse stick nutmegged the keeper. Aylesbury looked stunned and we were ecstatic.

Play became quite frenetic and niggly - they knew they had to win and we knew a win for us would end their push for 2nd spot. We now had the bit between our teeth and the defence of Andrew, Clive, Pete, Jeremy and Joe withstood all that was thrown at them. Russell made his debut for the club and got stuck in right away.

We had practiced short corner routines with Carl pushing, but 15 minutes into the half we won a short while Carl was off the pitch. Manning Senior thought it looked the easiest bit of the routine, so strode up to the line and carefully placed the ball. The huddled mass of blue shirts on the D discussed the plan and then we were set. At this point we have 2 versions of the events that followed: Ver 1 sees Manning Senior push the ball back to Pete, who controls the ball and draws a defender out. While other players run in various directions, Manning Senior moves into space about 5 yards off the backline and receives a perfect pass from Pete. He controls the ball, turns, looks up and shoots - the ball thuds against the backboard and we all go wild. Ver 2 (AKA this is what really happened) sees a bad push go to Pete instead of John. Pete is taken by surprise and scuffs his shot, the pace of the ball is, however, perfect for Manning Senior to, control, turn and shoot. The thud on the backboard being a sweet sound for his first EVER goal in hockey. A few whoops and high fives later, we are set to dig in. Were we really the same team as played in the first half?

Aylesbury came out all guns blazing, which created space for us to utilise, but we couldn't get a 3rd goal to ease our nerves. Andrew again kept us in it and the 'ting' of ball hitting our goal post was a welcome sound. For much of the last 10 minutes, we were defending short corner after short corner. One such occasion saw their receiver strike the ball into the air, which struck Jeremy on the hand and away from goal. Claims for a penalty flick seemed to be winning, but the umpires finally gave a free hit to us as the ball had been too high. Jeremy manfully carried the injury all in the cause of the Mighty Ning - adrenalin keeping him going - only to find out afterwards that he has a fractured thumb and is out for the season's last 2 games.

The final whistle came as a relief in the end, but the feeling of winning that particular match was one to savour. We've had bigger wins this season and played better hockey over 70 minutes, but this one really mattered and all 14 players showed tremendous determination to do the job. Nice one chaps!

And we now know exactly what we have to do against 3rd placed L/Buzzard on 8 March. They are 4 points behind us with 2 games left, so a draw will see us secure 2nd spot (barring a +20 goal rush from Aylesbury). That will mean we just need to beat Swans for pride the week after.

So here's the battle cry once more chaps ... Come on the Ning!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man of the Match - although there were plenty of players who performed heroically, this award went to Joe Saunders again. So cool under pressure and a solid, reliable player whether defending or going forward.
Thanks to Jon Warby for hot footing it to umpire for us straight after playing in Reading.