Sonning 1st XI 3 - 1 Wallingford 1st XI

Sonning welcomed Wallingford to The Lane just 40hrs after a tough draw against Marlow in a Thursday night friendly, and knew a tough 70 minutes lay ahead. Wallingford are always a physical side, hard to break down, and on their day are more than capable of playing some expansive attacking hockey.

Coach Ali Raza asked his side to focus first on not conceding cheap, early goals as in the previous two games, and to build as the game progressed. Sonning's resolve was tested early on in this regard; stand-in keeper Adam McCarthy was called into action on a couple of occasions, while Sonning's back was put firmly up against the wall by a quick-starting Wallingford.

Having absorbed this pressure, Sonning went to work in their opponents' half, and did well to score two goals in fairly quick succession, to really take some of the momentum out of the visitors' game. First, Jon Partenheimer turned possession over near the top of the Wallingford circle before handing over to Jordan Manning to tap home. Next, Jack Kelly made his presence known by all, as he poached possession from a Wallingford midfielder, before beating several players as he entered the circle, and finishing clinically. 2-0 at the half.

Focussed on starting the second half as they had finished the first, Sonning got caught a bit flat pretty early on, chasing a third goal when they should have been keeping things a bit simpler. Wallingford quickly made the most of some poor tackling to win themselves a short corner, which was well converted for 2-1.

Sonning to their credit didn't panic at this point, and did a good job of going back to basics, keeping quite a lot of possession, and eventually getting their rewards when Partenheimer finished off a broken-up short corner. His reverse strike was less than clean and not quite to his usual standard, and he was lucky to see it loop over the keeper; but he made his own luck by creating some good space and doing well to get a shot away in a congested circle. 3-1.

Wallingford upped the tempo in the last exchanges of the game as they attempted to get back into it. Tom Sampson, Jordan Manning and James Lockhart all received green cards for various displays of petulance and ill discipline, which will have displeased the Sonning coaching team a bit, and they actually finished the game with 9 players on the pitch. Nevertheless, Sonning held on without further loss, and will be pleased with a good win against higher-league opposition, better defensive solidity, several turnovers high-up the pitch, and most of all; 3 well taken goals.

Next up is another mid-week game, opposition to be confirmed, before an away trip to Oxford 2s.

MOTM: Neil Pursell
DOTD: Adam Mccarthy
Goalscorers: Jack Kelly, Jordan Manning, Jon Partenheimer