Milton Keynes 2nd XI 3 – 4 Sonning 1st XI

Matches up at Milton Keynes are always tight affairs, so the brief on today’s outing was to be compact, take chances when they came, and start with intent. Despite this, the warm-up was pretty poor, the opposition looked up for it, and Sonning looked a bit lacklustre when the game commenced.

So it was a bit of a surprise to find Sonning being the side who started by far the brighter of the two. They pressed well up front, and drew a couple of mistakes, and an MK side who are usually reliably solid looked markedly flustered. Within about 10 minutes Sonning were a goal to the good. Adam Pusey won, and took a free hit on the right wing, finding Chris Hinton approaching the top of the circle. Hinton turned his man and got a reverse shot away, rattling the backboards for 0-1.

Sonning got their tails up following this, and the second goal didn’t take long. Ollie Waddington won himself a short corner after an uncharacteristic ‘mazy-run’ into nosebleed altitudes, which was converted by the in-form Jack Mason, improvising well to grab his third goal in as many games after a botched routine. 0-2.

Following that goal, Sonning’s front three of Mason, Ian Gallagher and Jonny Partenheimer started to really enjoy themselves, and the visitors were playing with a fluidity and intensity that they haven’t reached so far this season. The third goal came directly from the MK pushback after goal two. Hinton winning possession in midfield, before finding Mason on the left wing. Mason cut in and played a ball across to the far post for Partenheimer to slide in on. 0-3.

MK were all at sea now, and Sonning did well to take advantage before the break. The fourth goal was beautifully constructed, with intricate one touch hockey starting with Partenheimer on the right wing deflecting a long ball from deep into Ian Gallagher on the right of the MK circle. Gallagher tapped the ball behind his back for Mason to pick up, before rounding his man to the left and playing back to the penalty spot for the onrushing Partenheimer to slap home via a deflection from Gallagher on the right post. 0-4, and some truly champagne-type stuff to watch!

After the break, the goal was to focus on the clean sheet, rather than keep the game too end-to-end. Coach Ali Raza asked for discipline and common sense in possession, rather than rashly chasing more goals. Sonning were having absolutely none of that, however, with two turnovers in quick succession almost immediately, leading to MK breaks which were well finished. From 0-4 to 2-4 in around 10 minutes and the tides had well and truly turned.

MK became unrelenting in their play, and the slick passing Sonning constructed at will in the first half deserted them against an aggressive MK press. They halted MK’s momentum for around 10 minutes and worked their way back into the game, with a couple of penalty corners that went unfinished. They were back under pressure just a few minutes later however, when MK flicked home at a penalty corner. 3-4.

In the last 10 minutes of the match, Milton Keynes fought hard to find what would have possibly been a deserved to equalizer, but it wasn’t their day as Sonning did well to cling onto a precious away win, especially as they finished with 10 men following a yellow card for their coach. Positives will be the quick start and slick passing in the first half, but they will be keen to improve on the consistency of their level over 70 minutes.

Back at the Lane, the next match sees West Hampstead 2nd XI visit for a 15:00PB. Spectators welcome! #COTN

Goalscorers: Ian Gallagher, Chris Hinton, Jack Mason, Jonny Partenheimer
MOTM: Chris Hinton
DOTD: James Lockhart (ridiculous decision)