Sonning 1st XI 4 - 2 Phoenix & Ranelagh 1st XI

Off the back of one of their most complete performances of the season against Slough, Sonning took to the field against a Phoenix & Ranelagh 1st XI that they haven’t faced in a competitive fixture in some time. With their opposition a slight unknown, and with Neil Pursell and Adam Pusey out with injuries, the first priority was to be solid and dominant in the early stages, and build a platform.

Sonning executed this pretty well in the first few minutes. They passed the ball round well on a rain soaked pitch that played quickly. For the most part they were patient, and when it became obviously fairly early that their opponents were looking to sit half-court and play on the break, they were much more disciplined in waiting for the right gaps to open than they have been when faced with the same challenge in recent weeks.

They got their first goal through Tom Sampson, who converted Sonning’s first penalty corner of the game after around 10 minutes, but were quickly pegged back when a sloppy attempted clearance led to a scrap in the Sonning circle that was eventually turned in for the equaliser. 1-1.

Sonning, to their credit didn’t panic, and stuck to their task quite well. They re-took the lead with around 10 minute to play, when some good interplay on the right wing was finished off by Jonny Partenheimer, who cut in from the right and snuck a reverse strike down the near post. It wasn’t the cleanest of strikes, but the bounce deceived the keeper, and the onlooking Sonning faithful certainly didn’t seem to care! 2-1.

In the second half, Sonning pressed straight from the whistle, and quickly extended their lead through Partenheimer, who unleashed an absolute cannon at an early penalty corner, giving the keeper nothing to swipe at but air. Once again though, Phoenix struck back quite promptly, and again it was Sonning who actually provided the platform. Caught taking risks too deep in their own half, they turned over possession in a dangerous area and after a bit of a scrap, Phoenix turned it home. 3-2.

Phoenix were back in the game now, but with the last 15 minutes to play it was Sonning who dominated the proceedings. Chris Hinton in particular had a superb game in the middle of the park, and kept the home side ticking over, allowing Sonning to dictate the tempo of the game. Partenheimer eventually completed his hat-trick following some slick passing around the left wing, again opting to use his reverse to beat an unsuspecting Phoenix keeper, this time shooting from left to right and to the far post. 4-2.

For the most part, a satisfactory if unspectacular win for Sonning, who after Ayslebury 1st XI drew away at British Airways, now join Banbury 2nd XI at the top of the table, on 20 points after 9 games, only separated by Banbury’s superior goal difference.

It’s shaping up to be a really tight league, that will go all the way to the finish, with the top 5 sides separated by just 4 points. Sonning next face Wokingham at Cantley Park, hoping to stay in the mix at the top of the table before hosting Aylesbury in their last game before Xmas. #COTN

Goalscorers: Jonny Partenheimer 3, Tom Sampson
MOTM: Jonny Partenheimer
DOTD: Ollie Waddington