Sonning 1st XI 2 - 2 Aylesbury 1st XI

After a humbling defeat at Wokingham, and missing skipper Paul Brown, Mark Dobbie, Matt Sloper and Sam Terry, Sonning took to the field against an undefeated Aylesbury XI knowing that victory could see them stay well in contention for league honours, whilst defeat could see them in fifth position and 6 points away from the MBBO 2 summit.

They started the game with all the aggression and pace that was missing from their performance at Wokingham, and it wasn’t long before they started carving out chances. New father (for the 3rd time) Jonny Partenheimer forced 2 good saves from Aylesbury’s keeper and skipper, while Tom Sampson forced a goal line block from the last defender after the keeper was beaten at a penalty corner.

Debutant Edward ‘Ned’ Squires looked tenacious starting the game at right back, while Neil Pursell saw plenty of attacking possession on the left. Adam Pusey added a bit of craft playing in behind Sonning’s front line and with David Painter and James Lockhart working hard up and down the flanks, Sonning spent the half in the ascendancy but with no goals to show for it.

Things looked even more promising for Sonning at half time. Having dominated the half, their opponents would re-start the game with 10 men after one of Aylesbury’s players had a little chat with one of the umpires on the walk back to the benches at the break, to enquire if he was indeed able to raise both arms! It was fairly amusing actually! #bants

The momentum didn’t last long however, with Aylesbury coming out hard after half time, putting sustained pressure on the Sonning back-line for the first time in the game. They won themselves a penalty corner for a foot infringement, which was converted well through a rehearsed variation. 0-1.

Sonning’s reaction to this body-blow was positive, and rather than let their heads go down, they upped the tempo once again, and equalised shortly after. An attacking break saw Jonny Partenheimer in possession on the left wing, and James Lockhart overlapped on the outside down the left. Partenheimer found the through ball and Lockhart’s pushed shot ricocheted off of the keepers pads to Ian Gallagher who still had to beat the grounded keeper and a defender on the line, which he did so with aplomb. 1-1.

Following this, Sonning kicked on and had a few good opportunities. The first went begging when Lockhart pounced on a loose pass across the Aylesbury circle. Having sprinted to get there, his first touch took him onto his reverse, and unable to get feet around at a stretch, his reverse slap was easily smothered by Aylesbury’s keeper. The second was taken convincingly however. Matt Poulton received the ball with his back to goal on the left side of the circle, he took a touch to put it on his reverse, and his powerful strike was deflected by an Aylesbury defender and past the wrong-footed keeper. 2-1.

After a brief interlude that saw Aylesbury’s coach ejected from the Doombar Arena, Sonning kept their foot on the gas, with Chris Hinton in the middle of the park dictating the tempo. Ollie Waddington was having a fine game filling in at centre back, while Sonning were able to rotate in Jimmy Manser and Callum Richardson to keep their work-rate high. The game became a bit stretched towards the end but the home side seemed to have it wrapped up.

Sadly this was not to be, and just a few seconds before the full time whistle blew, Aylesbury won themselves a penalty corner. With 70 minutes finished, the whistle went, and Aylesbury took their corner with a full complement of players around the circle. After an initial save and a scramble on the p-spot, the ball was eventually turned in. This was a bit of a kick in the teeth to Sonning, who felt they had done enough to take the points, but credit to Aylesbury for sticking at it until the bitter end. Good opponents that the Ning will look forward to playing against again in the new year!

Sonning find themselves in 4th place at the halfway point of the season, but just 2 points off the league summit where Banbury sit on goal difference over Aylesbury. Excitingly for the second half of the season, Milton Keynes find themselves well in the mix in 3rd , along with British Airways, who sit in 5th position, but just 3 points off Banbury. Where it goes from here is anybody’s guess! See you all in 2016, where Sonning will open their campaign against Marlow 2nd XI at The Doombar Arena!!! #COTN

Goalscorers: Ian Gallagher, Matt Poulton
MOTM: James Lockhart