Sonning 1st XI 6 - 1 Bracknell 1st XI

Following a drab 4-2 defeat away at British Airways, and without a win since November (3 draws, 2 defeats), things in the Sonning 1st XI camp have been looking a bit bleak recently in terms of league progress. Bracknell started the day bottom, but Sonning have struggled in these types of matches before and kept a cool focus going into the encounter. They welcomed back Chris Hinton and Adam Pusey, while Huw Thomas got a call-up from the 2nd XI after some good performances. Missing was Tom Sampson, with injury ruling him out.

Starting brightly, Sonning pressed hard through Pusey and David Painter on the left in particular, and won themselves a series of penalty corners. The first; a shot from Ian Gallagher was saved well and turned away, but the next was despatched clinically by Jonathan Sharp with some excellent deception and good pace. 1-0.

Sonning continued in this manner for the next period of the game and doubled their lead shortly after. A crisp strike was driven in from the right wing by Chris Hinton, and Sharp pounced again; beating the keeper to the ball and turning with one touch to get a shot away. 2-0.

The home side conceded shortly before the break, when Bracknell won a free hit right in the middle of the pitch, about 25m from goal. Some lacklustre marking allowed a straight hit to be deflected in from the P-Spot with a simple lead by Bracknell’s centre-forward not tracked. Alasdair Allan, for once, could hardly be blamed. Sonning did so anyway. 2-1.

At half time, Sonning were disappointed to not be further in front, but if they could keep their performance level maintained, knew they had a good chance of coming out on top. The next goal was key, and the home side kept possession well for a couple of minutes after push-back before quickly breaking forward at the right moment and winning themselves a short corner through Sam Terry on the right wing. This was once again converted slickly by Sharp, who got his hat-trick, sending the keeper the wrong way. 3-1.

The remainder of the half followed the same pattern. Waddington, Brown and Pursell were moving the ball confidently and Sonning looked a threat every time they went forward. A fourth goal was added shortly later by Sharp once again, who was having the game of his life at this point, and tucked home from an acute angle after some good play down the left wing through Matt Sloper and Painter. 4-1.

Fifth and sixth goals were added before full time. First, Sharp turned provider, playing a hard strike across goal for Huw Thomas to dive in at the right post for the deflection after some fast attacking play down the left. Next, James Lockhart got his first goal of the season, starting with possession in the Sonning half and playing some one-touch hockey through Gallagher, then Painter, whose perfectly weighted return ball allowed him the simplest of open-goal tap-ins. 6-1.

The score-line didn’t reflect some of the good attacking spells Bracknell put together, and the last 10 minutes were slightly tougher than necessary after skipper Paul Brown got a yellow card for a professional foul. Nevertheless, Sonning closed out a promising win 6-1 well, and can be pleased with their day’s work.

Next up, an away foray to Banbury, who have seen troubles of their own in recent weeks but remain one of the teams to beat!

Goalscorers: James Lockhart, Jonathan Sharp (4), Huw Thomas
MOTM: Jonathan Sharp
DOTD: Neil Pursell