Sonning 1st XI 8 – 0 West Hampstead 2nd XI

Following their 2-0 defeat to Witney, Sonning took to the field with a bit of a point to prove to themselves. As always, Coach Briscoe pushed the team to dominate from minute one, and his side didn’t disappoint.

Noel Plant got on the score sheet first with a reverse slap after less than 10 minutes played, following in onto the keeper’s pads after a parried strike. Jimmy Manser followed this up with what can only be described as a stunning reverse, overhead smash into the net for 2-0, just minutes later.

Despite their control of the game from here, Sonning couldn’t quite put the game out of reach, and West Hampstead hung in to keep it at 2-0 at half time.

However, Manser struck twice again in quick succession to take the game to 4-0 and essentially end the contest, just 5 minutes into the second half. Both were trademark deflections, the first from an Ian Gallagher reverse strike and the second tidily put away at a short corner, with Jonty Rider getting the assist. These goals put Manser on a hat-trick for the day, and 15 for the season to extend his lead as league top scorer.

However, not to be outdone, Colm Hanlon then managed to strike 4 times to end the game at 8-0, and put himself on 11 for the season. First he volleyed in from close range from a baseline cutback, then he hit one ‘top-bin’ from the top of the circle, and to cap off arguably the best 10 minutes of his hockey career, he drew the keeper out in a 1-v-1 before deftly lobbing him with a beautiful little chip shot. Not satisfied with his hat trick, he closed out the game with another close range finish for his 4th.

8-0 it finished, and it probably was a fair reflection of the game, and probably Sonning’s most complete performance in the last couple of seasons. West Hampstead were unlucky to face a team that, on the day, couldn’t seem to do much wrong. Sonning will just hope to carry this form on into the remainder of the season.

Goal scorers: Colm Hanlon 4, James Manser, Noel Plant
MOTM: Colm Hanlon
DOTD: Not actually sure… Nobody deserved it though!