Sonning Sucker-Punched in Oxford.

After a series of games where heroic play had not yielded the points deserved, the 5s made the journey to Oxford buoyed by their victory over Oxford Hawkes the previous weekend. With a clear game plan, Sonning set about their opponents with purpose and were threatening the Oxford goal in the first five minutes. Matt Denham, Grant Strudley, Elliott Wise and Ed Goodall had the Oxford defence and goalkeeper swinging at shadows and scrabbling on the ground desperately fighting to keep the ball from the goal.
Unfortunately no one had realised that Superman was in the Oxford goal. With countless shots and short-corners sent fizzing past the posts, being deflected off sticks shins and hips and being swatted from the air by their super-human goalkeeper. Seeking to increase the pressure and get some reward for their dominance, Sonning pushed on. Paul Cutler, Kevin Mist and Tyler Churchill cleared up Oxford’s clearances and Rich Boyden acted as fulcrum to the attack in the middle of the park. Twice Oxford made it through, twice the ball limped over the Sonning line.
With the third goal of the game likely to decide the eventual result, Sonning started the second half with renewed resolve. While the balance of play mirrored the first half, so did the apportioning of luck. A speculative drive from just inside the half way line was clipped (quite impressively we would all have to admit) by an Oxford stick in the D and whistled past Rhys’s mask into the roof of the net. Even going down another goal did not dampen the Sonning resolve and Captain Max continued to drive everyone on. Rhys demonstrated some footballing prowess to deny Oxford an unfair 5th while at the other end of the pitch, Andrew Denham (welcomed from the 6s, all the more so when he produced a bottle of port in the changing rooms after the match!), Sam Boseley, Ian Hadland and Matt Denham were working the ball into the D but there was no finishing touch from a Sonning stick. Grant Strudley dribbled and shimmied his way to the by-lines before laying the ball off and short corner after short corner were repelled but still Sonning couldn’t work the ball over the goal-line (except after the umpire’s whistle had sounded to prematurely end a period of advantage) as Oxford, backed up all the way by Superman, dug deep to defend their lead.
Not lacking commitment in any area of the park, Sonning left with their heads high but with rueful thoughts of what the score could have been.
MoM: Elliott Wise for not scoring but doing everything that could be expected and more in trying to do so
DoD: Ed Goodall for not scoring (and to give Sam Boseley a break)

By Ed Goodall