ANOTHER LAMENTABLE PERFORMANCE ENSURES SONNING 5s CONTINUE TO FLIRT WITH MBBO DIVISION 9

If Carlsberg did 6 pointers - then a home fixture hosting fellow strugglers Oxford 7s would surely define a 'must win' game, however, like Carlsberg the Sonning 5s were flat and lacking the quality of other superior continental lagers. Further, the 5s toiled to make a very average Oxford side look relatively solid and the biggest disappointment for Captain Max for the season to date must be that this same side (with broadly the same personnel) have competed with, and beaten, sides in this league who are infinitely better than this latest side to put his team to the sword. Instead a 2-1 defeat on the sand-based astro condemned the 5s to their thirteenth defeat of the campaign leaving them perilously close to the drop zone, vying with both Oxford and Thame 2 to avoid the last relegation place and a home for next season located deeper in the depths of hockey obscurity.

For what it is worth, the game itself started relatively well - with some reasonably bright interplay and with no real threat from the opposition. Boseley operated well down the flank and took his chance from the edge of the D with a nicely taken goal to the bottom right-hand corner. At 1-0, the midfield engine of Hadland was ticking over nicely for something of that vintage and equally, upfront lone ranger Strudley continued to make the defence think with a series of trademark cross-field runs. Alas, Oxford were given their chance to get back in the game with a conceded short-corner which - to their credit - they finished off quite effectively, setting up for the slip left and then going right, a finish for which keeper Bosman could do nothing but watch. Shortly after and on the stroke of HT, Oxford scored their winner - Sonning failing to deal with a bouncing ball at the top-left of their D, which was swept in by the grateful Oxford recipient. A collective concentration lapse, not an anomaly in the context of the season so far.

A rallying cry from Captain Max at HT fell on deaf ears by a Sonning team who, whilst showing signs of endeavour, lacked the quality and cohesion to get back into this game. A strong final 20 minutes produced a few half-chances and Oxford had no real 2nd half threat from memory other than a couple of well-defended short corners. Indeed, it felt as if it was just (another) 'one of those days' - however, the frequency of such days have helped shape a season whereby going into the last three games relegation is a very real possibility (especially in light of the remaining fixtures). One would assume that Captain Phippard expected a lot more from his players than the output he received on Saturday - however the best form of repayment for the bearded skipper comes in the form of the short trip to Reading Rovers and 3points this coming weekend (a team who we beat earlier in the campaign) and two subsequent 'cup finals' thereafter - only time will tell whether the 5s have the appetite for the fight they now face...

Final Score: Sonning 5s 1 - 2 Oxford 7s
Team: Bosman, Cutler, Strudley C, Mist, Sewell, Boyden, Phippard, Hill, Hadland, Boseley, Churchill, Denham, Ransome, Strudley G.
MoM: Boyden (in a decision akin to choosing one's favourite method of death)
DoD: Hadland (for a spot of self-congratulation on the sidelines declaring himself 'the best player on the pitch'**)

** Not overheard by this author or in fact by seemingly the majority of the side however 'accurately' reported by an anonymous source of questionable credibility

By Richard Boyden