For all who love hockey, the return-to-play-post-Lockdown2 fixture of Guildford vs Wimbledon was one to savour.
The game was hotly contested and to pick a winner at any stage of the game would have been flippant.
Wimbledon went 0-1 up after a good piece of hassling from them in the Guildford defensive circle. But minutes later – following some equally excellent hassling from the Ferguson/Fergusson twins and a swish finish from J Ferguson – the scores were levelled.
1-1. More back and forth followed, and GHC had chances. Then a penalty corner drag flick saw Wimbledon take the lead again…but for only minutes until a fast lob from Dan at the back was brought down and sent into the circle by George Pettitt as young forward Ben Rees kept his cool, ran for it and smashed it past the keeper.
2-2 it remained as we went into the reprieve of half-time.
Within seconds of the re-start Wimbledon put three passes together from circle to circle and were 2-3 ahead with Guildford looking perplexed and some players still mentally drifting out of the Wendy house.
Time to rally. Penalty corners started to mount up and after an initial routine was foiled, Dan Fox pulled the trigger on a cross/shot (tbc) and Ross Fergusson volleyed it in.
3-3 and it was getting more interesting by the minute.
Guildford conceded a penalty corner, the flick hit the cross bar, safe.
Guildford gave away another penalty corner. The flick hit the crossbar, but – annoyingly – it was the underside of the crossbar and it went in.
3-4 with eight minutes to play. Rally, the troops did, and wave after wave of all-out attack followed.
A Wimbledon player made a (second) unruly challenge in the 25m area and saw yellow (for a second time). With no front line flickers on the pitch…up stepped Jonny Haynes. A slick 1-2 routine saw his shot saved but the rebound fell to his feet and bang, goal!
4-4. Anyone’s game now. The bookies couldn’t get their odds out fast enough.
Wimbledon attacked but were dispossessed in front of the Guildford circle. A trademark counterattack followed, and superman Ryan Colman was skilful enough to bamboozle three Wimbledon players and draw a clumsy foul.
Penalty corner awarded. One minute to go.
Ross Ferguson standing waiting over the single castle…the injection was good, the delivery was flat and fast and the slide and deflection were well timed. The ball was in the back of the net from Plater’s stick and with no time left on the clock the boys at Broadwater left the pitch victorious yet fully aware they made quite heavy work of it. Great to be back though! | 
