Men's Match Reports

Prologue - a likely spectator's recollection of the game (ie close to reality): a game Guildford should have won by several goals against a much weaker Winchester; a multitude of missed opportunities by the forwards; an early HP injury; a squad of 14 resulting into too many unsettling substitutions; a sterling performance by our stand-in Goalie, the much slimmer medicated Dr Pain Jenkinson himself (many thanks for making the difference!).........

For the second week in a row, the Gondoliers emerged into the winter sunlight without a goalkeeper, albeit this week, as a result of a virulent form of man flu condemning Chalmers (James, not Judith) to the sick bay. That said there was a certain confident air to the team that, the previous week, had managed to prove to itself that all was not lost.  In fact it was probably being remembered that, by Horsham’s own admission, had it not been for their early three goal advantage while the Gondoliers found their mojo, Horsham were prepared to head for the hills as the onslaught that followed for the final two thirds of the game pinned them to their half of the pitch. And so it was that the next encounter of our fierce local rivalry with Haslemere began...

Saturday morning started as Friday night had ended; with the onset of panic that an 'administrative error' meant that, in fact, we only had 10 men for our Salisbury fixture, not the 11 stated on the previous missive.  Cue frantic emails to left, right and sundry to see if we could find the final piece of the jigsaw...

Without a goalie we conceded three easy goals in the first fifteen minutes, thereafter for the rest of the game we were camped in their half. The oppo acknowledged that we were robbed!

Our usual Court Reporter has been called away for domestic duties and reprogramming - hopefully the Adult Education Diplomatic Writing course will prove beneficial. Meanwhile our first time scorer, Miles volunteered to put pen to paper...

We should have carried on and taken pictures of the stranded car transporter in the Solent but instead it was a bright dry afternoon so we stopped short to enjoy the delights of a seaside municipal leisure facility...

Windsor arrived short and we gave them Jason (who nearly volunteered) but at least it gave him a full game and a different perspective on the match with a virginal side. Guildford dominated the play yet somehow conceded a goal in the dying minutes of the first half and were unsettled by a series of umpiring decisions. The second half peppered with more Rosoman incursions down the right wing into the D resulted in much more scoring opportunities and the Gondoliers displayed some good hockey moves.

"...Brent maybe crude but Wokingham pay the price for all that gas..."

Oil fields are a lot like hockey fields. You dig deep all season and find nothing, then suddenly you strike in the Winnersh Triangle and its Goals, Goals, Goals!

Against top-of-the-table Oxted, the Shadows knew of the importance of doing well in this match for two reasons...

The first being the chance to win more vital points before the Christmas break and the second not repeating last year's 11-0 and 17-0 losses.

I write this in full anticipation that others may already have been bequethed the honour of writing the report; and to that end I propose this be an addendum should that be the case...