Final game of the season and off to Reigate, where Reigate were already guaranteed a 3rd place finish, we were firmly pegged to 6th and it was all about signing off the season in style…. We seemed to forget this bit, but in 4’s tradition still enjoyed the outing as it turned out to be. OK looking back our final real game where Hockey was played was the previous week’s win against Woking, and we turned up today to make the numbers up.
So in a very summarised match report (because we lost), and as Chris Breese the impartial and always excellent umpire said – we were awful and only Rengger Junior turned up to play.
To be fair we did have some moments of passion, the closing 15 minutes we applied real pressure and whilst Reigate clinically scored 2 short corners each half and won 4-0, we genuinely had the better chances of scoring from open play. We even saw Maj coming up to have a final crack of glory from a short corner, and despite me pleading with their defence to let him score one, we still failed to hit the target. To be fair Reigate have now scored 101 goals this season, and are top scores of all SOHL divisions with an average of 4.59 goals per game.
So as stats can be massaged to tell any story you want, given we won 3-1 at the first encounter, you could say across the season we shared 3 points each, and Reigate only scored an average of 2.5 goals against us this season, where they scored an overall average of 4.59 per game – so we are again looking like winners………
Well that was the season that was. Have to say a brilliant year, a great team building, and a new found team spirit which is the envy of Epsom Hockey Club. We were promoted last year to Division 1 by default (Goan refusing to move up from Div 2), most expected us to really struggle, but the results speak for themselves – we had a great year, punched above our weight and had so many laughs along the way.
- Played 22
- Won 9, Lost 7
- Drew 6 (the most draws in the league and highlights the strength of our defence)
- Scored 46, Conceded 45 and ended up with a positive 1 goal difference (the 6 teams below us ranging from -13 to -51). Points tally 33 (8 points clear of 7th position).
So that’s it for another year, really enjoyed myself and thanks to all for making the team so great. Maj has been an inspirational Captain, the trainers of Breesey, Chalky and Syd fantastic on Thursday’s, and all have made this a brilliant team and great way to spend a Saturday. Til next year – Steve