Durham City M1s 3 - 1 Brigg M1s

The Sun was beating down upon Maiden Castle for the fourth fixture of the season. The warm weather was a welcome change from the rain last weekend. Today’s opponents, Brigg were to provide the sternest test so far this season. After a light warmup that mainly involved dodging the water cannons and being wowed by Matt K’s singing in the rain audition, Durham was ready for pushback.

The game started and the opening stages were indicative of the disjointed and scrappy play throughout. Despite Durham coming out on top of the opening exchanges, neither side could gain a significant foothold on the game and retain possession for long periods. Compared to the previous two games, Durham struggled to find any clear connections in attack, leading to many double turnovers that let Brigg get on the ball too easily.

The opposition also found it far too easy to play through our press as Durham seemed to step off the ball rather than applying pressure. There were also some moments of naïve one-on-one defending with loose tackles and players being beaten easily that left Durham chasing the game for short spells.

Despite the negatives, Durham was able to strengthen their position in the tie with a short corner midway through the first half. A good injection and a powerful low flick into the bottom left corner from Dobbo put the home side ahead. Even with the scoreboard advantage, the back-and-forth wrestle for control continued but the score was to remain 1-0 when the whistle blew for half time.

Even though Shez may have “limited stick skills” his passion to chase every loose ball and close space quickly would be needed by everyone if Durham were to get further ahead in the game after the restart. Coupled with the quality and care on the ball that only Stevie seemed to be showing in the first period, Durham would look to play the style of hockey that had become familiar to them over the last couple of games.

The hope from the half time chat aiming to gain more dominance in the game and find better options in attack didn’t materialise as the game ebbed and flowed like in the first half. This allowed Brigg to push for an equaliser and they won a short corner early into the second half. A well worked routine beat Will running out which forced Blair into a save and then the follow up needed a miraculous clearance off the line from Dobbo who hooked the ball away from under his nose to keep the score line at 1-0.

Brigg were now well on top and threatening to level the game which they did shortly after. A counter attacking move drew in the defence and left a Brigg forward free on the top of the D. The ball came across, but it appeared that Blair had everything covered. He charged out to kick it away but made an embarrassing misjudgement, which ought to have guaranteed him as DOD. The ball crept under his outstretched boot straight into the path of the Brigg forward who placed the ball into the open goal.

At times last year, Durham may have given the opposition more opportunities to get ahead in the game, but their play picked up to shift the moment back towards the home side. A more promising attacking move led to Matt K feeding the ball into the D where Anth picked it up and shovelled it towards goal. A save from the keeper led to a scramble as it bobbled around, Tom then picked it up and it remains unclear how it happened but eventually he lifted the ball into the net to put Durham ahead once more.

With the clock running down Durham managed to stay strong defensively and retain enough possession to keep Brigg from getting back to parity. Then with only a couple of minutes remaining another scramble in the D ended in the Brigg defender blocking the shot off the line with his body and a penalty stroke being awarded.

Ben after his successful penalty last weekend rushed to take it, flicking the ball into the side netting past their keepers outstretched stick. His 100% record intact for the season. The game was played out to the final whistle as Durham were left with an overwhelming sense of relief, rather than any feelings of jubilation after the scratchy victory.

Although the performance was not as strong as the previous two weeks a good result against a strong side is always something to celebrate. The win adds another three points to Durham’s tally before next week’s short away trip up to Newcastle to play their Uni 2’s. The early team news for next week is not good for the chefs at Newcastle Uni as Rob misses the game for driving test. The full report of which will be found in next week’s edition depending on the outcome. Durham City remain top of the league with 4 wins from 4 and the lads are looking to keep the streak going next weekend.

MOM: Dobbo – Great flick and kept things calm and organised at the back.

DOD: Somehow not Blair but Mason for his midfield antics.

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