Durham City M1s 4 - 1 Newcastle Uni M2s

A sunny Saturday morning saw an earlier pushback time for Durham City against Newcastle Uni 2s, in their first match of the weekend. The score line earlier in the season, a 3-0 win, didn’t fully reflect the attacking threat that the quick young students posed. Luckily, we had our own student pace merchant, Rob.

The pre-match chat took its usual angle away from hockey. No sooner than Matt, Duncan and Mase had sat down did the conversation turn to the thrilling finale of the traitors. There was the welcome return of Dobbo, that allowed Ben to head back up front. With DJ Peters on the changing room tunes, Durham were perhaps a little too relaxed for the fixture ahead.

Newcastle started the game brightly. They were the better side for the first five minutes. Durham could barely register a touch in the opening stages. The away side had put the hornets on the back foot. By the time Durham gained possession the home side seemed flustered. However, a moment of quality was to break the deadlock. A fast counterattack allowed the Dragon to drive at the heart of the Newcastle defence. Just before he could beath fire in their faces he slipped the ball under his shoulder to the waiting Ben at the top left of the D. He then unleashed his now infamous wang to the far post. Unlike its normal wild flailing’s, this time it was deadly accurate, perhaps he had finally tamed his wang, and it found the bottom corner. Durham now had a foothold even though the opposition had been the better side up until this point. The Hornets now had a sting in their tail and our counterattacking threat looked dangerous. The best chance of the half came shortly after. A quick counterattack arrived at the top of the D, where Rohil squared it to Matt. He rounded the keeper and a second goal seemed inevitable. However, instead of a simple push into the goal, Matt decided the best course of action was to blast it from the narrow angle. Visions of himself wheeling away in celebration must have flooded into his mind but they were quickly dashed as to his embarrassment the ball flew across the goal mouth. In fact it kept going eventually hurtling out at the side line. Half-time would come with the score still at 1-0.

The start to the second half was the opposite to the first. The home team had all the play and found a crucial second goal within minutes of the restart. Matt with some form of redemption as he slapped in the cut back. Play was stopped briefly as a rogue football sailed over the fence and onto the pitch. The pressure of returning it fell to Rob. The ball bobbled slowly towards him, but all his boot could find was air. Adding further embarrassment, his midfield partner Stevie showed him how to do it, drop kicking it miles over the fence. After the short intermission, Newcastle were not disheartened by the worsening deficit and they continued to threaten. There were a number of occasions in the D that had to be defended by a last-ditch tackle or interception. The pressure did prove fruitful for the students. A crash ball into the D was deflected towards the Durham goal. It appeared the returning Dobbo had it under control, but it took a thick edge off the outside of his stick, guiding it into the path of a Newcastle forward who had the simplest of tap ins to get one back. The game grew more tense as time went on. Each passing minute making the next score ever more important for each side. With little time left in the game, Will managed to nip in front of his forward, stealing back possession. He then found Ben on the baseline, who drove towards the near post. Without the space for a wang, he played a pass into Matt who dived across the front of the keeper and lifted it over via a reverse stick deflection. A superb acrobatic effort. A goal that would likely seal three points.

Durham would get one more goal just before the final whistle. The ball was cleared back out to the top of the D, where Mason was in a 50:50 race. He got there first. Lifting his stick back he smashed it through a fear-stricken Newcastle player. The ball found its way to the near post for a simple deflection by the Dragon. The 4-1 score line probably misrepresented the performance of a highly organised Newcastle Uni side. Although Durham did let in their first goal since November the 4th (thanks Dobbo) but they came away with another win. Fourteen in a row with a chance to make that fifteen against Wakefield on Sunday.

MOM – Will O. (Great hair) Hockey’s Trent Alexander Arnold.
DOD - Rob, A double swing and miss. Failing at two sports. Also missing match teas. Very unlike him.

#howmanywangs #poormollie #spicydoritos

WC: 3