ashford 3 - 4 gore court
In the second match of the weekend Gore Court meet local rivals Ashford in the England Hockey Trophy competition. After losing narrowly to Gore Court in the first league match of the season last weekend, the home side was determined to turn the tables. After a frenetic start Ashford capitalised on some sloppy Gore Gore Court defence and finished well. Looking the better team for the majority of the first half Ashford were punished for being over zealous at the back when Aaron Glass stepped up to convert the first of his 4 goals from a penalty corner, sending the ball high to the keepers right. Lack of ball possession and poor defending by the visitors were immediately rectified after the break and lead to Gore Court securing greater control of the game. The momentum of the game shifted Gore Court's way with 15 minutes remaining and the scores locked at 3-3. Superior fitness and a younger Gore Court squad paid toll, as Gore Court stuck to their game plan and pushed hard for the elusive winner. With 6 minutes left on the clock, Ashford wilted under the pressure and paid heavily as Gore Court strikers combined to earn a crucial penalty corner. The deadlock was broken as Glass saluted his forth and final goal of the day.
“The game was a little too exciting for my liking but I am sure that the spectators loved every minute of it. We made it very difficult for ourselves early in the match by not maintaining possession and therefore gifting dominance to Ashford. They (Ashford) like to play quick counter attacking hockey so if you give them lots of turn over ball they can hurt you”, said Gore Court coach, Darrel Cassidy.
“I am particularly pleased with some of our younger players who we have nurtured in the 1st team training squad for the past year. Jack Pogson and Conor Annand at 15 years old have proven that
they can perform consistently at this level and Oliver Williams is starting to grow in confidence with each match we play him in. They all held their own today which I am over the moon about.
Cassidy said,”This weekend could have gone the way it did, extremely well, or it could have ended disastrously for us. It is so important to get of to a winning start and to get a successful run going. I am so proud of the boys this weekend because in both games we battled hard to come from behind and we were savvy enough to finish each game off by out passing our opponents”.
Next Saturday 1.30pm, will see Gore Court host West Hampstead who are riding high after a 5-1 win over Wycombe this weekend.