Priory 5s vs Epsom Mavs 13/01/24

A return to Fortress St Bede’s and a brief warm up (well, a brief feel slightly less freezing at any rate) and the Priory 5s were underway against the Epsom Mavericks.

The usual cat and mouse, building play and testing out of both defensive lines lasted until around the 10 minute mark (and when hands and sticks started to defrost!) when the breakthrough came with the cheekiest of goals from Mr Snow. Good team build up via Rich, Pankaj and with the final killer ball, Ethan found Snowy in the D… albeit a slightly tangled and awkwardly positioned Snowy….

….Executing what I believe Barry Davies would have referred to as a Double Toe Loop he pivoted on one foot, lifted the other and nudged the ball on his reverse, totally wrong footing the keeper and the covering defender as the ball slotted nestled into the bottom left of the goal. 1-0.

It wasn’t one way traffic through, a counterattack from Epsom saw them through 3 on 2 and a well weighted pass was delivered into the top of the D. Paul and Mike shouted for Jacob to come to it, they needn’t have bothered, he was already on his way. A superb, flat kick drove the ball through the reverse side of a second oncoming attacker and picked out Monty on the right who promptly pivoted and sped off down his wing.

A similar, prompt change of possession brought about the second Priory goal. Good defensive midfield work from Mike and Rich saw the ball stolen and spun out to the right to James H. A great first touch and a darting run with his head up, James spotted Tristan who had snuck away from his marker, making great use of the width. James just needed to execute a long pass, threading the needle between a pair of Epsom players. He did just that, weighting it beautifully he allowed Tristan to come in front of the keeper, slip around him and put the ball into the goal. 2-0, great work from James and great striker’s instincts from Tristan.

Half time commenced (after a brief delay in which Epsom realised they were only fielding 10) with a pushback from Snowy to Rich who launched a trademark aerial – alas a high interception from a defender prevented Ethan and Tristan from sneaking through on goal.

This was about the only possession the Priory boys enjoyed for the first 10 minutes of the second half. Epsom were relentless after the break, playing well worked two, and one touch hockey through their midfield and leveraging youthful pace out wide, they started to breakdown the Reigate structure.

Sustained pressure in the D led to an Epsom shortie which was converted well with a slip to the right and whilst Jules managed to get some stick to it, it wasn’t enough to prevent the goal. 2-1, Epsom in the ascendency and Priory aware that the next few minutes would be critical.

Spirited defensive work including some marvellous right to left cover and goal saving tackles from James C coupled with the remarkable vision and reading of the game from Paul and Jules to intercept and tackle weren’t quite enough to prevent shots on target. Diving to his right, his left, stick saving and padding down shots at both posts, Jacob seemed to have decided enough was enough, no more goals for Epsom thank you.

This goalkeeping masterclass was too crescendo with a truly fabulous save. Covering his right post and narrowing the angle as an Epsom striker sprinted in, Jacob was quite reasonably relying on colleagues to deal with anything to his left. Said Epsom striker rifled a beautiful ball across the P-Spot, Mike flailed at it but couldn’t prevent the ball from reaching the young Right Wing waiting at the far post. A goal…. It had to be, the umpire later confessed he was already raising his hands to signal it when Jacob launched himself full length to his left, using his reverse backed by his left glove he padded the ball wide. I still can’t quite compute how he moved across the goal that quickly from where he was to where he needed to be.

This shock treatment of a goal, keeping excellence and defensive action seemed to set the steel back into team Priory. Sustained possession, calmer, shorter passing, and some great counter attacking hockey started to the turn the tables once again. Ethan, Snowy and Pankaj seemed to have reached the telepathic stage and Monty was once again placing defenders in his pocket with his lightning-fast hands down the right.

Rolling subs courtesy of manager extraordinaire Doc Watson saw Howard re-join the fray, making a series of great tackles from right back before ensuring possession was retained through passes to Rich and James H.

Fresh legs saw some splendid cameo performances in various roles with Monty demonstrating distribution and vision to complement those stick skills from a defensive midfield position. Ethan, Pankaj and Rich enjoyed their usual competition of who can play the best pass and James C reminded us of his credibility in every part of the park.

Pressure built and built and eventually told with a Priory shorty. A splendid injection from Rich, a perfectly positioned stop from Ethan and a belter of strike from Snowy took some of the wind out of the Epsom sails – 3-1.

Still not entirely comfortable, but getting there… Another shorty for Epsom arising from a tracking defensive tackle just inside the 23 that was perfect right up until the point it was attempted. This time Jules anticipated the move and sprinted straight down the gun barrel of the striker – got his stick to it and won the foul to take the pressure off.

James H was making inroads down the right and Tristan was continuing his marauding runs, with the game opening up, there was increasing space and time for the Priory boys.

Matt S at left midfield was now everyone, everywhere, all at once. Charging back to defend, making runs down the wing, harrying his opposite numbers and rifling great passes to his colleagues. His distribution seemed to come alive after half time and he was involved in the build up to the final goal of the game - a goal that neatly summed up an excellent team performance.

A square ball from Matt to Rich T gave him time to turn and pick out Monty on the right who undertook a brief diagonal run followed by an excellent cross field switch to Snowy who nailed it into the D, whereupon Pankaj, grinning like a Cheshire Cat, executed a splendid deflection – 4-1 and a few minutes to go to the end of the game.

A team performance summed up in MoM votes! Special mentions to Ethan, James C and Jules but a three-way tie this week seems to sum up the game well. For services to goal-keeping, Jacob – exceptional work, for services to defending, Mr Paul Vidler – we lost count of the number of interceptions and for services to game changing goal scoring, Mr Andy Snow (and for services to jug avoidance ?).

Champagne well split, though a little clearer cut – special mentions to Tristan for superbly slipping away like the sneaky striker he is to pick up that great goal and to Snowy for fancy footwork and a cheeky flick for our first of the day.

Jacob though, takes the honours for that wonder save to his left – absolute magic.

Well done all - a trip to Royal Holloway next week and a spot of nostalgia for the Skipper!