Mens Merlins lost to Sunbury Vets 3 - 5
MAIDENHEAD MERLINS 3 - 5 SUNBURY VETS
Scorers Anderson (2), Mair Richardson (2), Latimer, Salter, Slatter
Faced with the prospect of taking on the side that had beaten the mighty Marlow 9 – 1, the Merlins prepared themselves for a testing afternoon. With Ronnie Fuller still on compassionate leave, ice hockey ‘keeper, Simon Kenworthy was drafted in between the posts. It was all of a minute before he was called on to make the first of a series of fine saves that kept the Merlins in the game. There was nothing he could do to prevent Latimer and Salter opening up a two goal lead. The half back combination of Ivey, Simon Miall and Noel Murphy established some territorial advantage that provided a number of goal scoring opportunities. Mike Tarrier was only denied by the post as a vicious shot completely beat the ‘keeper. Having been granted his request to play at inside left, it was no surprise to see Stuart Anderson carve his way down the right and score from an acute angle.
Having umpired with distinction, Arthur Wood replaced Mike Tarrier at left wing. Tarrier volunteered to umpire and raised a number of eyebrows when he stated that he would have to get his glasses from his car. “ Perhaps if you wore them when playing we might be two all” was the skipper’s acerbic response. Undaunted he did his duty despite some unnecessary and unjustified criticism from the visiting defence.
The second half began much like the first and it wasn’t long before Sunbury increased their lead when Slatter found himself unmarked a yard from the goal line. The Merlins then upped their game and following a dashing run by Ivey, Brown was presented with the ball on the reverse stick. Whilst his shot didn’t beat the ‘keeper, the predatory Craig Mair made no mistake from close range. Further Sunbury pressure resulted in Richardson being gifted a goal when Noel Murphy, having defended like a Trojan, smashed his shot past a helpless Kenworthy. Having won a series of six short corners, all of which were well struck out and stopped, resulted in inaccurate shots. Mair stopped the ball and fed it to Anderson who made no mistake from the right hand side. Merlins continued pressure saw Arthur Wood in the circle, but after impersonating a miner trying to kill a rat with a shovel, his shot was blocked. Despite heroic defence and running by Simon Miall the final goal came on the left when Richardson was gifted his second goal as Tony Robinson pushed a sixteen yard hit onto his stick. By comparison, Wardle playing in only his second game as a full back, consistently smashed his hits through the Sunbury ring invariably finding Mair on the wing or Castle and Ivey in the middle.
The usual bonhomie enjoyed by these two most sociable sides was once again a feature of post match festivities. Indeed, plans were agreed for the Merlins to stage a four team tournament at the start of next season on the day of the Maidenhead Beer Festival. Berkhamsted have already organised a minibus for the event!
This was perhaps the Merlins best performance against this strong veterans side augmented by the ‘keeper’s wife. A return to winning ways next weekend will, however, require a major feat of selection and positional deployment:-
- In the absence of the blank firing Brown, who will play at centre forward?
- Will Bowes get through Customs with all his booze to pay his fine for not getting the new MOM tankard back in time for last week’s game?
- Will Willy Walsh release Ivey from an early flight?
- Will Chris Miall be plastered and have enough time to buy some more gel?
- Will Castle return to scoring ways and recover lost ground in the race for 100 goals with Mair?