BREXIT debate rumbles on

‘Leave’ shouted Farage.
‘Leave’ shouted Farage, again. And again.

As if he hadn’t done enough damage. Dividing the Country, sidling up to Trump, looking like a Simpson.

So The Doctor came and told him off. Not once, not twice even, but Farage wouldn’t learn. He had to go. Even more humiliating, he spoiled a perfectly good opportunity for liberation from Europe. Or from Alford at least.

You have to feel for the long-suffering hockey players of Alford (location: somewhere on the edge of Europe). On their previous visit to Cambridge they shipped 9 goals. Yet back they came. It’s a 200 mile round trip (give-or-take) - for a game of hockey, without as much as a cucumber sandwich and cup of tea to follow.
And, as their 11-brave and weary men surveyed the massed ranks of Nomads players, they may have wondered why, exactly?

Unprecedented times at Nomads with all 3 mens teams fielding squads of 16. Nomads M2 even had 2 coaches (crocks) on top of their 16 players - and a strong 16 at that.

Not surprisingly Nomads looked fresher from the start, knocking the ball around and looking in complete control. The biggest challenge, for a team un-used to such luxuries, was managing the very-frequent line-up changes as they attempted to fit 5 rolling subs into 6 on-field positions.

Nomads welcomed 2 new recruits amongst those 5 subs – with Alec and Louis both making energetic and skilful debuts.

Midway through the first half one of our Wills (Evans - we had 3 you know) poked the ball through the small gap between the keepers legs after a nice piece of skill, and the deadlock was broken.
Surely more would follow? Another Will (Mort) found himself denied an easy tap in when the whistle blew a split second before, for a short-corner. On a day when the Nomads’ short corner routine was, frankly, rubbish, this was rather unfortunate, and the chance evaporated.

And then mid-way through the 2nd half, our left back Will (Charlton), having kicked the ball skilfully forward, decided to, you know, just carry on going. On, and on, and on. Moving the ball, and his bright red astros, at pace and with dexterity. In, and out, out and in. Until he found himself within, of all places, the Alford D. Deciding it was about time to show our forwards how it should be done, he then slipped the ball past the keeper into the far corner. What scenes! What a goal.

Once recovered from the height-induced nosebleed, and clearly energised by the whole experience, Will (C) embarked on another foray to the baseline. Sensing the barbed danger of another Will charge, an Alford defender stepped across to ensure he would go no further. The resulting short corner award was little justice for our Will’s taste, and his subsequent reaction to said defender earned him deserved 5 minutes rest and recuperation on the side.
So we brought Ellis back on to give him some time at left back, we know he loves playing there, and sacrificed a forward. In fact he did great – and we left him there for a while to give Will (C) more time for some contemplation.

With a brief numerical advantage, Alford suddenly looked livelier, pushing hard towards our D.
Felix dropped his stick, whilst in hot pursuit of an Alford attacker. We could see him wondering for a split second what the appropriate reaction to this unusual situation should be. For the record, he made the right choice and avoided doing anything really stupid. For which we were all grateful. And they didn’t score.

But John did get to make an amazing reaction save from a point-blank range Alford shot.

For the second game in a row Nomads didn’t concede a short corner. But didn’t score one either, despite a LOT of practice.
There was a lot of good hockey on display, and the ability to keep the ball, and keep it moving was good to see. Some solid defending from Alford and they never allowed us to put the game to bed, to their great credit.

The last move of the game summarised the whole match really. A lovely, fast, ranging, flowing Nomads’ move, except for a lack of precision with the final piece (on this occasion straight into the keepers pads).
And then the Doctor lost patience with Farage and consigned him to the bin. It was all over, and Alford began the long traipse home.

Some good candidates there for DoD, and for MoM. Some for both (Will). I’ll let those who played decide.