Nomads Twos see off Alford 4-3

Faraway Alford visited Coldhams, but only bringing 10 men. Tactically, Alford played an excellent game - their goals came from surging fast breaks. Their two very fast forwards caused plenty of problems.

So, let's discuss those goals. The first one came as a result of Rick picking off an Alford pass coming out of their defence. He passed to Arthur at the top of the D. He was 2 on 1 against the Alford keeper and he slotted to Matthew patiently waiting on the back post to push in.

Then, our defensive-midfielder dynamo, Tim suffered a hamstring strain. Alford recovered one before half-time and put themselves ahead after the restart. This goal kick started fifteen minutes of dominating Nomads’ play in which we kept the ball whilst probing Alford’s defence. If our attack was stopped, the ball was constantly recycled through Rick and Ed in the middle. Excellent 11-on-10 man hockey.

Max was unfortunate to clonk the goal post as a result of a cross from the right hand side. Nomads’ second goal was a re-enactment of the first goal. Arthur was at the top of a crowded D, but spotted Sugi on the back post, hovering with intent. Gently weighed pass (just weighted enough!) allowed Sugi to guide the ball in.

The third goal came from open play. The ball fell to Arthur in the D who crashed into the goal just above the backboards, into the side netting – very satisfying to the author! Nomads’ last goal came from a turnover deep in Nomads half. With a sprint on, Arthur managed to get past the Alford midfielder and slotted to Tom on the left. Tom drew the keeper and laid it off beautifully to Rick on his right who made no mistake.

As Nomads thought we were coasting home, Alford pulled one back to keep the excitement of the eager fans on the side line. In the end, Nomads did enough to win 4-3. Man of the match was Jez who played out of his skin: he was absolutely redoubtable in defence, perfectly timing his tackles to pick the ball off his opposite man time and time again.