Mens 1st XI
Matches
Sat 04 Nov 2017  ·  Division 1
Cambridge Nomads Hockey Club
Mens 1st XI
2
3
Upminster 1
Cambridge Nomads vs Upminster

Cambridge Nomads vs Upminster

Mike Longson6 Nov 2017 - 22:56
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Plenty of fireworks, before the fireworks

Cambridge Nomads 1st XI 2 – 3 Upminster 1st XI

Saturday 4 November 2017

Played at Coldham’s

Scorers: Jack Franklin & Richard Lloyd

Man of the Match: Jack Franklin

Long before the fireworks had gone off on midsummer common on a chilly Cambridge night there were fireworks of a different kind at Coldham’s as Cambridge Nomads hosted Upminster. Both teams had made promising starts to the season but it was the impressive miserly nature of Upminster that caught the attention of many of the players before the game. Upminster had only conceded 13 goals in a division that has seen over six goals per game on average. It was clear they were going to be well organised and tough to break down.

The game started at a bright pace with both teams moving the ball with speed and purpose. In truth it was probably the home side that was the most threatening in terms of possession and chances created in the final third of the pitch. But it was Upminster who took the lead from a short corner as Cipa scored the first of his hatrick with a dragged strike that ended up in the bottom corner. Cipa’s second came ten minutes after the first goal after an intercepted pass on the half way line which was carried a few yards before being drilled towards the top of the D, deflected to the back post before being swept in for a 2-0 lead.

At half time, the chat in the Cambridge Nomads goal centred around not being disheartened by the score line, to continue doing the good things we had been doing and maybe be more clinical in front of goal. The Upminster goalkeeper was not being shy coming off his line and was making the angle difficult to pass it round him and end up in a goal. A very positive opening ten minutes for Cambridge Nomads looked certain to make the score line 2-1 when Martin Hammon skilfully took himself to the baseline where he slipped the ball passed the keeper to the back post where Richard Lloyd and Alex James were unable to convert the promising start to the second half into halving the deficit.

To make matters worse, Upminster went straight down the other end of the pitch and won a short corner. A well worked routine slipped the ball left for Cipa to complete his hatrick and put the game to bed. This seemed even more nailed on when Alex James got a green card which was converted into a red after dissent towards the umpire. These cards made all the more frustrating as they came off the back of an award of a free hit to Cambridge Nomads.

At this point Cambridge Nomads were inspired. Sam Walker-Farrant really stepped up and provided an inspiring performance from centre midfield. He and Jack Franklin linked up on several occasions to threaten the Upminster goal, the latter eventually scoring with a confident finish to give the home side a glimmer of hope with ten minutes to go. Five minutes later and Richard Lloyd, captain, scored with an audacious touch with his reverse stick to deflect the ball into the goal and reduce the deficit to one.

Cambridge Nomads threw everything at the goal in the final five minutes. This was made all that much harder as they were reduced to nine men for the final few minutes as Martin Hamon was awarded a yellow card for reacting to an altercation with an Upminster defender. They came close to scoring, leaving just one man back defending for most of the dying moments, but were unable to earn a point as an eventful game came to a close.

When the dust had settled after the game, Richard Lloyd tried to search for words to describe the rollercoaster of a game. He finally congratulated the team for a fantastic fight back and final twenty minutes; but asked for the team to find motivation for such a performance before we go 3-0 down and before knowing we have to complete the game with at least ten men.

Plenty of positives and lessons to learn which I am sure Ravi Mahendra, coach, will be keen to focus on before training on Tuesday night and a second trip to the Olympic Stadium next Saturday against Wapping 3’s.

Match details

Match date

Sat 04 Nov 2017

Kickoff

12:30

Competition

Division 1

League position

4
Upminster 1
9
Cambridge Nomads 1
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Kit Supplier - Mr Cricket Hockey
Physiotherapy - Injury active