Nomads fail to stay afloat in Potters Bar

Nomads 1st XI struggled to cope with a direct style of hockey from Potters Bar on a miserable afternoon in North London, losing 6-1.

Despite a pleasant woodland walk from the car park, the pitch itself was framed by the monotonous M25 while the rain fell steadily from rather gloomy skies. However, Nomads, as always, set off in high spirits on a fast slick pitch. After some early skirmishes, the teams looked fairly even until the opposition, playing with three very high forwards, attacked with some old fashioned route one hockey, and Nomads found themselves 3 goals down and slightly off the pace.

Just before half-time, Nomads pulled one back, after a neat reverse dink from Sugi beat the goalie, and following an honest team talk by the skipper, Nomads raised their game for the second half.

By now, the rain had switched from steady to monsoon, but with Will's new shoes glowing like a beacon, Nomads persevered and began to generate more chances; a well-worked short corner saw Martin hit the crossbar and several crosses just missed their receiver in the D.

Unfortunately at the other end, the flurry of hamstring injuries across the back line, which prevented Wattsy from starting and Wellsy from finishing, was equalled by the number of tap ins Potters Bar scored, and the final scoreline ensured it was a disappointing end to the half-term week.

Thank you to Ganja for the match report

MoM: Ganja for usual quality performance
DoD: Felix - according to Martin, falling over, running away from the umpire, being scared of puddles and giving the oppo a long corner.