Some supreme organisation and cat-herding ensured 14 Nomads were on the pitch a good 15 minutes before the start-time. This should be quietly celebrated.
Duly inspired, the Nomads raced into a very early lead. Apparently.
And apparently, Paul and Rich have this non-verbal remote communication mechanism. Without speaking, Paul can, and did, request delivery of his preferred location and velocity of pass from our Southern comrade. And then skilfully under-edge said perfect delivery, past the slightly befuddled Ely keeper, in a glorious hockey moment. At least that’s how he tells it. Unfortunately, a skill that is so rare, by nature, is rarely seen. But should be cherished.
Also unfortunate, was that Matty (busy warming up on pitch-side) didn’t see, or believe in this unexpected occurrence. And therefore, it simply can’t be allowed. Ely readily agreed with his wisdom, and so didn’t register this mythical goal in the GMS scoreline.
Maybe, just maybe, it didn’t happen. Maybe it really was just a dream. But that means I am dreaming of Paul scoring goals. Which is, frankly, alarming.
After this sprightly opening, a competitive game of hockey continued. And 8 minutes later parity was restored with a scrappy Ely equaliser. With apologies to Ely, who probably recorded it as a hockey masterpiece.
Toby played a whole game at right-back, and came in more than one (two) physical manifestations. A bit like Dr Who. Both of whom surprised Ely with their tenacity in the tackle and willingness to get forward. And then morph into a new form. Mythical indeed. Well done (both Toby H and Toby C). Freddie injected some youthful enthusiasm to the midfield (much needed), and ex-Nomad Spence was very disrespectful to his old teammates, especially one of the senior members.
Tim (his elder and better) and Spence (but a miscreant youth) had a good old tangle in the middle of the pitch.
The other ex-Nomad (Wellsy) in Ely’s ranks also entertained in his tussle with ex-teammate, Mercurial-Ganj. Both were able to challenge the other at times, both showing their enduring class.
Rick did nothing other than tackle cleanly and expertly. Setting a Captain’s example, with his restraint towards umpires. Who were excellent.

Sadly, after an even 1st half, and a good 20 minutes in the 2nd half, there was no further reward, no telepathic inter-communication to out-fox the Ely defence, and several openings had yielded nothing.
The last 10-15 mins went a little awry. After bravely resisting several heart-in-mouth goalmouth scrambles with heroic defending (that’s you, Tim, John, Barry, Matty, Tobys), one such scramble ended with the ball spinning, agonisingly slowly, across the line.
Nomads threw a light kitchen sink forward in pursuit of an equalizer. But tired limbs didn’t have quite enough, and in the final minute the Ely right wing ran through several attempts to stop him, and slotted expertly into the backboard. A harsh end. In truth Ely were slightly better than us, but small margins, and a harsh scoreline, in a game we could have won, and could have drawn. But we lost.
Toby H won a tight race for the Man of the Match, Well played sir. And I think Nomads Alumni Spence was cruelly awarded the special ex-Nomad DoD award for felling our senior citizen, and being subsequently green carded for persistent inadvertent hacking of Nomad sticks! Luv ‘ya, Dave! X
And well done to Ely. A game played in good spirit.