Pennant A v MCC
They say dreams can come true. They certainly didn’t at 12:30pm on Saturday April 19th at Melbourne High School for the Kew Men’s Pennant A side. What started as a promising Saturday for Hockey, sunshine, crisp warmth soon turned nasty.
Kew were well on top in general play for the first 20 minutes with Reid (The Flash), Bluey, Buxey, Tanman and Jase all combining well up front to put MCC under considerable pressure but we were unable to find the net.
At the 20 minute mark and completely against the run of play, MCC obtained a run of five extremely favourable umpiring decisions that led to a goal that could only be described as complete and utter a*#s. ‘It was complete and utter a*#s’ one spectator said.
With another very unlucky goal shortly after, Kew went into the half time huddle trailing 2 – 0.
It was hoped that our higher level of skill, better fashion sense, looks and sense of humour would turn the tables in the second half. Whether it was the fact we had no interchange or were tired is not known but the second half signalled the start of one of the most infamous collapses seen on a hockey pitch. I’m not sure whether the end score was 5 or 6 Nil and I don’t really care.
Just like every cloud has a silver lining, there were some performances worth mentioning. Mike Doherty, Matty Gale, Bluey and Alex Tann all showed maturity beyond their years against a much older and experienced opposition.
Chucky also showed good strength in the net with a score line that did not do his efforts justice.
Nick Reid also kindly apologised after the match for his self implosion on the field which included numerous expletives, one lost mouthguard, a damaged hockey stick and cracked bricks along the sideline.
Whilst it was a tough loss, the inclusion of Simon Cleave into the team ensured that the mood remained jovial with repeated gags and good old Cleavey one liners.
