Analysis: Complacency almost costly
On a gloomy and overcast York day, one part of campus seemed to be shining. On the JLD Astroturf, the men’s hockey 1st team were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes of their second round BUSA playoff tie against Scottish University Abertay, and seemed to be cruising towards an easy victory that would ensure their progression in this prestigious competition.
Unfortunately for York, a combination of lacklustre performance and an inspired half time team talk from the Abertay captain provided a tense finale.
From complete dominance of the game to near despair in under an hour, complacency was rife amongst many of the players. York would have been expected to rack up a resounding score line after their blistering start to the fixture but this failed to appear.
Instead, resting on their laurels was the order of the day for much of the team as only an inspiring fight in extra time, led by captain Dan Westley and man of the match Ben Griffiths, stopped York from facing an embarrassing result.
The panic was obvious from the moment Abertay brought a goal back in the early stages of the second half. York’s clever movement and quality possession, which proved so effective in the early stages of the match, seemed to be missing as midfield players Morgan and Walsh looked increasingly jaded and unable to dictate the tempo.
Admittedly, it was not only York’s lack of composure that so nearly cost them but also the spirited reaction of Abertay, a team who showed in the second half that they had not travelled so far for no reason.
However, it must have been the manner of the extremely lacklustre second half, in which the ineffective long-balls that Abertay played up to the front men in the first half began to split the York defence, that will have worried most onlookers.
Westley was unsure of the reasons behind his team’s collapse, stating “It might have been complacency,” whilst also insisting that fitness and lack of stamina may have been other problems: “in the second half you can get tired and we didn’t expect them to come out straight away and put pressure on us as they did.”
Club President Andy Hook was adamant that complacency was not a cause of his team’s troubles, but did admit that “we did not take our chances. Our heads dropped after their first goal.”
However, both did agree on the fact that they were very pleased with the win, proving that the result meant a lot more to them than the way they achieved it.
Yet, if this round proved such a struggle, then both men must question how much further York can get in this competition. With tougher opposition ahead, and the major possibility of tricky away fixtures, the hockey team will have to work hard to ensure that they do not let complacency get the better of them.
If they ever get such a good opportunity again to take a commanding lead early on, they must play to build on it, not to let it slip away so easily.
More importantly, for the near future, if York truly want to win back the Roses title then they must find the correct mental attitude and combine it with their obvious physical and technical talents so as to achieve their full potential.
