Men’s Hockey 1sts: St John snatch point with second half comeback
York 1sts 2-2 St John 1sts
A pulsating encounter on the JLD Astroturf saw York St John snatch a deserved late equalizer in a dramatic finish to complete a remarkable second-half comeback.
York had the better of the cagey opening stages, and St John struggled to get the ball out of their half. However, York were unable to make full use of this early territory, with Ally Morgan mishitting a difficult chance on goal.
The match was brought to life by skillful midfielder Billy Walsh, who scored a remarkable, if somewhat fortuitous, solo goal. He set off on a mazy run, beating several St John defenders before seeming to have come to a dead-end wide out on the edge of the D. Instead, he reverse his stick and hit the ball into the ground. The ball looped over the keeper from a seemingly impossible angle into the goal.
Walsh was instrumental in York’s 1st half attacking play, tormenting the St John defense with his mazy dribbling and deft passes. He almost created another goal, when he released Ed Watson with a really incisive through-ball. However, Watson shot straight at the St John keeper, then managed to put the rebound wide from less than five yards out.
Watson managed to get on the scoresheet after St John failed to clear a York short-corner effectively, which doubled York’s lead heading into half-time. If York had fully taken advantage of their possession and territory, the score could have been a lot more.
However, York St John came out firing in the second half, clearly galvanised by their half-time teamtalk. They scrapped and worked hard but still didn’t look likely to score. Their first goal came as a bit of a surprise, as they managed to score from another short corner inefficiently cleared, this time by York. As St John pushed for an equaliser, the York players started to show signs of pressure. Several also started to look tired, and York made full use of the rolling substitutions.
Despite having far less territory or possesion, exceptional last-ditch York defending kept St John at bay until the final minutes, when the defense, which had been looking increasingly tense and nervous as the match wore on, finally collapsed, allowing St John to snatch a point. Both teams had further chances to win the game in an end-to-end finish, but the draw was probably a fair result.
York captain James Hume conceded that his side had “let the pressure off” in the second half, and had “started playing individually, not as a team”, while describing himself as “gutted” that they hadn’t held on to achieve victory at the end of the match.
Team Line-upGK – Will Gibaud, Josh Beale, Rob Newton, Ollie Hughes, Dave Barber, Mike Giblin, Ally Morgan, Rich Adleman, Andy McIlwraith, Billy Walsh, James Hume (capt), Ed Watson
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