Hockey: Men’s 3rds continue unbeaten streak

The mighty Men’s 3rds continued their fine form on and off the pitch by laying down a marker to their ULU rivals. Designer V scored an early brace before a potential comeback by Kings was snuffed out by a counter attack fortuitously finished off by B Tablet.

Straight from the push off IC broke with pace and forced an early short corner. Looking to make a mark on the game the Men’s 3s pulled out the infamous sex panther short corner routine. This led to our illustrious captain driving his finish into the bottom left after a brilliant assist from A Beads.

Following this period of early domination, IC continued to stamp their authority on the match as they kept possession for long periods. Hard work lead to many more scoring opportunities but the final ball was always lacking. Seeing that King’s were putting 10 men behind the ball, IC knew that set pieces would be their best opportunity to score again and pressed hard for another short corner.

This tactic quickly paid dividends as Cockerel drove into the circle and with a quick change of direction planted the ball on a King’s defender’s foot for the second short of the game. Another sweet routine ended with Fresher Tom’s beautiful pull back providing a golden opportunity for Designer V. This was duly converted and IC went 2-0 up with just 15 minutes played.

Arrogance started to drift into IC’s play and they were made to pay as they gifted a goal to their opponents. What should have been a routine interception from B Tablet resulted in a simple tap in for the King’s striker with virtually his first touch of the ball.

IC quickly rallied, and their next goal again came from a set piece but this time from a King’s one. Defending a short corner IC won the ball back thanks to a champion diving tackle by Fritzl (which is becoming somewhat of a weekly fixture). A pinpoint hit from Bottle Top found Fresher November, whose accurate pass pierced through the King’s defence and landed perfectly on B Tablet’s stick. Facing a one on one in the D, B Tablet shot straight at the keeper, but in true 3s style he followed up and, somewhat fortuitously, scored his first ever goal. Try as they might, IC couldn’t add to their tally and went into the break 3-1 up.

The second half was a rather stale affair with neither team able to create many chances. Of the two King’s created, one was fantastically snuffed out by Fresher Alex’s covering tackle. The other one lead to Sifter getting his first touch of the ball as, with tiger-like reflexes, he dived to his right knocking a scorching shot round the post. IC’s best chance of the half came from Brickney after a one-two with Teabag left him with a tough reverse stick shot that shook the cross bar.

Following the match, Kings foolishly challenged IC to a boat race hoping to regain some pride. With confidence still oozing from the 3’s after victory on the pitch Gingypop’s stormer lead IC to their second win of the day.