Romsey mens 4s visited Hamble on Saturday the 5th of October on an overcast autumnal day.
PB was 10.30am and Romsey were blessed with an experienced midfield with Alexis Harris and Jim East controlling things early on.
After 10 mins things were pretty even and Romsey’s defence under the guidance of Lukasz Suleja was coping well and Rob Cav was linking well with Phil Orak who was having a strong start in midfield.
As the half wore on Ben H and Freddie O were working well on the wings getting the ball up to Sean Rawles and Carl Hendy who were finding good positions in the D.
Hamble remained strong however and started to apply a lot of pressure and despite great defending from Pete O’Hara , Nick Cooper and Mike Pooley shots were starting to rain down on the Romsey goal. This forced Ollie O into a string of great saves topped by one shot pushed over the bar with a fully out stretched stick, great reactions!
Hamble came again and the ball fell to their attacker just inside the D and as he wound up for a full hit, Mike Pooley lunged forward to the pitch of the ball and got his stick to it just as the attacker struck it forcing a wicked deflection causing the ball to rear up and strike him above the eye. Mike reeled back stunned but remained on his feet although needed first aid treatment straight away for a nasty cut. ( I am pleased to say after 3 stitches at Winchester hospital he is well)
The pressure finally told and just before half time Hamble scored 1-0!
The second half started well and Romsey were applying good pressure and moving the ball well through midfield with Ben and Alexis H working well to Find Barry H and Phil O who were working hard. On one attack the ball was pulled back to top D and Jim East latched on it and sent the keeper the wrong way and finished coolly 1-1!
This stunned Hamble who upped their game and surged forward forcing more good saves from Ollie O , however he could not keep them all out and Hamble scored two in quick succession 3-1!
Hamble continued their dominance and were moving the ball really well and scored again with a great shot which left Ollie unsighted. 4-1! Romsey weren’t done yet and a quick break from Alexis who found Sean in the D who slotted home calmly 4-2!
Unfortunately this was a false dawn and Hamble went on to score two more in the dying minutes to make the final 6-2.
Man of the match – Ollie O – great performance!
