Men’s 4s played Lavant, the league leaders, on Saturday the 26th of October on a fresh Autumnal morning in Chichester.
Push back was 10.30am and Lavant pounced on an early error by the Romsey defence this saw the Lavant centre forward and Captain clean through on goal, with no hesitation he struck crisply into the corner giving Ollie O no chance. 1-0!
This shook Romsey into shape and immediately they started to find space and move the ball down both flanks with Ben Parker and Rob Cavalier distributing well. Midfielders James Butson, Freddie O and Lorne T were working the ball well and getting good delivery into the D.
Lavant were still dangerous on the break and defenders Rob Cav and Lukasz made several great interceptions and a great last gasp tackle from Rob to deny Lavant a clear opportunity.
Romsey were still being positive in attack with midfielders Phil Orak and Mike Pooley backing up the forwards and on one such attack Mike Pooley slid the ball into Sean Rawles who controlled instantly and picked his spot 1-1!
Romsey grew in stature and were tough in the tackle and pressing the game giving Lavant no time on the ball. James Butson, Lorne T and Dan Blackman were terrorising the Lavant defence and great pull back found Rawles in space who shot well only to see the keeper make a great reaction save.
Finally the pressure told and and a great through ball from Lukasz Suleja found a great run from Rawles who took the ball under his spell into the D and hit a stinging shot into the corner, great finish! 2-1!
Halftime came and Romsey were in control and wanted to keep it that way but they had to work hard at the start of the second half as Lavant pressed higher up the pitch but good work in defence from Field, Parker and Suleja kept them at bay.
Romsey were still finding great width and Phil Orak and Lorne T were working well down the right, Lorne found himself in the D and finished smartly into the corner! 3-1!
There was still 15 minutes to go and Lavant were not finished yet and they had a succession of short corners ending with a shot on goal deflecting of a Romsey stick to make it 3-2. Romsey came again with great work from Rawles to force a short corner and in the Melee that followed he quickly reacted to strike the ball home 4-2!
With only minutes to go it was end to end stuff, Lavant were piling on the pressure Ollie O made a fantastic smothering save then got up to make a block. There was nothing he could though however to stop number 20 firing home after a great run. 4-3!
Two minutes to go the Lavant players started to loose discipline and were shouting at each other, Romsey remained Solid and pulled off a great win to get their season up and running.
Final score Romsey 4-3 Lavant
Men of the match – the whole team ! Great team effort
Honourable mention to hatrick man Sean Rawles- great finishing
