Five star perfourmance as Sils thrash local rivals

Some outstanding hockey in the first periods of both halves, complemented by an exceptional team effort throughout the 70 minutes, ensured that M4 flattened their local rivals in a pulsating late afternoon encounter.
It was clear from the first whistle that Sils wanted this game more than their opponents, dominating possession from the off as they moved the ball around the pitch quickly and created a couple of chances before John Harrison crashed in the opening goal from the right hand side of the D after only ten minutes. Stunned by this early setback, Olton were unable to force their way back into the game as Sils applied relentless pressure, with Rush & Russell creating havoc at times in the final third of the pitch. The lead was almost doubled after 15 minutes when Dave Higgins deflected a piercing Harrison cross narrowly past the wrong side of a post with his first touch of the game. Minutes later, M4 won their first penalty corner of the game and with it their first opportunity to put into practice one of the moves that they had worked on in training. Seconds later, the team celebrated as a superb injection from JH was controlled by Simon Russell who unleashed a venomous strike past the Olton keeper. As Olton struggled to recover, M4 kept up the pressure and scored a third when Russell notched his second from the team's second penalty corner of the game. Wave after wave of attack continued, and so it was no surprise when Sils scored their fourth of the match and the half, courtesy of a close-range half volley from Keith Willetts.
Whilst half-time gave Sils - and the spectators - an opportunity to catch their breath, M4's teamtalk was all about the importance of repeating the excellent performance of the first 35.
Although Olton started the second half brightly, they struggled to create meaningful chances, whilst Sils continued to make excellent use of their possession, whether using dead ball situations to great effect (Messrs Bettridge & Bates in particular), or wearing out the right hand side of the astroturf pitch as the industrious Matt Lyons and brilliant John Harrison ran past their opponents at will. Sils' fifth goal came after ten minutes when the ball was fed to the ever-dangerous Andy Rush who went on yet another mazy run into the D before drawing and dummying the keeper before rolling the ball into the net as two Olton defenders tried desperately, and unsuccessfully, to stop him.
Olton managed to pull two goals back in the final quarter of the match, but it would not be ungracious to say that this was thanks to an isolated moment of confusion, and some understandably tired Sils legs. As the final whistle blew, the relief on the faces of the Olton players was clear, as was the disappointment of some of the Sils players, who had hoped to score a sixth.
Confidence is understandably high in the M4 camp, but all are firmly agreed that there is absolutely no room for complacency, instead reflecting after the game that whilst the match was won handsomely, the second half was not.
All of the team - the goal scorers, the "assisters", the defenders, the organisers - deserve recognition for their contribution to the performance and the result, and we'll regroup next week for a home game against Sutton Coldfield.