Old Silhillians 5s 2 (1) - (0) 0 Northampton 6s

Goalscorer: Dan Bridges x 2

The 5s are playing in a higher division this season, and whilst their first league game was a real baptism of fire, but with the first league point on the table the previous week, the team went into this game with a renewed sense of optimism. With the Captain, John Scott, still absent, Ian Wilson took the reins, ably assisted by his Team Manager - James.

Wilson had a mixture of youth and experience to call upon, with Chairman Tabb stepping into goal for the first league match of his season, and the goal machine Bridges leading the front line alongside Chad Campbell, Dave Burton and himself in defence, and then Kam Morajkar, Jonny Dugdale, Douglas Sithole and the returning Steve Aylin in midfield and the forward line. The structure that these more experienced heads provided was key to the eventual success of the team.

However, it was the youngsters that shone, particularly with Man of the Match Ben White being superb in the first half, not only breaking up many attacks from the opposition, but also helping out to work the ball forwards from his CB position, combining well with the ever willing Dan Ward and Logan Spain. The visitors probably had 65% of possession in the first half, but Tabb marshalled (yelled at) his defence, and they stood firm. This was enough to create a platform for the team to begin to attack from, and in possibly only their second attack of the game, the Northampton side gave Dan Bridges just half a yard too much space and he hammered home a reverse stick shot to give the Sils a 1-0 lead at half-time.

With the Chairman providing some "constructive" advice at half-time, the second half was a much more controlled affair for the Sils. Dan Garstang started contributing well down the right, and the team played some great hockey. The very good (but quite small) visiting keeper had to make some good saves, but was not able to keep out Bridges for his second with about 4 minutes to go after an initial fantastic save, following a great quick break down the right, initiated by Kam Morajkar, which secured the first 3 points for this developing 5th team in this new higher division.

A great team performance, which was well controlled, and offers a strong path forwards for the team as they look to develop around the strong core that they showed this week.