Great 2nd Half Fightback against the Old Enemy

The Men's 1st XI continued their successful pre-season preparation, and also demonstrated the strength in depth of their squad with their latest mid-week game in front of a very large crowd (around 50). Even though they had made a number of changes from the side that comfortably beat Tamworth at the weekend, they still registered a victory against local rivals Olton & West Werwickshire - which was even more impressive considering they were 2-0 down at half-time.

The changes to the side obviously affected the home team slightly, as, whilst they had good possession, they could not quite find the killer touch to give them the lead their possession deserved in the first 20 minutes. All the while, Olton themselves looked dangerous on the break.

As it was, a quick Olton break led to Sils seemingly having blunted the attack, only for Dave Baylis to stand on the ball in the D and concede their first penalty corner of the game. The Olton routine was slick, and the drag-flick found the bottom corner. A few minutes later, and the visitors were 2-0 up; the ball being turned over in midfield due to slow ball pace from the back, and Olton made the most of it, with a slick passing move which resulted in one of their county juniors, Elliot Peat, slotting home into an empty net.

The half-time team talk obviously worked though, as within minutes of the re-start, Sils had halved the defecit - the 3/4 press worked perfectly and Andre Tchakhotine was able to pick up a loose pass across the top of the Olton D and rifle home before the keeper had chance to react.

The Sils sensed a way back into the game, and a few minutes later, due to good pressing work again, Conor Jones and Chris Ready combined down the right to turn the ball over down the Olton left, and a few seconds later, Matt Rivers was on hand to score in an open net after good attacking play down the Sils right.

With 12 minutes to go, the game was getting very stretched, with gaps appearing in both teams' midfield areas, but it was Sils who showed more composure, and with a quick side-line ball being taken, they forced an error with the Olton right-back not retreating 5m, giving the umpire no choice but to award the PC. This was despatched in emphatic style by an "old-school" Max Levenger straight-strike into the bottom corner.

The home side were now sensing victory, but Olton were having none of it. Within minutes they had equalised - they were able to work the ball through the right channel, and with Sils' defenders missing a couple of opportunities to clear, another of Olton's young county players, Adam Smith, made them pay by firing home past the despairing Chris Wallis in goal.

However, the game was not dead yet, and with 7 minutes to play, in probably the Sils' best attacking move of the game, Matt Rivers broke down the left, and exchanged passes with James Sloane before finding Andre Tchakhotine in acres of space in the Olton D to calmly slot home the winner.

A very well contested game, between two sides keen to play hockey, but the home team's superior experience and composure levels, particularly in the final 23m area, proved to be the difference.