Solid Start for Sils Men's 1st XI

By the time the Sils gathered for the start of their league campaign the 1st XI had already tasted a hat-trick of competition success, winning the Mercian Summer League West Midlands Division, the Mercian Summer League Warwickshire Playoffs and the inaugural Warwickshire Cup. The team was also unbeaten in 7 local pre-season friendly matches including oppositions from Olton, Hampton, Solihull School and Bromsgrove School.

Expectations at Copt Heath were therefore high as Finchfield visited for the Sils’ first league match of the season. Finchfield looked sharper in the first ten minutes seemingly due to the home side sitting out the first round of league matches a week earlier. A string of top class saves from local keeper Chris Wallis maintained the deadlock. The Sils then took control of the game and created a number of chances from open play. With Finchfield now restricted to the odd breakaway attack, the Solihull side opened the scoring from a Dan Sulway PC conversion. A second drag flick from the player coach followed shortly and the first half finished with the home team deservedly 2-0 up. The second half was tighter as Sulway continued to lead by example matching Finchfield’s 2 goals to twice restore the Sils’ 2 goal cushion and close out a 4-2 win. Man of the Match honours were awarded to Wallis for his early saves denying Finchfield the chance to open the scoring.

A full set of 11 fixtures next weekend means plenty of chances to catch some hockey at Copt Heath over the weekend, the burning question being… how many goals will Sulway need to score to bag Man of the Match?