2 points slip as M2s learn some valuable lessons

On a cold Saturday afternoon that saw a number of games cancelled, the game between Sils M2s and Market Drayton went ahead as planned. Sils were boosted by the return of several key players back from recent first team duty call up, but also continued to put their faith in the upcoming talents of their youngsters who made their debut last week.

Last week's man of the match Brindley Jones was back in goal behind the back line of the returning Matthew Deakin, Sam Howe and veteran Chris Thompson. 15 year old Nick Rice was in the starting line up yet again after showing his potential as the future right back for the club's top teams. The midfield four of Mark Dovey, Mo Hadian, Dave Bayliss and Josie O'Malley formed the diamond behind the front pair of Danny Nicoll and Luke Kent. The bench looked strong too with youngsters Sam Johnstone and Jake Johnstone earning themselves a place in the squad after impressing last week. They were joined by the other youthful pair of Nick Oppenheimer and fantasy hockey league's man of the moment Richard Thurman.

Sils got off to a flying start with 2 fantastic attacks on the right following great movement from Nick Rice and Danny Nicoll who looked a constant threat in the opening 15 minutes. On the left hand side Josie O'Malley showed what Sils had been missing in his absence with his trickery and quick turns which allowed Luke Kent to make his dangerous runs into the D cutting back into the defender's feet and earning a valuable short corner. The game plan was getting executed to perfection as Sils were looking to create chances and win more short corners than their previous 2 games where they only managed 2. A smooth push out and stop by Mark Dovey allowed Mo Hadian to open the scoring with another thunderous strike down the middle for a deserved 1-0 lead. Moments later, Sils doubled their lead, and it was that man Mo Hadian again who seemed to be finding his scoring touch for his 11th league goal of the season. Still some way off his 20 goals last season but with team confidence growing there was still plenty of time in this match to go on and score more. Josie O'Malley once again showed his magic in midfield to set off Mo Hadian on the left of the D, allowing him to cut back and shoot on the turn to rattle the Drayton backboard again.

They say a two goal lead is the most dangerous lead in any sport and it proved to be true again today. Once Sils were 2-0 up there were elements of complacency and lack of finishing sharpness which became evident as it looked like they were going to cruise without any effort. Dave Bayliss was constantly supplying dangerous balls in the opposition D but the forwards were guilty of not quiet connecting with these as they weren't getting themselves in the right places. The defence had looked pretty comfortable up to this point but Drayton quickly pulled a goal back after Sils failed to clear the ball out of the 25 on several occasions. Having got themselves back to 2-1 after 20 minutes Drayton pushed on to capitalise on their momentum as keeper Brindley Jones started to get called into action. He was able to control the scoreline but it was Sam Howe who made a crucial goal line clearance of a ball that looked certain to be in from a Drayton short corner. Sils were able to finish the half strong again with Nick Oppenheimer and Richard Thurman rotating up front and Sam Johnstone into the midfield.

Sils started the second half 2-1 up and it should have been 3 as yet again Mo Hadian and Danny Nicoll were unable to connect with Dave Bayliss' wonder balls into the D. The positive was that the chances were coming on the right form Nick Rice and Danny Nicoll, and on the left with Luke Kent and Matthew Deakin. Defensive wise for the Sils Chris Thompson was looking solid and generally seeing out the danger together with good support from Mark Dovey. However, Sils were made to pay for missed chances earlier as Drayton put the pressure on and eventually another ball that failed to be cleared fell to the opposition's forward who had time on his hand and was able to pick his spot from close range and bring this game back to 2-2.

This was a wake up call for the Sils as they pressed on to up their game yet again, this time winning a short corner with 15 minutes to go. Having striked the first 2 at goal, Sils were able to vary their routine brilliantly and slip the ball back to the injector Nick Oppenheimer who kept his cool to finish and put Sils back up at 3-2. Another brilliant attack followed with some accurate and sharp passing that quickly saw the ball transfer from Sils defence into attack allowing Richard Thurman to manufacture a begging ball across the face of the goal beyond the Drayton keeper. Danny Nicoll, having done all the hard work to get to the right position to connect with this cross, did everything right but to put the ball in the back of the net as somehow he missed the open goal from 2 yards out.

With 70 minutes getting closer, Sils were now in control and seeing the clock out, but there was still time for another lesson to be learnt: taking ownership of your free hits! Having done some brilliant possession control in the last minutes in the right corner Richard Thurman and Mo Hadian both ran away to get into attacking positions from a free hit that was given to them by the umpire by the Drayton D. The umpire overturned the decision for time wasting and the ball was back with the opposition. They attacked one last time but once again Chris Thompson came out on top winning the ball. It looked to be all over as they saw the attack out and tried to pass the ball across the defence when an uncharacteristic error saw Sam Howe dispossessed at the edge of the D allowing the Drayton attackers to square the ball to the far post where the now unmarked man was able to tap in and make it 3-3 right on the final whistle. As Drayton roared into celebration, Sils were left devastated at losing out on much needed maximum points in what now felt like a defeat.

Despite this there were plenty of positives that Sils will now have to take to their next game, including their creativity and attacking play, winning short corners when being the right option. Lessons learnt included how not to get complacent and push on and take chances to score, and communicate better with team mates and take ownership of free hits. There were great performances all over the park today, but Nick Rice's show at right back was the one that stood out, earning him man of the match in only his 2nd game for the M2s.