M4 sink Stratford in 5 goal thriller

So entertaining was this game that - had it been a football match - it would have been featured first on "Match of the Day", with spectators and players alike rushing to record the game so that they could watch the best bits over and over again. But, this isn't football, and there were no TV cameras around, so you'll just have to settle for reading this match report, which may well end up being longer than one of Yogi's emails.
And so to the game, in which M4 recorded their fourth consecutive home league win, and their fifth in six league games, as they edged Stratford out of a pulsating match @ the Sils. Sils' starting line-up contained several changes, with Higgins back after injury but Aylin, Dwyer and Jackman missing from the mighty 4s squad.
As has often been the case this season, M4 took time to get into their stride, and were punished twice in the first quarter of the game as their opponents moved the ball around effectively and created clear-cut goal scoring opportunities. The first goal followed a defensive lapse from which Stratford earned their first short corner of the game. Although Sils broke down the first phase of play, Stratford scored from the second phase when they squeezed the ball inside the right hand post. Whilst Sils responded by creating some decent chances that Rush and Willetts went close with, it was Stratford who perhaps surprisingly scored the next goal of the game.
Until this point M4 had lacked their usual fluency and structure, despite having had an equal amount of possession. However, this quickly started to change, as Stratford found themselves increasingly on the back foot for the remainder of the first half. Sils pushed menacingly down both sides of the pitch, and Russell & Harrison making good use of the ball in both midfield and the final third of the pitch to feed Rush & Willetts. It was from one of these attacks that M4 won their first short corner, halving the deficit when Harrison injected the ball to Russell, who confused the defence by passing the ball straight back to JH, who fired the ball past an advancing keeper. As the game edged towards the interval, John Harrison picked the ball up midway inside Stratford's half, took it into the D and fended off a dangerous challenge from a Stratford defender before sending a crisp shot past the keeper into the net. Much to his, and M4's frustration though, the whistle was blown for a short corner just before he took the shot and so the goal was not allowed. However, justice was served from the resulting short corner - Sils' second of the game - when Simon Russell fired the ball past Stratford's defence, seconds before the half-time whistle blew.
Another purposeful teamtalk at half-time set Sils up, with the mighty 4s emerging for the second half with a focused game plan, and a belief that the game was winnable. However, the absence of Shaun's hairdryer confused many of the Sils players, so much so that the second half had to be restarted after confusion regarding the "pushback". Throughout the second 35 Sils played some excellent hockey, testing the opposition keeper regularly, forcing five short corners and enjoying the majority of possession thanks to a disciplined and highly organised performance from all 11 players, but in particular the industrious and skilful Matt Lyons. The decisive goal in the game - Sils' third - was a lovely piece of play, a 1-2 interchange between Bates & Harrison wIth Bates unleashing a vicious shot just as the ball entered the D.
Sils had other chances to double their lead, not least from the shooting opportunities afforded to Willetts, Rush, Russell & Higgins following short corners, but it was to be that "the blaster from Bates" (this time during a game rather than during the half-time team talk) was enough to bag the points for the home team. M4s climb up the table continues but there is a week off now, so time for injured players to recover before the next battle, home to Worcester 7s.