Sils thrills overpower Stour

Happy New year one and all.
It was a an excited Vets team that gathered at the Stephen Tabb Theatre of Dreams on Wednesday. First reason for being excited - they had all survived Christmas (including the unavailable Oppenheimer who still had all his toes). Secondly, it was against the formidable visitors from the Real Madrid of local hockey - Stourport. It is always a battle with Sils often coming off second.
With this in mind, Cap'n Gary Perkins had picked a team with limited numbers of defenders. Attack was to be the watchword, and the first ten minutes was (cue Dutch accent) 'sexxxy hoccckey'. It was reminiscent of the great Ajax side of the 1970s - and Sam Stephen was at the heart of the good stuff. Gandalf was always a threat down the right with some surging runs, and Mark Duvet was straight into the new year with some crunching tackles. Sils went 1-0 up after 12 minutes. Bad mistake really. Stourport awoke like Smaug when Bilbo nicked his golden cup. Suddenly they went through the gears, and were attacking up the left when - for some bizarre reason - the Sils subbed their right back. In the confusion that followed, Stourport levelled as the CF was suddenly in 27 miles of space (can you tell its the 'keeper writing this report.
Sils responded well. A Mr Messy short corner was slammed home to make it 2-1. Back cam Stour again. Another break, another goal. It was exciting stuff for the large crowd of a yellow bib and three empty crisp packets. Half time arrived and the hostilities were held in abeyance while nonsense was talked about in the goal.
The second half was a thriller. Mrs Perkins arrived to cheer on the boys, and Sils combined some threatening attacks with some desperate defence as Stour attacked in waves much like the Red Army did at Kursk in 1943. Chris Thompson was putting his beard and body on the line, and Simon Russell worked hard to snaffle the attacks down the right. Nick Danks was also being battered as he pushed for more goals. He gave more blood than Tony Hancock (a pint? that's very nearly an armful!!!). Mr Messy and the Blood Donor scored again, before the Champagne moment arrived courtesy of Tchakhotine who ran three miles, beat 8 players, and then smashed an Exocet in to make it the unlikely scoreline of 5-2. Stour by now were frustrated. They continued to threaten but the defence held firm and Jim Goldstraw (Strawbs??? - Really???) made some good saves. The visitors had 11 short corners, but all were dealt with. The highlight was a spectacular clearance by John X Scott off the line. A great moment for old folk everywhere. Stourport managed to score a third just before the end, but that was it. 5-3 and a great moment for sport.
So we retired to the bar. Two goals for Stephen, two for Dre and one from Danks made it a great day for my fantasy league. Right Said Fred failed to score (fail!) and questions need to be asked about his position in the team. He is on trial next week.
So the bar was a cheerful place. It was nice to beat the old nemesis, and they took it well over pork baps and chips. Man of the match was interesting as Dre and Chris and Sam were in the frame. Dre deservedly won, and it was good to see red trousers in abundance.

So it will be Worcester next week. In the meantime I am going to try and think of a nickname for everyone so these reports become even more confusing.