Stop Press - Rice passes and scores

It was a wet evening at the Theatre of Dreams, and it was 11 good men who arrived - as did the visitors from Northampton. They are a good bunch who play hard - and then enjoy a few shandies after. The doyen of weather forecasting 'Shefali' Danks predicted that we may have missed the predicted storm. This was at 7.45pm. By 8pm, the heavens had opened and it was coming down like stair rods.
Considering the appalling conditions, the Sils started well, and the forward line looked sharp. Right Said Fred was actually playing with his head and looked a menace down to the left. Danks and the redoubtable Sam Stephen were always a threat. After 12 minutes, Stephen showed a lot of heart and a ton of courage to wade through the standing water to slip it past the Northampton keeper just before he was flattened. 1-0 and hopes were high. Back came Northampton with two well worked goals just before Half Time, and this was a touch harsh. As the rain intensified, the aching limbs of the Veterans began to rust in the rain. Nobby began to act like the Tin Woodman from the Wizard of Oz - not helped by the blow from a wild Northampton strike. Fortunately, we equalised just before half time when Danks struck home.

Half time was brief as we considered whether having a team talk or building an Ark was a better option. The second half however was an excellent performance. All the forwards clicked into gear, and we scored a lovely goal when Danks and Stephen combined for a great goal. Then it was 3-3 again - and the limps were becoming more pronounced. Then we had 20 minutes of 'Total Hockey'. There was passing, there was shooting and there was beauty. The highlight was a passing move involving John Rice (!!!!!!-Ed), and a great finish to make it 4-3. Two more goals followed courtesy of the flamboyant Thurman, and the Sils looked great. 6-3 was a fair reflection until the last 5 minutes when Northampton suddenly laid siege to the Sils goal. Some good work by Jim Goldstraw and the defence kept them out. Finally, the umpires drew the game to a conclusion before anyone drowned in the deluge. Man of the Match votes were close and it was the deserving Worcester player who won. Northampton stayed for a good while, and it was a lovely evening. We do it all again next week when maybe our beloved leader Perkins will have returned. Three wins out of four now.