After a hotly contested warm-up involving drama, Nurofen and one sore foot the mighty OCs were ready to take on a strong Henley XI. Not for the fainthearted, the game lived up to our expectations with us dominating for long passages of play. Solid tackling from the back four of Heardie, Cato, Matt and Darren kept the attack at bay for four minutes until Cato saw the impending clouds and decided the new OCs bench coat was more appealing – Closey joined the defence and it never looked back.
Ingenuity, slight of foot, and top-drawer skills saw the midfield of CB, Packers, Wizzer, Rippers, Grimmer and Rich continually ask questions of the Henley defence: some were more politely answered than others. Nige, in goal, kept the defence on their toes and the attackers on the floor as he dominated his ‘D’, prowling like an animal that had recently escaped from a Scottish zoo.
Tactics were the order of the day as midfield fed wave after wave of forward attack. Hunting the first goal, the forward line of Gerry, Gav and JJ enjoyed having, for once, more pace than their oppo. End-to-end hockey ensued and the visitors took an early lead.
Blowing hard, hamstrings at full stretch, Gav snuck the first past the keeper who was, by his own admission, put off by the excess material blowing in the wind of Gav’s 1960s shirt. All too soon for the Henley defence, Whizzer popped up to slot the second; a neatly worked goal from the midfield with a sprinkling of magic and a lot of hail. Silencing the crowd – of three – the mighty OCs were now in full control of the game; or so it seemed until the Henley team clawed a goal back midway through the second half. Emotions were running high as Henley produced some strong play and even stronger tackles and struck back with five minutes to go to take the game to level. Midfield dominance saw Rippers diving to score and take the glory. Enter a big foot and the scene was set for Packers to step up and lead us victory. Never in doubt, the ball rifled passed the keeper and Whizzer was able to smile again. To the next round we march on!