If you’d said at the beginning of the day that England would lose the rugby, I’d injure my ribs doing an aerial in the warm-up consigning us to play with the bare 11, we’d lose 4-1 away to Swansea C, and it would rain all day, I wouldn’t have believed you. (Alright, perhaps just the last bit because it always seems to rain when we go to Wales.) It’s difficult to pinpoint where things went wrong. Certainly, we struggled with the newly-laid pitch and the effect of the excess water on ball speed but of course that was the same for both teams. After looking comfortable during the opening salvoes, we went 1-0 down to a well-worked short, and the deficit doubled with a wonder shot from the edge of the D. A swift riposte came when Hobbes drove into the D and reversed to Alex who deflected in. Back in contention until a killer blow just before half-time from another short. The first goal after half-time was crucial but it was in the wrong end for us, a duffed P-flick that had resulted from, you guessed it, another well-worked short corner routine. I suppose in the end the execution of short corners was the difference between the teams but I think we all know that we have played a lot better this season. There were glimpses of flowing hockey but not enough to win the match. A noteworthy performance from James Dent drafted back into defence, but Man of the Match for continued tenacity and skill in midfield was Hobbes. Thanks to everyone for making the journey and great to see everyone back for the nine-chips-and-single-sausage-in-a-box. A hovercraft might have been more appropriate for going back home on the M4.
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