1st Team Vs Newtown

Old Wulfs made the arduous journey to Newtown in there furthest away trip of the season. The day began with a series of "is the game still on?" As a fluttering of snow had Dave Cartwright convinced Newtown would be 6 feet under in snow and thus no hockey possible, however Newtown's captain had assured Old Wulfs that Newtown was indeed Cold and miserable and that the game was definitely on. 

Upon the teams arrival in Newtown it became apparent that certain members of the team had not packed their bags correctly and had forgot items of clothing they would surely need for the game. Palmer without socks had to resort to a regular white sock and tape combo to ensure his shin pads stayed in position, a new trend setter I think not. While Will on the other hand had left his playing top at home and at first was kindly donated a white base layer from Al Brown, which was amusingly too big for him. Will was left off looking like giant marshmallow when Rich Roberts found a spare playing top in his bag. As you can imagine not the greatest preparation before a match. 

Now to the game itself. The 1sts welcomed back Al Brown and Rich Roberts with the additional new face of Callum Nightingale making his league first team debut. 

Old Wulfs placed a high press on Newtown and created early chances while at the back Colin was a spectator for the early part of the first half. Old Wulfs went 1-0 up after some good forward play between Sam and Will, with the latter passing the ball into Litchy to sweep in on the reverse. The game went into a 15 minute stalemate with Old Wulfs losing a lot of their momentum and allowing passes and first touch to go a stray. This allowed Newtown back into the game and gave them a few sighters of goal. Old Wulfs regained their composure and converted a short corner through Birch for 2-0 and another tap in for Litchy made it 3-0 at half time. 

Old Wulfs had to up the tempo in the second half as it was scrappy and disjointed at times. Palmer not wanting to leave the opposition without some highlights to talk about gave Newtown a chance with a complementary shot at goal following a stray pass straight to a Newtown centre forward. Colin however was not in a charitable mood and dealt with the effort. Old Wulfs slowly regained their composure and created more chances. Roberts poked in from close range for goal number 4 and Palmer dragged in number 5. Litchy completed his hatrick with a back post tap in and just make sure added his forth and the seventh of the game with exactly the same move. Roberts scored number 8 with another close proximity finish. Goals six through to nine came in the last ten minutes of the game as Old Wulfs tired their opposition and the space started to open up. Goal nine was scored by Will who had a 2v1 with the keeper. Will attempted to pass to Birch, but in fact passed to a Newtown defender, who's clearance hit their keeper and came back to Will. As the keeper was laid down Will lifted the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net. 

Final score 9-0 not Old Wulfs best performance but 3 points and the win is all that matters. Next week Yardley at Home. 

Nationwide Platforms man of the match Rich Roberts 

Dod: Matthew Griffiths by not only collecting the only card of the game but by his own account didn't have the greatest of games. The ball was attracted to his feet more than his stick and his first touch was non existent. (an hour on the crazy catcher might help there ;) ).

Highlights of the match can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjDk5SMvWlE&feature=youtu.be

Goal scorers

Matthew Litchfield 4

Rich Roberts 2

Will Ashworth 1

Michael Birch 1

Simon Palmer 1