4th Team Vs City of Birmingham 2

Old Wulf’s 4ths travelled to Small Heath (a new venue for most) to play City of Birmingham 2nds for a 2:30 start on a dry chilly and blustery afternoon. The only thing warm was the welcome Ahmed received on his Old Wulf’s debut. With the regular captain confined to the role of manager on the side-lines, following an injury setback in mid-week, the captain’s armband was passed to Andy Hamilton for today’s match.

The game started and Old Wulf’s immediately made their presence felt. For the first 15 minutes, they moved the ball well, having lots of possession in and around their opponents '23' with regular forays into their D. Clear chances were hard to come by and Old Wulf’s were quickly finding a sea of Brummie blue between them and the goal, Old Wulf’s just couldn’t find that killer instinct, either from open play or the set pieces awarded. It was from a short corner that Old Wulf’s thought they had taken a well-deserved lead when Neil Wards shot beat the keeper, unfortunately the ball had been struck from just outside the D and a 16 was the result.  B’ham were still working hard to get into the game and rolling subs every 5-10 minutes across multiple positions.  It was following such a rotation that B’ham did gain possession in their own half, and advanced quickly towards old Wulf’s goal, being quicker that Old Wulf’s defence they found themselves bearing down on goal and successfully put the ball in the back of the net from 2m out after Old Wulf’s failed to clear at the first attempt. The goal was totally against the run of play, and from the restart Old Wulf’s were again dominating possession, causing B’ham problems in and around the D, but somehow a goal was still eluding them. With around 8 minutes to go, Old Wulf’s were awarded a penalty corner, and a chance to level things up. Unfortunately, the ball adopted a Barnes Wallis type harmonic and was missed by both the intended receiver and also the player backing up, going out of play for a side-line hit just inside the B’ham half. With several B’ham players camped on the halfway line, they pounced on the opportunity, quickly taking the side-line hit from inside Old Wulf’s half and quickly advanced towards Old Wulf’s goal. In similar fashion to Operation Chastise (Dambusters raid), It was Old Wulfs defences that were breached and B’ham went two up.   Old Wulf’s almost conceded a third when B’ham went close but debutant Ahmed managed to get a stick to ball and danger was averted.

HT 0-2

Conceeding the second in the way in which they did, had riled a few of Old Wulf’s players with one in particular feeling that they had indeed been ‘Chastised’, yes on the balance of play Old Wulf’s didn’t deserve to be two nil down. Mistakes can be costly when they happen, but as time passes they become experience, that hopefully Old Wulf's would learn from. Despite this, they were very much still in this game with the second half still to play.

 Immediately after the restart Old Wulf’s again  dominated possession, causing B’ham problems inside their 23. With Old Wulf’s in possession the ball found its way to Fin who played a lovely pass to Lewis inside the D who and I quote “ hit an absolute rocket straight past the keeper hitting the top of the backboard" to pull a goal back.  The relief on Old Wulf’s players was clearly evident.   Old Wulf’s continued to have a fair share of the ball although B’ham were also seeing more of the ball in this half. It wasn’t long however before Old Wulf’s got their equaliser. Nic played the ball into the D where it took a slight deflection upwards from a B’ham stick, where Manny with two quick touches, one to take the ball down and the second to hit it just off the ground, beat the keeper at the near post. Old Wulf’s continued to push for a winner, and were still enjoying most of the possession and creating chances. B’ham however were also making things difficult, and made things even more difficult when Old Wulf’s lost possession in B’ham’s half. B'ham advanced to just inside the D and a well driven shot was played, which ended in Old Wulf’s net. With just 9 minutes to go Old Wulf’s tried in vain to get something from the game and with a few minutes remaining were awarded a penalty corner. However as in the first half Dambusters the sequel was showing, and again the ball went out for a B’ham side-line hit, only this time Old Wulf’s were able to halt any advance from the free hit. They say sequels are not normally as good as the first and thankfully on this occasion for Old Wulf’s this was the case.  Old Wulf’s continued to press for another goal of their own, but B’ham were able to see the game out.

Full Time 2-3 Loss

Players MOM goes to Nic with 4 votes, others were Lewis 2, Fin 2, Ahmed 2, Manny 2.

Summary: A game where Old Wulf’s dominated and played some nice hockey, were no means the weaker team and gutted not to have gotten something out of the game. ‘A tough one to swallow’.

Special mentions to Fin who demonstrated some nice stick work throughout the game, also Nic who was ever busy in midfield and covered a fair bit of ground, debutant Ahmed who grew into the game as it went on, Lewis for that ‘rocket’ and Noah who probably had his best game of the season. Perhaps it just wasn’t our day.

Therefore in preparation for next game can all players: avoid walking under ladders, don’t break any mirrors, and ensure you make your beds etc. If you haven’t a clue what I am on about, Google it - Signs of bad luck.