Retros: Swanage & Wareham 3 Reading 1

11 go mad in Dorset!

The Retros had the first of their monthly trips to Dorset and did very well to come away with a narrow 3-1 defeat against the league leaders Swanage & Wareham. The half term traffic on the M3, M27 and A31 gave additional delight on the journey and caused half the team to arrive late! The game kicked off in fantastically bright and sunny weather with a really beautiful back drop of the Purbeck Hills. Unfortunately, Swanage & Wareham were a well organised team and took advantage of Reading’s unsettled back four to quickly take a two goal lead. The first stemmed from a poor hit out and the second from a good ball in from the goal line. Not receiving a shout from his defence Ollie ‘Paul Robinson’ Ringrow managed to parry the cross nicely on to the stick on the approaching forward. 2-0! Reading started to find their feet and managed to put together some nice passing hockey but with no reward. Some more good play from Swanage saw them take a three goal lead and left the Reading defence nervously remembering when they visited the Isle of Purbeck Sports Centre a few years back. Half time couldn’t have come soon enough! A few tactical changes at half time saw a more solid Reading defence and despite constant pressure Swanage found it difficult to break through. When they did, the superb Ollie Ringrow was an equal match. With tens minutes remaining the Retros on fire striker Tim Smaldon scored his fourth of the season and made the score line look more respectable.Overall it was a good team performance on what was a difficult fixture!