Redsox run off the Christmas mince pies with a good away win at Bromley

We kicked off the second half of the season with our longest way trip to Bromley & Beckenham (especially for our car of diehard Swindon based players) with 12 willing Redsox prepared to make the trip and run off Christmas excesses.

Shrugging off the three week break we quickly settled and played some very good hockey throughout the first half; keeping possession and creating many chances, however, the combination of some excellent saves from the Bromley South African keeper and a lack of composure in front of goal meant we went into the break only 2-0 up. We all knew we should have had the game sewn up by half time.

Our two first half goals came from Fitty who miraculously scored from the top of the circle, albeit with an empty goal to shoot into after a good flowing move down the right wing had drawn the keep out of his goal to set up the chance. The second was scored by Hoops whose strong shot had just enough on it to beat the keeper helped by the fact that Fitty got in the keeper’s line of sight and in the way of his feet at the right time.

With everyone playing well it was good to welcome Graham back into the squad alongside a disgustingly well-tanned Lawrie who both helped our defence deal with any threats. In midfield Rage, Hoops, Steve B and Steve S ensured we remained mobile and moved the ball well.

We continued to play good hockey in the second half albeit lacking real intensity and it only looked a matter of time before we added to our lead, but again missed chances let us down. As we approached the last 15 minutes we appeared to collectively decide that we had not driven all that way for a straight forward 2 – 0 win. Consequently, having looked rock solid in defence all match we bizarrely allowed Bromley to score two goals in three minutes to level the score, the second scored after Rage very uncharacteristically passed straight to their centre forward who hit a screaming shot into the top corner of the net.

The shock of our lost lead and their keeper shouting that there was time left for Bromley to score two more ignited the team and the Redsox immediately responded with a much higher level of intensity and pushed hard for the winner. With two minutes to go Steve B found Hoops in the circle and his shot looked to be heading just wide but the faintest of deflections from Micky was just enough to keep it wide of the keeper and inside the far post. Celebrations all round and it certainly made for a much more exciting end to the match.

After the game, we went to a local pub with five of the opposition to celebrate a winning start to the New Year and stretched the kitty to pay for a few much-needed bar snacks as well as some excellent Doom bar to celebrate the win. As always, the team banter was lively and made more fun by the post mortems into missed chances and Rage’s outstanding pass to their centre forward to set up the equaliser. We awarded the Bromley keeper the man of the match award and bought him a few lagers to encourage him to play as well against both Epsom and Southgate later in the season to help our cause.

Next week we are away to Spencer which will be a tough match so please try to ensure you can play and confirm avaialbilty to Bartie asap.