Mens 1's vs Marden Russets

Kent Sussex 1

Marden Russets 1's 1 vs 2 Crawley Mens 1's

Crawley traveled away to Marden Russets knowing that only a win would be good enough against a side who were rock bottom of the league without a point after 7 games.

But it was to prove a difficult afternoon for the visitors as a combination of poor playing surface and awful weather put pay to an entertaining game.
The home side started best in difficult conditions but could find a way past a dogged Crawley back line who were not in the mood to give an inch to the opposition attackers. Crawley were doing there best work on the counter attack and when they got out wide in the channels the home side couldn't cope with the pace of the attacks Crawley just lacked a bit of precision on the final ball. But this before the break as a ball played down the left channel by James Innes found Seb Watson who squared to Brendan Maccaoilte to fire the ball past the Russets keeper. 1-0 Crawley.Thats how it stayed till half time.
The second half started much the same as the first but Crawley could not get the final pass right in a 2 on 1 or 3 on 2 situation and after the home side were awarded a dubious short corner they found the bottom of the goal to tie up the game. Crawley knew they needed to show some fight and grind out a win and eventually a winner came as Fuller found the goal on a rebound off a short corner which the thumped past the keeper t make it 2-1. With the defense keeping things tight at the back and an explosive performance from man of the match Hasan Yousaf the home side could not find a way back into the game.

Captain Alex Watson said"We thought it may be a difficult game again today its never easy playing against a side who have lost a few games on the bounce as they are looking to improve and get off the mark for the season. But we dug in well and it was imperative that we got the 3 points in what turned into a war of attrition. The hockey that we managed to play in parts was good but lacked that killer final pass or touch to score what would have been a simple goal. We have the 3 points and that's what we came here for today so in that aspect its job done. The league is that tight at the moment that from 10th one win could push you into the top 3 or 4 and 6 teams are all on the same number of points only separated by goal difference ".

Team

Jamie Westwood, Mark Brightwell, Hasan Yousaf, Baz Ahmedi, Alex Watson(c), Carl Wright, Brendan Maccaoilte, Kieran Fuller, James Innes, Reece Banton, Steve Innes

Subs

Rob Gate, Seb Watson