The 6s were away at St Albans this week, in a game with a stubbornly fought first half but one which opened up in the second.

The first period saw both teams trying to get a foothold in the game, with a lot of slick passing, resulting in an early away goal for Ben Murray who took his chance well.

The game took an unexpected turn after 15 minutes when Luke found out the hard way about the umpire’s low tolerance for rule misdemeanours, and was issued a green card, followed by a 10 minute yellow. Instead of scratching our heads and letting this affect things, we shuffled the pack, stuck at it, and went in at the break still one goal to the good.

The second half was a much more flowing and cohesive performance, building from the back with Liam and Elliot handling their defensive roles really well, and Tony, Mike and Jon shoring up the middle in front of Andy who did well with what came his way. We doubled the scoreline on 40 minutes when Mike converted a penalty corner, beating the keeper at his near post.

Luke started collecting goals instead of cards five minutes later, when he turned poacher and made sure Clive’s long-range shot was going to count. Luke scored again shortly after, making a run to beat several defenders, before finishing really well.

Ryan’s industrious running was rewarded with a brace within two minutes, with some smart finishing. Goals aside, our approach play was great too, with James and Freddie both running their socks off and unselfishly setting up others.

The last ten saw a bit more St Albans pressure, but we continued to run, mark well, and kept that all important clean sheet. As good as six goals was, the clean sheet was just as sweet. A great all round team performance, with everyone putting in a shift and playing for each other, which was great to see.