Senior Boys' Hockey News 

1st XI v Cargilfield

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Result			Goal Scorers:
Belhaven	0
Cargilfield	3

This time the team arrived at least 45 minutes before the match to make sure the belhavenitis virus was removed from the boys' systems. I think that ploy worked! Also on show at Peffermill was a University match (Edinburgh v Notts) which got the boys excited about playing on the water-based astro.

Two unbeaten teams, one excellent pitch, one fired-up team from Dunbar! A good combination for a fascinating afternoon's hockey. The well-worn phrase, a game of two halves, is apt for this match. Belhaven were the stronger team in the first half by tearing about the place, getting in amongst the Cargilfield players and disrupting their pattern of play - just great to watch.

Playing into the sun was not an advantage, especially as the teams' shirts were not easily identifiable, but nonetheless Belhaven players managed to pass the ball to their own team and a flowing 25 minutes of hockey was played.

The difference in this match compared to that of the others this season was the speed of play. No player could afford to rest on his stick for a second.  It was especially pleasing to see players running off the ball to support the ball carrier.

Play ranged from left to right with both wingers penetrating the Cargilfield defence. Dougal Forsyth showed his strength, speed and accurate hitting into the circle while Henry Roberts displayed some good stick skills on the left and at last attacked the base line to put pressure on the defence.

The two strikers, Tom 'birthday boy' Stodart and Caspar Rogers positioned themselves well but were unable to get power into their shots at goal and that was a shame as they were in great positions to score on many occasions.

All the halves worked their hardest all season - and they had to. Although Cargilfield had been disrupted they built good attacks and it was only because our halves and wingers came back to defend en masse that the attacks were snuffed out. George Cuthbert was excellent, especially at the penalty corners

where, as rush, he stormed out of the goal and stopped all but one shot at goal - just superb, as Cargilfield were at a loss as to what to do next at their penalty corners.

Douglas Donaldson and Freddy Rogers also had their best outing so far. (I would love to put pedometers on these boys to see how far they run in a match - we might all be quite surprised by how far.) These halves also got their passing right and were firing the ball hard to their team mates - just the job.

And the backs? Awesome! Archie Rettie, Leo Seymour and Ali Johnston were solid, dependable and just about error free this match. I'll not name the player who made a bit of a muck up of one clearance in the second half which led to a goal - but you know who you are!! Apart from that set-back these three worked well together and closed down Cargilfield attacks with precision.

Another great boost was support from the small stand. Quite bizarrely huge shouts of encouragement from some University students shouting Belhaven spurred the boys on in the first half. I gather thanks to Mrs Rettie or Mrs Stodart for letting the students know who we were! But it must have been a great feeling for the boys to be playing on this surface and with shouts of encouragement coming from the stands.

Unfortunately things did not stay at that level for Belhaven, for in the second half (as predicted by Little Coach during the interval) three of Cargilfield's more able players began to take control. In addition Belhaven decided to play most of their hockey down the left hand side - quite strange, really. What it did was to give Cargilfield easy interception opportunities and then they were able to run it into space opened up by Belhaven's eagerness to crowd the centre and left field.

I don't want to pile blame on one department for the second half goals, but the guy with the padding was not on his best form. Perhaps the whole atmosphere got to him! He certainly made some good saves but was not positioning himself correctly in the second half and, unfortunately, Cargilfield were gifted 3 goals. There were a couple of other players who went AWOL and one of Cargilfield's goals was so easy because someone forgot to mark the striker on the goal post! Their second goal was from a penalty corner which we were not ready for and the rush didn't get there - and the goalie must have been unsighted! I won't even mention the third goal!! (You just have! Ed)

Sadly, a few players were injured, probably as a result of their commitment in tackles and trying to intercept the ball. Knees and ankles were affected, but this meant that Andrew Watson went on as striker, Geordie Younger got on as a half and George Innes Ker as a back. All these three replacements did not disgrace themselves and just added to the depth and strength that this team has.

Although the final result was disappointing - and the boys certainly felt it - the standard of hockey was the best this season has seen. Had this standard been played in other matches the team 's total would have been into double figures easily. As it was they came up against a good team, played their socks off, made the mistake of relaxing a bit and paid the penalty. But it was a great game of hockey and you should all be very proud of your performances.

And what better way to end the day than to see birthday boy in 'bawbags' and everyone getting a sugar rush from eating cakes, harribos and Mrs Younger's famous rice crispie cake. Thanks, all you Mums and Dads, for supporting the team - wouldn't be the same without you! (That's enough fawning - no more sweets available! Ed) Just one more to go ...

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