Brentwood Hockey Club Men’s 1st XI vs Saffron Walden

Andy Turner
Brady Doyle
Colin Bannell (VC)
Derry Mager
George Lilley (C)
Jacob Macdonnell
Jak Taylor
Owen Smith (GK)
Paddy Wilson
Reggie Edwards
Simon Chambers
Steve Gilchrist
Tom Anderson
Tom Creswell
Tristan Barnes

Alan Lindsay (Coach)

The 2023/24 edition of Brentwood 1’s are proving to be a good watch and this was no different. Slight change in team set up this week. Defender Matt Hadley dropped out and replaced by young attacker 16 year old Reggie Edwards in for his debut. Certainly not like for like and necessitated some shuffling of the pack positionally. Brentwood showing attacking intent through selection.

From the off both teams tried to assert control and it was Saffron Walden that settled the better and whilst not creating anything clearcut dominated the opening five minutes. Brentwood were sloppy with passing that was simply too ambitious and turning the ball over. However, it was Brentwood that took the lead. Better more precise passing allowed the midfield time to support the attack and it was captain George Lilly joining from deep finding space in the D. The hit on the reverse found the roof of the net. A seriously impressive finish Brentwood 1-0 up after 8 mins.

Perhaps finding Saffron Walden a little wounded by going behind Brentwood continued to push and some nice interplay the ball ended up with Brady Doyle in a very similar position to where the goal was scored from. Unfortunately, Brady, on the strong side, dragged his shot wide. Which was expected from the young man really.

The game became remarkably open very early on as both teams went back and forwards trying to find the next goal. The midfield seemed almost bare as both teams vacated the area looking to attack with numbers. Brentwood had the rub of the green with an umpires call on 16 mins as Paddy Wilson appeared to have deliberately played the ball off the back of the pitch, which should have led to a penalty short corner. However, the umpire gave Paddy the benefit of the doubt much to the amazement of the spectators and the bench, even the most fervent of Brentwood supporters thought we got away with that one.

The Jacob MacDonnell and Andy Turner link up is developing nicely. A deliciously smooth reverse pass from Andy, as smooth as a recently completed road surface, found Jacob running through into space but he ran out of space to create anything I believe if it was his brother (the way better one) he would have been able to create a goal scoring opportunity for the team. It was in this period that Brentwood had their best passage of play in the first half. The shape returned, they won the midfield battles, finding that it helps to actually have people in the area and the passing was precise, simple, crisp and patient. They remain a team that seem to prefer to do things on the reverse stick side. Not the traditional try and get strong for this lot. After a period of very patient play George Lilly hits another delightful reverse pass, this time it’s Andy Turner missing with the reverse hit shot.

After 20 minutes Owen Smith has his first serious work to do. Showing great concentration and movement to come out of his goal and clear danger. But this remains Brentwood’s period Jacob MacDonnell picks up the ball in space wide right. He has time, a lot of it. We can all see he really wants to play the ball quickly and there is a collective sigh of relief on the side line when he realises, he has so much space the right option is to drive and commit defenders. As he draws defenders, Derry Mager is making an intelligent run, Jacob releases the ball at exactly the right time. Derry still has a bit to do with a defender and goalkeeper between him and the goal. But Derry isn’t going to be denied, the odds favour him, and he dispatches the goal with minimum of fuss. 2-0 after 22 minutes.

Saffron Walden hit right back. Maybe Brentwood mentally ease off. It appears to be a running issue that this team concede straight after scoring. Again, they leave the midfield vacant and Saffron Walden don’t need a second invitation to waltz through. Tristan Barnes is caught 2 on 1 and whilst he battles manfully to try and tackle and clear the ball in the same movement, he was always up against it and Saffron Walden smuggle the ball in from close range. Not pretty by any means but the scoreboard doesn’t come with pictures. The goal sparks a period of Saffron Walden dominance broken only by another Jacob MacDonnell, Andy Turner link up. This time Andy makes a hash of the shot, really should have done better. It was on his strong side and perhaps shows why most of the team are happier on the weak side. The pitch bares the brunt of Andy’s frustration much to the amusement of those watching.

But this remains Saffron Walden’s moment. They win a short corner, their shot kept out by Thomas Anderson’s foot. Penalty flick. A gilt-edged chance to go in at 2-2. Owen Smith has form though and stands tall stepping to his right to block the effort. In truth it wasn’t a great flick, but you can only save what is thrown at you. Right at the end of the half the striker who had the flick gets another chance from open play, his nemesis Owen stands tall.

The second half has yet to get any shape to it and Saffron Walden suffer a major setback. Down to 10 men for the foreseeable with a yellow card. Unfortunately, this correspondent is unable to say why the yellow was given and the crowd were of no help. I’m no rules expert but impersonating Fred West has yet to be made a yellow card offence in field hockey. But Brentwood needed no invitation as they made use of the extra man dominating possession and territory for the period. This was probably their best period. It was patient passing moving the Saffron Walden team around. Jacob MacDonnell hit a shot, on the reverse obviously that struck the keepers helmet, Andy Turner had a shot, George Lilly got another shot away following a short won by Andy Turner. Colin Bannell didn’t start the match due to a migraine but was exemplary when he came on and was on his toes to prevent a couple of counter attacks with is front foot defending.

Unfortunately, the period of domination didn’t get topped off with the goal it probably deserved. Saffron Walden got back into things. The moment of the match for Brentwood came with an incredible tackle from Tristan on his reverse side. The speed of his stick movement was remarkable was on level with the speed of the transits he works on, but having won the ball and Saffron Walden probably wondering how, Tristan drove forward and got a short with Saffron Walden using feet to play the ball. Nothing came of it. Reggie Edwards popped up on his debut and got a couple of shots away – he didn’t look fazed on his debut.

With time running out Saffron Walden stepped up the pressure and committed more men forward. An amazing bit of football with a Saffron Walden player literally kicking the ball out of the D set up a desperate attack that Paddy did brilliantly to snuff out with a last-ditch sliding challenge. With Saffron Walden committing to attack it was inevitable that Brentwood would get a chance and it was Andy Turner benefitting with an easy finish after being slipped in from a short corner.

That final goal took the air out of Saffron Walden, the game was up and Brentwood saw out the final minutes. Brentwood are now top of the table, no game next week and an away trip to Southend next up on November the 4th. The Brentwood Eagles are flying.