Saffron Walden 5’s – 1 Brentwood Academy – 1

Picture the scene. Midway through the second half in a close game Brentwood on the attack. The ball gets played from a wide right-hand area to Frank Edwards in a central area. The pass is a little behind him, but the slowness of the pitch means he will easily catch up and keep it in. As he starts to drift wider to collect the ball the shout comes from father, James Edwards, “don’t panic Frankie, let it drift, don’t panic.” Now I have no issue with the advice – it was very sound stuff, James Edwards knows his hockey onions. However, the way it was delivered – think corporal Jones in Dad’s Army. I was nowhere near the play, but I was panicking.

Frank doesn’t panic. The Academy don’t do panic. James Edwards does the panicking on behalf of others. James MacKay wasn’t panicking he had a skiing trip booked. I’m surprised he didn’t play the match with a lighted spliff and Bob Marley on some headphones he was that laid back. Still even in that state he was bloody effective throughout.

If James M was on the downers, Ian Anderson was on the uppers. Pressed into action in goal you’ve never seen focus like it. It was as if this was his audition for his future hockey career. Reckon he’ll be gunning for 1’s keeper next season. Saved loads and loves kicking the ball. Going harmlessly off the back – sod that I’ve spent X decades not being able to use my feet I’ll be damned if I’m not kicking this.

Focus, you want focus. Chris Minor filling in in central defence focus. Simon Roffe in Tenerife, deputy CB Ian Anderson in goal the captain puts his hand up. Maybe he’s gunning for the 1’s next season as well.

So as predicted we were back on pitch 2. Never has a two-pitch set up deserved the secondary status more then Saffron Walden. Pitch one a beauty, pitch two a beach that said it did play a little better than previous visits curtesy I guess of more use and a bit of rain in the morning. The pre match hailstones didn’t improve moods but the game played out in dry and reasonably sunny conditions. Both teams really had nothing to play for. The Academy were going to finish 6th come what may and Saffron Walden 5th regardless of the result. Had a friendly feel and it played out that way.

After a bright opening by both teams going backwards and forwards, Brentwood getting used to the pitch, Brentwood absolutely dominated the middle part of the first half. Really all over Saffron Walden pilling on pressure. We had our three-man defence station on the halfway line and Saffron Walden could get out for a good ten-minute period. We didn’t create much by way of clear-cut chances in this period and no short corners which was disappointing (we’ve gone two whole games without one) but it was good hockey. Sam Anderson and Fraser McLauchlan up the right-hand side, Martin Hastings with Max Bakal and Doug Muncey up the left. Issac Minor, Frank Edwards (don’t panic) and Jake Sanders through the middle. We got a lot of joy from getting the ball wide and attacking from those slots. Saffron Walden survived this period and as is often the way the game opened a bit more and we got the goal – right through the middle. I got the ball centrally in the Saffron Walden half, I found Jake Sanders lurking on the edge he drew in a couple of defenders, their clearance came to me just outside the top of the D with plenty of space to go into, I hit a decent shot low to the keepers right hand side. I think we more or less deserved that at the time.

Half time at 0-1. All was well but we knew Saffron Walden would be keen to hit back. Chris and Ian injected some tactical advice whilst the Saffron Walden bench moved magnets about on their tactics board. The second half was an even affair for the majority of the period. Again, clear cut chances were really hard to come by. The pitch is slow so moves seemed to invariably break down once an aerial or slightly lofted ball is used which makes it harder for the receiver. I reckon scores on that pitch 2 would be considerably lower than pitch one across the course of the season. As I had scored for Brentwood my opposite central midfielder did the business for Saffron Walden. I felt from the off that he had the measure of the pitch, his passes fizzed a few centimetres off the deck and his short corner injections were proper hits. He broke into space and made no mistake with his finish leaving Ian with no chance.

After that goal it really was all Saffron Walden. We had a few moments mainly Rob Sanders getting us a foothold in the game, but they dominated. The match reached a crescendo in the last five minutes which was basically a series of Saffron Walden short corners. We did well to keep out by hook or by crook. My knee is still smarting from one I took supposedly on the shin – try telling that to me knee, that was me done for the day. Ian Anderson does brilliantly to keep them out as do all defenders. 1-1 it finished and we were happy with that.

Overall, a really good season. Staying in the league was the objective and that was achieved with some room to spare. A big thanks to all who contributed. See you all in September.

Team: Ian Anderson, Fraser McLauchlan, Chris Minor, Martin Hastings, James McKay, Gary MacDonnell, James Edwards, Doug Muncey, Sam Anderson, Rob Sanders, Jake Sanders, Frank Edwards, Max Bakal, Isaac Minor.

Man of the Match: Chris Minor. Excellent filling in a centre back and captain for the season, who else can it be?