Men’s 1s Match reports

Anchs welcomed one of the league’s strongest sides and promptly gifted them a few goals for the journey.

Skipper Adam arrived late after being distracted by puppies 🐶, whilst Lacky treated Marden’s centre-forwards to several generous through balls. A deflection and another defensive mishap helped Marden into a comfortable lead, whilst Sharps launched an aerial that’s probably still being tracked by air traffic control.

The second half brought three more goals, with luck seemingly wearing a Marden shirt. Anchs kept battling, despite Pitcher attempting the Heimlich manoeuvre on an opponent and Will tackling someone who was already tackling a free hit.

Plenty of effort and some strong moments, but sloppy mistakes cost us against top opposition.

The 1s put in arguably their best performance yet against Canterbury, despite eventually losing 5–3. We started strongly, with Ethan, Harry and Tom solid at the back, giving Darren an easy time in goal. Lacky, Ben and Adam worked hard in midfield, linking up well with the front four of Hamer, Will, Joel and Hayden. Hamer opened the scoring with an absolute rocket from the top of the D at a short corner, but Canterbury grabbed a lucky tap-in in the dying minutes to make it 1–1 at half-time.

Canterbury scored early in the second half to go 2–1 up, but Joel produced a brilliant interception from a 16 before playing a superb pass into the D for Pitcher to slot home. Pitcher claims it was a reverse-stick finish into the top-right corner, but nobody believes him. We think the army has finally driven him mad. A spell of poor decisions saw us fall 5–2 behind, despite two missed flicks from Will and Lacky. However, the boys kept fighting, and Hamer smashed home another short-corner strike to make it 5–3. We had one final chance in the dying moments, but it was fumbled by the keeper, and the game finished 5–3 to Canterbury.

Man of the Match: Hamer, the Swiss Army knife of hockey who can play anywhere and still score rockets.

Champ: Pitcher, for his supposedly world-class reverse-stick tap-in.

Dick of the Day: Lacky, for diving more than Tom Daley.

A disappointing result, but genuinely the best hockey I’ve seen the 1s play. We bounced back, fought hard and have plenty to build on.

The Anchs took on a well-drilled Ashford side today, in another display of development from a young team.

We fought hard in the first half after conceding early, but showed quality through a number of counter-attacks and short corners. Hayden, Mark and Call used the space they had to show that the Anchs would not go quietly.

Further back on the pitch, Daz used his experience to make a number of great saves, with Ethan, Harry and Tom providing defensive cover.

Onto the second half, Adam, Joel and Lacky created chance after chance by winning the ball in midfield, leading to Mark's first goal for the Anchs 1s! ⚡

Although losing 6-1, the Anchs showed great spirit and attitude (attitude, attitude!) to keep going right until the end.

🏑 Man of the Match: Hayden

🥂 Champagne: Mark for his goal!

😬 DOD: Went to Will for a number of things...

Anchorians 1s took on Blackheath 4s in a match that ended in a 4–1 defeat. We know we tried our best, and all our players gave it their all. Well, almost all of them — Pitcher decided to reenact the D-Day landings, leaving us with only 14 men standing after just 10 minutes (instead of 15). A true sacrifice that left Anchorians with two men on the sideline. All the players waved him goodbye.

The defence was assertive, with Harry, Ethan, Lackey and Hamer holding a strong line for the first 30 minutes — true gamers, every one of them.

Daz was our angel. He wasn't a bagel, because there were no holes in his saves! We have to give him praise.

Our midfield was amazing, with Luc and Adam putting in strong performances and leaving their opponents bored to tears. Hayden, Mark, Sam, Joel, Cal and Will pushed up with a full-on press, hunting for the kill.

Despite our battle, Blackheath scored. 1–0 on the board. By the end of the half, we were 2–0 down. But, as a true team, we didn't frown.

The whistle blew, and the second half began. We went on the offensive, and we weren't getting clattered. A shot came in, and Hamer made the save. We were all amazed!

Despite our efforts, we went down to three as Blackheath scored again, but we didn't flee. Lackey fell while making a pass, and Callum bounced it off his arse. The ball went to Will in the D, who hit it and scored — weehee!

At 3–1, it was a relief. We were well and truly back in the fight against Blackheath.

In this half, SOME of us picked up cards. This didn't break our hearts. We battled and battled again, determined to get the win in the end.

But, alas, it was all over. The final whistle blew, and we wished we'd had a four-leaf clover.

4–1. Not fun.

But we played our best. We were a team — a team filled with the mightiest and the best.

It was unfortunate, but Katy's cakes helped soothe all our heartbreak!

Man of the Match: Joel and Hamer, for brilliant defending and attacking, respectively.

Champagne Moment: Hamer's goal-line clearance.

Dick of the Day: Lacky — and this is my match report, so I'm not taking questions!

Anchs M1s travelled to Sittingbourne for their first league game of the season. With an average age that felt like about 14 years old in a squad of 12, we started strongly, pressing high and using our pace to our advantage.

Twigg and Pitcher put the Sittingbourne defence under pressure, rushing their 16s and creating plenty of turnovers in Anchs’ favour. The skills on the wings from Will, Mark and Joel started to pay off, giving us chances in the D, but unfortunately we were unable to convert.

Against the run of play, Sittingbourne capitalised on a loose pass out from the back and scored on an overloaded counter-attack.

Anchs kept their heads held high and continued to counter-attack. Sam, Ethan and Adam broke down the play through the middle of the pitch, forcing Sittingbourne to play down the wings, where Ben and Tom picked off the ball and launched counter-attacks of their own.

Sadly, we were caught in possession while playing the ball out from the back and conceded again.

Soon after, we won a short corner after an aerial from Tom was run onto and driven into the D, hitting a Sittingbourne foot. Pitcher converted from the rebound to make it 2–1 going into half-time.

The message at the break was clear: this was some great hockey, and there was plenty of heart being shown. Keep going.

Sittingbourne came out fighting, though, and pinned us back. Short corner after short corner was defended, with Alex taking some big hits and putting his body on the line to keep us in the game.

Just as Anchs started to get back on top, Ben took a stick to the face while blocking a shot at the top of the D. He went full Braveheart, bleeding all over the pitch for five minutes before eventually being taken to A&E. He left the pitch to applause from all the spectators after a brilliant performance.

Down to a bare 11, Anchs soldiered on, with Alex standing out as the pick of the players and deservedly taking Man of the Match for his defensive performance.

However, a loose pass out from the back by Adam allowed Sittingbourne to score at the death.

An unfortunate 3–1 loss that in no way reflects the performance of this young side, who played some beautiful hockey and never once gave up.