Devizes Hockey Club

The Marauding Moonrakers - Sponsored by Wadworth

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DHC : Nunquam non paratus

Whitchurch A v. Devizes Mens Firsts

Saturday March 20 2010

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WHITCHURCH 0 - 3 DEVIZES

Wadworth 6x sponsored Devizes first team travelled over the bridge to face Whitchurch in their last game of the season this week. Prior to the game Whitchurch were sitting in the relegation zone at the foot of the table. Nothing less than a win would give them a glimmer of hope to avoid the drop.

Devizes fielded a less than familiar line up this week and added three more league debutants to the crop of 21 players that have made it into the squad so far this season, and they certainly stepped up to the mark and put in a solid performance. Skipper Charlie Rutherford called in the hired help of big brother Brian to finally show him how it's done, along with Jacob Plant who is the 7th youngster to represent the first team. They also called on the experienced head of Manager Tony Poole to step in and illustrate his calibre and natural ability in the Devizes front line.

The game started in an unusually slow fashion with both teams keeping the ball for sustained periods. Ten minutes in Devizes stepped up a gear and started to put Whitchurch under pressure at the back. The patterns started to flow throughout the team all over the pitch resulting in the more familiar attractive hockey they are known for. This led to the opening goal for Devizes. Some strong defending from Devizes and a quick ball out wide saw the in-form Jack Betenson progress into the D at pace and pick his spot in the bottom right corner of the goal.

This opened the floodgates for Devizes who scored their second minutes later. In another great move and brilliant link up play, young Owen Alsop picked the ball up deep inside his own half before demonstrating his juggling skills to beat two players to then look up and find Betenson. He then drew his defender and slotted the ball back into the advancing Alsop who made no mistake in converting his second goal of the season.

Devizes are not a team to sit on a lead and continued to search for a third goal. With ten minutes left in the half, Jack Betenson scored his second following a dynamic attack that left the home side helpless.

Devizes went into half time with a healthy three-goal lead. Things changed in the second half and to Whitchurch's credit, they tried to play their way back into the game. Devizes struggled to maintain any consistency and spent much of the half camped out inside their defensive territory. It certainly didn't help ten minutes into the half when Charlie Rutherford was sent to the sin-bin for one of his better tackles of the season being judged as foul play. Minutes later, brother Brian was sent his marching orders for being adjudged to push the ball away after the whistle. Both took a five minutes break. Although they were not as impressive as in the first half, the visitors displayed some solid defending and never looked likely to concede. The Wiltshire boys were strengthened for the last five minutes with the much-awaited arrival of Manager Tony Poole who certainly lived up to expectations.

This was a great way to end the season for Devizes who finished the season 6th in the league with many positives to look back at. A special mention should go to Rheinburg, Rutherford, Richardson, and Betenson for their commitment to the team and playing every game of the season. After a long season the boys must be hockeyed out but are still to play the Wiltshire County Cup Semi Final before looking forward to a well-earned break this summer.

The Wadworth 6X sponsored man of the day is awarded to Player Manager Tony Poole for some superb driving and dribbling skills. A close second is Owen Alsop for his victory in the cheeseburger challenge as part of the clubs vital post match team building exercise.