A cold sunny day was the backdrop for Devizes A’s away game against West Wilts D. Going in to this game Devizes were just clinging in to their position at the top of the division but knew that anything short of a victory may give the teams snapping at their heels the opportunity to knock them off their top perch. West Wilts didn’t seem to be sympathetic towards Devizes’ precarious position and started the match very strongly, systematically trying different methods of attack to find a way through. Devizes were solid in defending their goal area but struggled to transfer or clear the ball before losing possession and so West Wilts were able to develop a prolonged period camped within Devizes 23 yard line. To reward their efforts West Wilts were awarded a penalty corner after the ball hit the foot of a defender within the ‘D’. Their strategy of “Inject, Stop, Shoot” was too fast for the Devizes defence to deal with and the ball was drilled firmly in to the bottom corner of the goal. West Wilts were not satisfied with a 1-0 lead and continued to attack with Devizes struggling to clear their lines. When Devizes were able to work the ball through the midfield they were able to string together a few good attacking moves but there simply weren’t enough of them to make an impact on the run of play and West Wilts soon extended their lead to 2-0. By now though Devizes were beginning to find their feet and their counter attacking moves began to make openings for the forwards to get past the defence. Sam Hodge, attacking from midfield, did very well moving the ball forward with good passing and movement and finished the move with his shot passing beneath the diving goalkeeper and reducing the deficit to 2-1. The style of hockey that West Wilts were playing was not flamboyant but it was structured and effective and they soon increased their lead to two goals again taking the score line to 3-1. Devizes were desperately trying to fight back and another good attacking move was put together with the ball zigzagging it’s way between the midfield, wingers and forwards before being slotted in to the ‘D’ in the path of Jacob Stoner. The goalkeeper came out to intercept the anticipated shot but Jacob chipped the ball over the diving keeper and closed the gap again to one goal before half time.

Devizes played the second half with much more structure than the first but still found themselves under a lot of pressure piled on by West Wilts. Penalty corner after penalty corner were awarded to West Wilts for their attacking moves which, despite standing firm, were beginning to stretch the Devizes defence. Despite a variety of short corner routines deployed by West Wilts the Devizes defenders, particularly Sam Gompels, did a very good job of keeping the shots away from the goal. Eventually though, West Wilts were able to find another opening and increased their lead to two goals once again. Devizes were not prepared for the game to go entirely West Wilts way though and whenever they had the opportunity to they did attack well creating a few opportunities for shots on goal. Max Johnson played very well throughout the game moving well to create space and making accurate passes to players in front of him. Dominic Blackmore-Beales also instigated a promising attack from deep within his half, battling hard and making quick “one-two’s” to fight his way towards the West Wilts ‘D’ with great determination. Despite their best efforts Devizes were unable to convert any of their attacking moves in to more goals with the final score giving the home team a deserved 4-2 victory.

Sam Gompels won the Man of the Match award for his superb defensive efforts and fearlessly charging down numerous short corner attacks. Tom Syndercombe was given the DoD award for managing to get lost between the changing rooms and the bar, proving once and for all that two lefts don’t make a right...! Devizes A have a break from league games next weekend but travel away to Yate on 7th December where they will hope to put their league campaign back on track.