Devizes A were playing away against West Wilts C and, for the second game in a row, were facing stiff opposition in a rather stiff breeze! Devizes were playing directly in to the wind in the first half which really sapped their momentum and energy whenever they attempted to move forward. To counter this, Devizes played a controlled and structured game working the ball around in midfield, slowly working the ball up-field. For the first 15 minutes they dominated possession and looked likely to hold West Wilts out until the second half when the wind would be in their favour but, with the wind in their sails, West Wilts were able to burst forward and Devizes’ defence had to be on guard constantly. Aaron Holloway, who has been on fantastic form all season, made a brilliant save from one of West Wilts’ attacks, touching the ball on to the post from what looked like a certain goal. The ball bounced directly to a West Wilts forward who attempted to slide the ball in to the goal but Aaron Holloway flew from one side of the goalmouth to the other to prevent another near-certain goal. To the total dismay of Aaron and the Devizes defenders, the ball again landed at the stick of a West Wilts forward who this time made no mistake scoring from right in front of the empty goal giving West Wilts a 1-0 lead. Despite this disappointment, Devizes restarted the match with determination to advance against the opposition and the elements. West Wilts were soon flying forwards again though, and increased their lead to 2-0 when their forward scored a brilliant goal, lifting the ball over Aaron Holloway from the edge of the ‘D’ and in to the top of the goal. Making the most of their meteorological advantage, West Wilts continued to attack Devizes at full throttle and scored again just before half time putting them in a very strong position with a 3-0 lead at half time.

Devizes regrouped at half time and started the second half with perhaps a little too much enthusiasm. Within a matter of seconds of the restart, Sam Hodge received a Green Card for playing on after a foul had been given against him. Two minutes later his Green Card was turned in to a Yellow for not retreating 5 metres. Devizes were now 3 goals behind and a player short but were able to string together enough phases to challenge the West Wilts defence. They were awarded a penalty corner from this sustained spell of pressure and, after injecting, Jacob Stoner was quickly on to the post to deflect a firmly struck ball in to the goal… or was it a leg glance to the Fine Leg boundary? Either way, Devizes now had the opportunity to get back in to the game. These chances were bolstered when a player from West Wilts also received a yellow card for not retreating 5 metres, reducing both sides to 10 players. West Wilts pushed forward after the goal and were soon pressurising Devizes’ defence in to conceding a string of penalty corners. Tom Syndercombe questioned the Umpires about one of the decisions and was shown a Yellow Card for dissent when he showed his frustrations (…more on this later Tom!!). West Wilts scored during this attacking move increasing their lead to 3 goals once again and inching towards a strong victory. Despite the game being played in great spirit, the Umpires showed another Yellow Card, this time to a West Wilts player. It began to get a little confusing about who, if anyone, had a player advantage as people were beginning to enter and exit the sin-bin at fairly irregular intervals! What was less confusing though was who had the goal advantage as West Wilts scored again before the final whistle giving them a comprehensive 5-1 winning margin.

West Wilts made the most of their scoring opportunities and were deserved winners of the match as a result. Devizes, though, played spells of fantastic hockey and should not be too downhearted with their performance – there was plenty of evidence of skilful individual contributions as well as slick, well drilled team moves. Nick Gompels was awarded the Man of the Match award for organising the defence and midfield as well as expertly holding the ball and converting defence in to attack. Tom Syndercombe was unanimously voted DoD for his little episode with the Umpire… after a short dispute over a Penalty Corner decision Tom was reprimanded and told to go and stand in the goal with the other defenders. Rather than skulking back to his team mates with his tail between his legs, Tom snapped his heels to attention, retorted a sharp “Yes SIR!” saluted politely, and marched neatly goal wards. The resulting Yellow Card saw him perform an about turn before scarpering off the pitch with the Bugler sounding the retreat! Lieutenant Syndercombe, we salute you!

Next week Devizes A are at home to league leaders, Bristol UWE, hoping for three points to put them back on track. Push back at 15:00.