Watsonians 3s 2-2 Grange 5s

Sunday is often a day of rest, not for the 14 man strong Watsonians 3s team who were looking to continue their late season form and claim more points to hold firm in the top half of the league. 2nd in the league, Grange 5s, were the opposition.

Having arrived in plenty of time to warm-up, it became concerning that the Grange team hadn’t showed up with 20 minutes to go before the start. Perhaps they felt they would be in for an easy match, how wrong they were when they turned up.

From the first whistle the men in maroon applied pressure on the defence with Hendry and Hogarth forcing the opposition wing backs to make error after error pinning them in their half. Grange’s only option was to fire the ball straight off the sideline or to the other end of the pitch. Early gaps were found by Sholdis finding Littlejohn or Stewart in the midfield allowing the team to attack with ease and continue the pressure back in the opposition’s half. Options wide and down the wings gave Long (LM) and Smith (RM) the opportunity to stretch their legs and stretch the defence.

The first half ended 0-0 but the Watsonians men went into the team talk unnerved by the score line. Wright, stepping in for the absent captain Bell, offered positive words to encourage the team to come out fighting in the second half. Continued strong interlinking passes would be key to breaking down the Grange side was the message.

The message must have sunk in, from the beginning of the second half the men in maroon looked the sharper of the two sides cutting through the Grange side with ease. The continued pressure rewarding the Watsonians with one of only a handful of penalty corners. Up stepped Hogarth, sailing the ball down the right channel narrowly missing the tip of Hendry’s stick. A missed chance.

This missed opportunity reenergised the Grange side, who came out all guns blazing. After a breakdown of play in the Watsonian’s D allowed the ball to be slipped through Swanson’s pads. Grange 1, Watsonians 0.

Unaffected by this momentarily set-back, Watsonians kept applying the pressure. Skilful inter-play between Smith and Craig drawing the defence allowed Hogarth to find space driving along the baseline. A slip pass to Hendry allowed for him to ensure the ball moved the 1 yard to cross the line. 1-1.

A rattled Grange side resorted to heavy handed tactics late in the match. However, strong umpiring from Lobo kept the peace. A rare attack from the opposition saw a raised ball from the 23m line into the Watsonian’s D hitting Wright’s chest, landing at a Grange player and finally finding its way into the goal. 2-1.

A level headed Watsonians team knew there was still time to bring the game back. Wave after wave of pressure lead to Littlejohn finding Long at the top of the D with the ball, turning calmly onto his reverse and finding the target bringing the match level again. Final whistle blew, 2-2.

A well fought and mostly enjoyable match. The Watsonians disappointed to only come away with a point but many positives to take away. A Team that has finally found its rhythm and strong added youth from Smith and Craig will make it an exciting end to the season with three matches to go.

MoM – Nick Smith
DoD – Andrew Littlejohn
Umpire – Ozzie Lobo