Falkirk M5s vs Colts

Ashes. It taste like ashes in my mouth. That bitter taste of defeat, that lingers far too long.

When we first started the Colts side, I never knew how exceptional a side it would become. From that group of boys standing in a circle, listening to me waffle on about men’s hockey, with expressions like a dog that has just been shown a card trick. In truth I was apprehensive about our chances in the league. A new Watsonians team, first time captain and group of players, most of which hadn’t played men’s East District hockey before. To have been sitting top of the division at New Year, with nine wins from nine, was more than I could ever have asked for. However, like Nelly Furtado said, “all good things come to an end”.

The team selection for the Colts is usually quite difficult. We have a large squad and often have to rotate the players. For this match I would have the opposite problem. The school had organised a morning away game, in Glasgow, for the GWC 1st XI as well as the U15s. Now this would mean that about 80% of my players would be in Glasgow and some would be playing two games in the morning. We would be with out Fontana, Heigh, Evans, Wilmot and the two Tandon brothers.

I had managed to cobble together a side; calling in some favors from a couple of our M3s who I thought wouldn’t look too out place in the depths of East 4. Aside from a couple, the remaining boys the would have already played in the morning, as well as making a long round trip to Glasgow and a rushed turnaround to get to the next match. We knew it would be a tough match, facing off against the second in the league, but knew we had ability and drive, so hoped for a good game.

The game started with both teams getting a feel for the ball. The Colts would start to pass the ball around, trying to work up the field. With a breakdown in the attack, Falkirk would deploy their (not so) secret weapon, of smashing the ball as far down the field as possible, swarming forward and breaching our defence. They would open the scoring by passing the ball across the D then placing the shot back into the opposite corner.

The early goal had definitely shaken our defence. Falkirk would score a second soon after, in a similar long ball play. The back line was not helped when Iain McGillivray was laid flat on his back after connecting his head with an attackers shoulder. Falkirk managed to convert a penalty corner, with a straight strike from the top. A warning was issued as the Falkirk defence had already started to try and waste time.

The half would finish with the Colts been four goals down. Another long ball attack had Sam Gibb sliding out to close down the striker, unluckily having the ball squirm through the smallest of gaps to find the backboard, just.

Our half time talk had to focus on uping our game. We knew we could play hockey and had to work harder for each other, while off the ball. The question of why a police officer had been stationed by the gate also cropped up, but couldn’t be answered.

We started the second half as the brighter side, containing the opposition in their half for long periods. A couple of penalty corners would come close, with the keeper having to make sequence of saves to protect his goal.

Yet again the next goal would come from another long ball from Falkirk. The ball had eluded all the players and was running off the base line. Keen to get the ball back into play, Gibb let the ball run then kicked it back for the sixteen. At this point the opposition striker picked up the ball and ran into the D finding a foot and winning the PC. When questioned the Falkirk umpire said the ball hadn’t crossed the baseline, much to the confusion of Gibb, especially since the umpire had been positioned on the halfway line.

The resulting penalty corner would be converted, but not without more controversy. The first strike would be swung at and missed, almost removing the head of our first runner; the ball find its way toward the back post where it would be hit into the net, well above the backboard. Again questions were asked about the strike and the dangerous play, however these were simply dismissed.

The colts again were playing much the better style of hockey, making numerous penetrations into the D. After one too many poor challenges, Falkirk’s left back was shown the green card, which was then escalated to a yellow due to some unwelcome words directed at the umpire.

Soon after the numbers would be evened out. Calum Wood saw a green card for a physical body block to a man four times his side, very strange that this tackle was picked up on after a number of more physical challenges been left undisciplined.

The final goal of the game would go to Falkirk, coming from an even stranger decision. A ball played into the D, going well wide of the goal, was miss-trapped by McGillivray and landed on his foot. A stroke was given to the bemusement of most of the players. When questioned again the umpire defended his call by saying that the player coming in at the back post would probably have scored?

The Colts would not find the back of the net for the first time this season. Though we feel that we were done no favors from the opposition umpire, as well as missing some key players from the side, I don’t think the team performance was enough to say we deserved better. We created chance as a team but didn’t finish them and we were unlocked far too easily by simple straight balls down the field. The game wasn’t full of negatives. We played the better style of hockey and stuck to our aim of moving the ball. Perhaps there were just too many factors against us on the day.

I’ll end with another quote. This time from Captain Kirk, “A little suffering is good for the soul”

We will need to come back faster, stronger and fitter.

I never said we would win them all.