Men’s hockey team win the 1st XI trophy

Romsey 2 v Isle of Wight 3

An undefeated season under their belts already, the men travelled to Basingstoke to win the 1st XI trophy.

From the start the Island pressed hard; they won a short corner. A fast ball to the top of the D allowed Aaron Hoare to launch a drag flick into the net. Still pressing, a ball from Samual Challis found Adam Payne who drove into the D.

Romsey succumbed to blows from the Island’s attack. Tom Turney narrowly missed an aerial pass from Hoare, but a reverse shot from Challis made the Romsey defence sweat. Payne almost added to the scoreline after a straight ball to the top of the D from Stuart Allen. Romsey had their share of opportunities, breaking up the midfield, but were kept out by the stalwart defence of Ethan Edmunds-Lamb, Lewis Heaven-Gandy, Allen and Patrick Butt. End-to-end play led to a long corner awarded to the Island, taking the chance to drive the ball into the D; Payne tactically won a short corner. Stephen Woodford injected to Hoare, who expertly beat the keeper with a rocket dragflick, putting the Island up 2-0. Island keeper, Tom Speer, dove into action, after a clear ball through the middle, led to a 1-on-1 with a Romsey forward. Moments later, a short corner ball bobbled into the goal. A green card for Hoare put the Island numbers down to 10 for the next couple of minutes.

In the second half precision passing between Challis, Edwards and Payne, saw the Island tear up the opposition’s half and the whistle signalled for a short corner. The Romsey keeper kept this ball and two more in quick succession.

After fantastic 3-D skills and a tip over GK Speer, Romsey equalised and the game grew ever more tense.

With a coach full of supporters on the sidelines, the Islanders dug-deep and pushed the opposition back into their own half. Despite a quick succession of short corners, in which the Romsey defence read Hoare’s dragflick attempts well, the Island won another short corner and Payne put the Island ahead. With minutes to go, Romsey hit back and won themselves a short corner, but couldn’t convert. The Island sealed the win, their previous cup win being the 2011-2012 season.