THD M7 3 - 2 Bromley & Beckenham Hawks
Saturday 2 December 2023
JAGS Sports Club
Match Report
As the calendar turned to December and the thermometer dropped below zero the M7s Tigers showed what they were made of. Winless so far this season, we faced Brom Beck, who beat us 1-0 in the first game of the campaign. We knew it would be another tight match, but we had a strong team so we were hopeful of a turnaround.
The match was evenly balanced as the night grew dark and the temperature got colder and colder. It was end to end, thrilling for the hardy band of spectators. We took the lead early in the first half through Peter Abbott, a typically emphatic finish after a scrappy build up. We defended as they came back at us but they got a short corner and equalised, so we went into half time level pegging. In the second half, we came out strong - Peter scored a second, which was just reward for a period on top. But Brom Beck came back again and grabbed another equalizer with less than 10 minutes to play, and it was game on. To a man, the team stepped up to the challenge. Fine defending from Colin and the rest of the backs, and valuable saves from Noah in goals, excellent control of the midfield from our young talent , Matthew, Thomas and Seb. And Peter and Alex led the line from the front, with support from our wingers.
We pushed for the winner and found ourselves camped outside their goal. There was a controversial moment where one of their backs basically kicked the ball away from the line, and then Thomas had the ball in the net as the whistle was belatedly blown for the kick. Tense moments followed, protracted discussions between the referees, but no flick was given. Still the M7s were not to be denied, we took the short corner instead, and Peter Abbott stepped up to smash home his hat-trick goal. Brief celebrations from the team, and Brom Beck were stung, but we regrouped and held our lead for the remaining couple of minutes. Finally the whistle went and the real celebrations began. The second half of the season will be very interesting. Hopefully.
Written by Alistair Dick