12th Oct 2019 Mens 1st v University of Durham Men's 2nd(Home) 3 - 3 draw
A spectacular game of quality hockey ended in a draw that possibly was the right result but Durham went home happy and Rhydding did not.
The home side went ahead unexpectedly quickly as they began to realise that the students were buckling under the early pressure. Matty Birch, leading by example, opened the scoring from a well won corner. They scored a second before too long, coming from the solid possession of Neil Sugden-so difficult to dispossess, finished off neatly at the post by Matty Bairstow. Rhydding certainly did not expect to find themselves 2-0 up so easily but knew that Durham would be right back at them and the first corner they got they buried to close the gap at 2-1.
Rhydding continued to have more chances that Durham and could have put the game to bed had they made more clinical decisions in the circle. David Birch�s quick thinking won them a corner and Will Musgrave made no mistake to take it to 3-1. However, the students remained full of fight and were not ready to roll over. A corner for Durham resulted in a goal and they were back in the game. Unusually for Rhydding, they were matched by a team as fit as them and Durham stepped right up in the last ten minutes, putting Rhydding right under the pump. The students managed to get numbers up and convert a simple goal to make it level. The energy levels continued at sky high and Rhydding cold only weep when they scored the winner courtesy of David Birch for it to be disallowed.
A fantastic game of hockey, one of the best this league will see and we can only wait for the re-match away.