31st Oct 2020 Mens 5th v Leodis Leeds 1(Home) 1 - 4 loss
With Will Jones pulling out on the morning of the game and Tom Threlfall having an opportunity to play in the 4s, this was an older than usual Ben Rhydding 5th team, even by our standards (so much so that Tindall and Burgin were in the 4 youngest players!).
Similar to the Adel match last week, this was a game of two halves, with a first half performance that wasn't quite up to the standard this team is definately capable of, with too many passes going astray which put the back four of Jackson, Blackburn, Massey and Burgin under too much pressure and on a few occassions we were thankful to Josiah Wood in goal for keeping us in the game. That said, there were a chances at the attacking end of the field and we were very unlucky not to get a goal from one of several scrambles in front of the Leodis goal.
A change in formation early in the second half looked to pay dividends as we suddenly started playing better, passes finding men and more positive movement, however at this point we were 2-0 down and pushing forwards to try and pull the game back left gaps at the back and the score line ended 4-1. The Ben Rhydding goal from Burgin deserves a comment though, a "once a season goal" according to the man himself in his post match interview, but I certainly can't remember him hitting one so well from the edge of the D into the top corner before.
With 4 league games gone now and an enforced break upon us, plus some players unable to cross from North to West Yorkshire under new rules, I think this team can reflect on a start to the season that's seen us form some strong bonds and enjoy our hockey, and even though sometimes we've not hit the highs we can, when it does click we'll give someone a good hiding.