Mens 3rd vs Harleston Magpies 5

The Men's 3rd team were eager to start their league campaign this season and find out what sort of opposition they would face this season, following their championship winning season last year in the league below. Arguably the team had never been quite so well prepared, entering the first league fixture for a new year, having played 4 friendlies pre-season, largely with the same stable team. However, all the training and practice had somewhat taken its toll on the core of the aging side with Cooper, Bryce and King all pulling up injured before the game started. As is normal for the first league fixture, filling four teams can be a challenge, but with the last minute availability of Pusey to the team we were able to field 12 players in case of further injury.

However, not more than 2 hours before push back, it was clear that Carter was not going to make the start of the game at least as he was stuck in London due to train issues. Back to starting with a bare 11 then. Fortunately, young Batchelor-Wylam (Jnr), had been brought along to watch the scintillating contest and so was able to throw a Sudbury shirt on and provide some support on a very hot day.

Sudbury started briskly against a visiting team made up of only 10 players as they waited for their remaining players to arrive and looked to pass the ball around the opposition as had been practiced pre-season. This worked well and Sudbury were not heavily punished for the odd weaker pass as the opposition stood back a bit and gave the required room. It was only a few minutes into the first half when the passing play saw Pusey in the 'D' secure his first goal of the game. The absence of the regular central players, meant that a slightly different formation was in play with Batchelor-Wylam (Snr) and Dudley sitting deep in central defence. This allowed Wickham and Freeman the freedom to play slightly higher and feed Konrath and Hardingham on the left and right. Bonner bossed the central midfield role being able to find space and Sudbury shirts in space left by a defensive opposition a man down. Samways made some great runs up front to drive the ball into the oppositions 'D' and it wasn't long till Pusey found a second goal to secure a comfortable lead. Sudbury were given a bit of a wakeup call though when shortly before the end of the first half a loose ball played out from defence was picked up by Harleston and punished with a goal for the visitors.

The second half was a more nervous affair as the visitors were now up to full strength and the heat of the day was taking its toll on all players with a few more mistakes and soft passes intercepted. The rotation in of Batcher-Wylam (Jnr) allowed a brief respite for tired legs but for much of the half it wasn't clear which team might score the next goal. With less than 25 minutes left in the game the MIA Carter arrived, having taken a UBER all way from Wimbledon, just to make some of the game. Young fresh legs were a very welcome addition and provided support for the dynamo in the middle of Doyle who had run hard for most of the game. Good pressure resulted in a pair of penalty corners being awarded and on the second of those a crisper push out and good strike from Doyle on to the keepers pads was rewarded as he followed up and was able to slot the rebound neatly home for the teams 3rd goal. Harleston we able to get a second goal themselves before the end, but the game ended 3-2 to Sudbury.

There is no better way to open a season as a promoted team with a win, but Sudbury know that will need to play better against stronger opposition with more players on hand in the coming weeks. A slightly nervous start to the campaign is behind them and they can look forward to further successes in the league.