Marden Russets Hockey Club
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29th March 2008 (& Vets 5th April)
Burnt Ash 1 - 4 Marden Russets Mens 1st XI
The final Saturday of a tumultuous season saw mathematicians at six of the twelve clubs
furiously examining the consequences of various result combinations, all with a chance
that they could join already relegated Burnt Ash. For Marden, the connotations were
simple – a win guaranteed safety, anything else gave an opportunity to neighbours Sutton
Valence to send ‘yo-yo side’ Russets down.
And so again, this match was a microcosm of Marden’s season – woefully poor for periods,
sublime for others. For the first twenty-five minutes, Burnt Ash were superb, and
deservedly took the lead with a scrappy close-range deflection from a free-hit. Only in the
final ten minutes of the half did Russets mount any serious challenge, but when the
chances came, they were gilt-edged, with veteran Pete Creelman missing a tap-in, and
Henry Lee foiled in one-on-ones with the goalkeeper on three occasions.
The final stirring half-time huddle re-instilled the confidence that had been lacking for
much of the game, and Russets were a different team. Given that Burnt Ash’s
mathematicians were given a day off having confirmed their relegation several weeks ago,
their only job was to count the yellow cards, deservedly issued for their Neanderthal
tackling. Captain Sam Traill deflected in the equaliser from close range, and then in the
midst of defensive mayhem, tapped in to give Marden the lead. Creelman extended
Russets’ lead with a wonderful piece of improvisation, supporting his hypothesis that he
can only score good goals, and Will Page earned reward for his tireless running with the
fourth.
At the final whistle, with the Kent Sussex league vidi-printer in full swing, defeat for Sutton
Valence was confirmed, rendering this remarkable comeback incidental, although a final
finish of 7th place, the highest position Russets had been since October, was a welcome
consequence.
Marden 2nd XI 2 – 4 Bexley Invicta
A creditable performance against the League Champions and results elsewhere meant
that at least Russets had avoided any possibility of relegation.
Holcombe 1 – 2 Marden 3rd XI
Russets finished the season with a Master (brew) Class, inspired by the consumption of
several gallons of Shep Neame's finest the evening before at the Club Dinner. That and
another episode of 'Billys Boots' with Mr Iles leaving his astro footwear at home and being
forced to rapidly invest in a shiny new pair of high performance shoes from Holcs shop!
Despite fielding several ashen-faced players, Russets dominated the first half to the extent
that Holcs had only one shot on goal whilst Marden should really have had many more
than the one solitary goal, when Hancox seized on a loose ball at a short corner. The
midfield of Bishop, N Freeborne, Ridge and Iles ran themselves to a standstill as they burnt
off the excess alcohol which before the game had threatened their very participation....well
in one particular case at least! With newly crowned player-of-the-season L Freeborne
sweeping impressively at the back, Ward, Thomas, Trow and Steel created a formidable
defence whilst Giles, Hancox and Wickham wreaked merry havoc up front.
Holcs clearly did not want to lose to Marden again and within the first minute of the second
period had forced Kennedy into meaningful action to stop a flick-shot. However with the
home side pushing forward, Marden were able to create and exploit several gaps across
the pitch although they couldn't convert their possession into goals. Several short corners
came and went before with 15 minutes left, N Freeborne took full advantage of a hesitant
Holcs defence and as they stood appealing for some non-existent offence, he creamed a
shot into the far corner to give Russets a bit of much deserved breathing space. Holcs
then forced a series of short corners which required Kennedy to use his ale-honed frame
to deflect to safety but they finally pulled one back with four minutes left when they picked
up a rebound. Russets were able to see out the final minutes despite the loss of Bishop
who shrugged off a ball-in-chest injury but didn't have enough residual anaesthetic in his
bloodstream to ignore a crack on the knee as well. All in all a throughly professional
performance (despite a nothing like professional preparation the night before) and a well
deserved but hard earnt win to round off a solid season.....roll on next year!
Holcombe 3 - 1 Marden Ladies 1st XI
5th April
Marden Vets 3 - Canterbury 5
Marden with 12 men and no goalkeeper, a Canterbury side looking for a victory to ensure
they topped the league. Things didn't look good for the Vets last game of the season.
Some astute and diplomatic captaincy 1 min before the start Ludgate had coercing a
'volunteer' goalkeeper in Will Steel. Driven by the need to protect the the goalie, Marden
swiftly moved to 2-0 up within 10 mins - Ludgate's captaincy was looking inspired. Marden
for once did all the basics correctly; short passes, excellent distribution from Bardsley in
midfield, tireless running from Judd on the right and Baxter and Venes slotting in some well
taken goals. Canterbury pulled one back from open play and converted a short corner on
stroke of half time to bring scores equal at the break. The second half saw Canterbury
moving up through the gears running the tiring Marden defence of Wilday, Redman and
Chambers ragged with some well taken shots that would have left the 1st XI goalie,
struggling never mind a novice. Baxter, Wickham Studholme and Ludgate couldn't repeat
first half heroics and remained largely anonymous in the second half with Paul Sunnucks
only claim to fame for the afternoon wining the teams sweepstake on the Grand National.
The Vets would like to thank Wendy for her excellent teas over the years and wish her well
in her retirement