Spencer 5 – 9 Walcountian Blues

Sorry, no match report available.

Spencer 2’s 7 – 6 Cambridge University

In what was a very tight game, the 2’s clinched a 7-6 victory over Cambridge University in the final minute thanks to an audacious solo effort from Sam Johnson.

The game started pretty slowly in terms of goals with neither side yielding. Spencer offence probably had the better chances but found the Cambridge goalie in good form. Spencer D started strongly leaving Sho with only outside shots to deal with.

Things picked up in the 2nd quarter. Spencer managed to survive a period when they were three men down (technical fouls) but the defence was finally breached late on when Cambridge took the lead. However we came straight back with a well worked goal – brilliantly finished by Andrew Mottershead.

Spencer were typically jovial at half-time, relaxing and chatting and generally keeping up team spirits. But that changed when Jamie’s mum pointed out that Cambridge were focussed, intense and planning their second half strategy in a tight huddle. She basically told us to pull ourselves together. Suitably shamed we gathered ourselves for the fight.

Cambridge started fastest in the third quarter and scored an early goal. But that somehow triggered a purple patch for Spencer when we scored 5 goals on the bounce – unfortunately losing Ben McLellen in the process to a badly injured shoulder. The rapid scoring seemed to rock the students but they kept fighting and scored a further two leaving it 6-4 at 3/4 time.

Final quarter was nerve wracking to say the least. Cambridge dominated possession and were rewarded with two goals to tie the scores. We lost Ed Thom to a nasty looking ankle injury and so were effectively down to two dedicated long poles – although Steve Daly deputised very well whilst Ed ‘manned up’ and got back on. We had a scare when went man down for a minute – but the zone kept Cambridge at bay and Sho kept out the shots.

So…. into the final minute. A fast break from Dave Crawford but Nick just didn’t have the angle and his shot glanced off the back netting and out of bounds. Nick called for calm, having settled on the draw in his mind. Sam duly ignored him, ran straight from the back line to the crease, round the crease and buried the shot. Spencer were not expecting it. Cambridge certainly weren’t.

Cambridge won possession from the face-off but a final last ditch effort from the Spencer D saw us regain the ball on our back line with two seconds to go….. Cue euphoria.

We needed this win as we’ve had a patchy start to the new year and were disappointed to lose narrowly to Portsmouth in the Flags. But in addition, there is no doubt we take satisfaction from beating the league leaders after the much publicised controversy about our last game.

Quarter Scores: 0-0 / 1-1 / 6-4 / 7-6