Men's 4s vs Sutton Coldfield 5

Telford 4ths welcomed Sutton Coldfield 5ths to St. Georges, hoping to stretch their winning run to 3 games and take revenge for their worst defeat of the season (6-1) when they travelled to Sutton with a depleted, significantly junior team, that was further depleted by early injury.

Before the match Chris stressed the need for flat passing and for the team to move into space so the defence could pass to them.

After some initial poor passing Telford warmed to the task and started to edge an even match.

Telford played some good, entertaining hockey and were unlucky not to take the lead. In one attack Telford had multiple shots, hitting each post with other shots saved by the keeper, or stopped on the line or blocked.

At one short corner Abraham just failed to connect with a pass across the D to the far post. Tom fluffed another chance when put through.

Sutton’s attacks were well controlled by Telford’s defence. David played his sweeping centre-back role in front of Paul, who stayed deep to mark the advanced Sutton forward. Any attacks that weren’t snuffed out by Telford and led to Sutton shots were met by good saves from Alex.

Telford’s excellent marking by the midfield and forwards meant Sutton resorted to long hits out of defence, which often weren’t met by anyone, and possession passed back to Telford.

Goalless at half-time and Chris emphasised the need for better passing.

Telford continued to put pressure on the Sutton goal in the 2nd half.

Telford took the lead in the 42nd minute from a short. Kieran received the injection and passed to Tom on his right, who reversed the ball firmly against the backboard for his 1st goal of the season.

Telford doubled their lead with another short 4 minutes later. Again, John injected to Kieran, but this time Kieran returned the ball to John, who had moved to the near post, and John struck the ball home for his 9th goal of the season.

Telford continued to have the better of the game scoring their 3rd goal through another short. This time John injected to Scotty and Scotty struck the ball home inside the left post for his 1st goal of the season.

Telford’s short corner routines practice following Tuesday’s training really paid off. All 3 goals came from different routines.

The game finished 3-0 to Telford, a win that takes them into the top half of the table.

David was MOTM.

Telford defended well, mopping up attacks with Alex making good saves, which the defenders responded to quickly to get the rebound. Alex’s quickest movement was in the 2nd half to get off a ball he was lying on after a save so a short wasn’t conceded.

Telford’s attack was strong getting good shooting opportunities and winning several shorts. This week Telford took advantage of their shorts with smart and clinical finishing.

There was also a strong performance from midfield backing up both the defence and forwards.