Abergavenny mens hockey (1st XI) report 10th Sept 2005
	Abergavenny 1
	Whitchurch D 2
		This season sees Abergavenny men’s hockey club fielding 2 league teams for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. The effort put in over the past few seasons in the junior section is now bearing fruit and the club looks strong enough for both teams to compete this season. With last year seeing promotion to division 2 there is much confidence in the club and there is promise of high quality hockey in the town in the coming years.
		The “first” team started the season this past weekend under new captain Geraint Davies, with a friendly match against Whitchurch. As expected, Whitchurch exhibited some high quality passing and movement and this brought the best out of the home team. Both teams created good movement and distribution throughout the midfield areas, although there were no scares for either goalkeeper. The defence of Tom O’Leary, Tom Miles, Tom Griffiths and Geraint responded strongly to any attempt to move into dangerous positions, and their good distribution forward saw good runs for Andy Banks and Nigel Sanchez. But after some midfield tussles Whitchurch gained a 2 on 1 situation, which was calmly converted to give them a half time lead.
		Abergavenny used the width of the pitch to great advantage in the second half, in particular Will Kleiser and Rhys Withers made strong runs down both flanks and kept possession well. To this end Abergavenny forced a number of short corners, which kept the visitors pegged back for long periods. Eventually the deserved equaliser came; a strong ball across the D was latched onto by Will, who calmly took his time to force the ball home.
		As both teams tired in the humid conditions, the match went from end to end, and the visitors at times began to stretch Abergavenny. Eventually some good advantage play by the umpire allowed Whitchurch to score a scrappy goal a few minutes before the end. Abergavenny strove to equalise again but couldn’t quite manage it. The very last hit before the final whistle saw Andy hit the post after a short corner routine so the result could well have been different on a different day.
		Training continues at the Leisure Centre Astroturf pitch on Tuesdays between 8pm and 9pm. Anyone interested in coming along will be warmly welcomed, regardless of pervious hockey experience.
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