Match Report by Alessandro Onano

Act One: The Anticipation
In a surprising twist for a club of their stature, Hampstead and Westminster arrived at Southgate sitting bottom of the league. However, they quickly showed they didn’t deserve this spot, matching Southgate stride for stride. The 4s kept their cool, defending in an organised fashion and attempting to strike with their best weapon: the penalty corner. But a dash of inaccuracy and the pesky goalpost kept our heroes from breaking through, leaving the first half at a nail-biting 0-0.

Act Two: The Domination
After the break, Southgate returned with a renewed spirit. The red and blacks began to press and attack with increasing fervour. Huw’s back-to-back goals from short corners and Tadhg’s stunning solo effort, chipping the ball over the opposing goalkeeper, marked 20 minutes of utter domination.

Act Three: The Scare
With a comfortable 3-0 lead and 15 minutes on the clock, our team made the classic blunder of relaxing a bit too much. This eased the pressure and handed the game’s reins to Hampstead and Westminster. True to form, they showed they were better than their league position suggested, seizing the opportunity to push forward. Southgate had chances to counter but failed to pose a significant threat due to some imprecision in the final third.
It was then that our own Sam, who had been almost a spectator until then, was called into action. Hampstead and Westminster managed to sneak in a goal from a short corner, but our defence stood firm against further attacks.

The final whistle blew with a scoreline of 3-1 in favour of Southgate. However, the final 15 minutes rang some alarm bells, especially with the upcoming tough match against Crostyx 1.

Maintaining mental fortitude for a full 70 minutes is crucial, and any lapse in concentration against more equipped teams could be catastrophic.

Nevertheless, the M4s can celebrate reaching 14 points in the league, a tally that matches their entire last season’s points haul in just 8 games. Now that’s something to cheer about!

MoM Tadhg McGrath (Forward)