Despite St Albans being in the place above the 4As in the table, Gate prevailed with a 1-0 victory from a Fergus Comrie goal in the second half. The goal was created by the partnership of Felix Rushton and Alastair Whatley, after Alistair dummied the ball for Felix to receive and then a slick one two with Felix slipping a pass past one of the opposing defenders to Alastair who played it back to Felix who was by now near the byline and he touched it round the keeper and across goal for a back post finish from Fergus. The build up was fantastic to watch and the goal looked as if it was a training drill. This goal would just be enough to allow the 4As to hang on for their 4th consecutive win. Although we were victorious, St Albans looked threatening and were extremely solid in defense, barely allowing Daniel Spencer, Felix or Alastair to get past and onto goal.
Fergus deservedly ended with MOTM and it was good to have him back in the team with Sam Levene, Jon Huddleston and Alex Holmes all receiving honourable mentions as well. In goal, Sam Levene was decisive and solid when called upon, keeping a clean sheet. In defence,Alex, James Rushton ,Jon and Antony Spencer generally kept the youthful St Albans attack at bay by blocking and stopping all major chances and counter attacks despite a few too many turnovers from the 4As. In the middle of the pitch, Will Hargrove and Ali Priestley offered attractive passing and a sense of physical presence, increasingly blocking the main St Albans playmakers out of the game.
On the flanks, Simon Holmes and Fergus Comrie were quality, bringing support to both the defence and attack with a lot of running from both of them.
Fergus deservedly ended with MOTM and it was good to have him back in the team with Sam Levene, Jon Huddleston and Alex Holmes all receiving honourable mentions as well. In goal, Sam Levene was decisive and solid when called upon, keeping a clean sheet. In defence,Alex, James Rushton ,Jon and Antony Spencer generally kept the youthful St Albans attack at bay by blocking and stopping all major chances and counter attacks despite a few too many turnovers from the 4As. In the middle of the pitch, Will Hargrove and Ali Priestley offered attractive passing and a sense of physical presence, increasingly blocking the main St Albans playmakers out of the game.
On the flanks, Simon Holmes and Fergus Comrie were quality, bringing support to both the defence and attack with a lot of running from both of them.
In Attack, Alastair, Daniel and Felix, despite the solid defending from the opposition, demonstrated enthusiasm and skill by pressing and trying to pounce on any service given to them by the Gate midfield and to prove this, you can ask Alastair to see his heat maps, which I’m sure he’d love to show you.
All in all great to win a match that could have gone either way and now with the 4As in the relative safety of 5th place, hopefully, we can continue this great run with a more stylish hockey performance next week against lower table side, Bishop Stortford 4s.