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OMT 2- 3 Mill Hill
Mill Hill's achilles heal this season has been losing
the close games. Whenever a match went down to the wire, the late winner
always seemed to go to the opposition.
While the team broke that habit on Saturday, the truth
is that it should never have been close in the first place.
OMT gamely battled through the second half with
effectively ten men following a injury to their captain. While David Evans
was taken out to mark the immobile centre forward, from Mill Hill's view
that really was a case of sacrificing a pawn for a queen, and OMT should
have been check mated and out of the match.
That they weren't, especially after an incredible
wonder goal from Mill Hill is also testimony to their veteran defensive
line-up which restricted Ryan Schlanders to scraps (and denied him a
hat-trick once more).
Perhaps Mill Hill can also point to the fact that they
had been forced to surrender home advantage due to the indisposition of
their Finchley pitch.
Disappointingly, the welt of melted astroturf at the
top of the D was not owing to the side's scorching offensive play but a
latter-day superstious sacrifice conducted by the hooded druids of the
modern age to their blinging gods.In truth, however, the aging,
battle-scarred and unfashionable pitch at Brent Cross has more in common
with the Mill Hill team than the Compton arena and they should have been
able to adjust.
But it was OMT who started the brighter, forcing a
string of penalty corners, which finally bore fruit.
Mill Hill earned far fewer set piece opportunities but
were nevertheless able to vapitalise when Pete Lazlett's goalbound effort
struck a foot.
A flick was awarded and when Sclanders stepped forward,
the result was no more in doubt than a Russian election.
Then it came. The moment 11 lives had been building up
to for decades. Those years of training, both physical amd mental finally
paid off. From the second half push back the ball was caressed across the
back line and midfield, moving from side to side with the ease and languid
grace of a warm-up rally in the 1imbledon Championships.
The move seemd to pass through every outfield player,
although, with hindsight, I'm not sure such beauty and perfection would have
been possible had Dan Stockill been involved so maybe I'm getting carried
away.
What is certain is that no opposition player even cam
close to the ball as it gradually advanced up the right and across to Nick
Warr at the top of the D.
His only on-target shot of the afternoon flew within
inches of the keepers head but there was no time even to flinch before it
had burst through the back of the (admittedly rather poorly maintained) net.
That should have been curtains but instead led to
complacency.