Whitley Bay & Tynemouth Hockey Club

WBTHC 1 v Sheffield Hallam 2

WBTHC 1s made the trip to Sheffield and continued their fine start to the season with a 5-0 thrashing of Sheffield Hallam Men’s 2s, who before the game had enjoyed two wins from as many games. The game started at a fast pace, and Sheffield enjoyed the majority of the possession in the early period of the game but seemed happy to keep the ball in their own half, very rarely causing the Whitley Bay defence any problems. This was a pattern which would continue throughout the game as WBTHC played a very patient and organised formation looking to break and attack with pace and purpose. The deadlock was broken mid-way through the first half, when a deflected through ball arrived at the feet of Russ Bowen, who calmly squared the ball beyond the advancing Sheffield GK for Andy Titmus to finish easily from two yards. The second goal arrived shortly after when Harry Lewis converted a penalty corner giving WBTHC a two goal cushion at half time.

During the second half Sheffield pushed hard to force a reply, however WBTHC defended incredibly as a unit, soaking up Sheffield attacks with fierce tackling and fantastic communication giving Sheffield no options as they approached their target. As Sheffield throughout the half tired and committed men forward in attack, WBTHC patiently chose the killer moments to break at pace and finished the game clinically with goals from Evans, Titmus and Bowen. In the final minute the Sheffield players stared at the gods in disbelief as Blair Fotheringham rubbed salt into their wounds by making an outstanding reaction save from point blank range to ensure that WBTHC maintained their well-deserved clean sheet.

WBTHC 1 (5-0) Sheffield Hallam 2