MATCH REPORT

Long Sutton Men's 1st team bowed out of the Lincolnshire County Championships last Saturday in a fantastic game against Lincoln Roses which has been the final of this competition for the last two previous years. Meeting in round one this year was disappointing for both teams as this fixture produced Hockey worthy of the final again. It was Roses who took advantage of Sutton's normal slow start by scoring two quick goals. With a new formation and a fresh spirit in the team Sutton soon responded. Some excellent work from Nick Ellis and Jamie Featherstone allowed for Will Cook to finish and reduce the deficit. Sutton had forgotten about the slack first 10 minutes and were now in their stride and soon equalised again through excellent work by Nick Ellis which allowed Gary Hales to find the net. Roses were a constant threat but Sutton's defence held firm with excellent work from the wing backs of Ashley Taylor and Man of the Match Josh Fyson. 2-2 Half time. Roses scored after the break with a cruel deflection but again this spurred Sutton on with some good interlocking play from the midfield three of Featherstone, Harrison and Ellis. Sutton proved that the pre-season training and the hard work on the short corner routines payed off with a fine example to allow Danny Sisson to equalize, Sutton were now determined to go ahead in this game and produced their best hockey to come agonisingly close. However, it was Roses who took the spoils with literally the last touch of the game, again a cruel few deflections allowing the ball to trickle over the line from a short corner. A mention must go to Otto Esse who made his debut for the team and is an exciting prospect for the future. Sutton will take a lot of positives going into their next pre-season game against Pelicans next Saturday (1pm Peele Leisure Centre)

Report by Jimmy Harrison