After an excellent but exposing social the previous evening, the biggest boys of SUWPC
set off slingshotting around the M25 to face Essex only slightly hung over. We were
hunting for that historic 3 win in a row. With eyebrows on the line for Jack and Fernando
the pressure was on for Stags to deliver.
The first quarter was cagey, with the first goal coming after 3 minutes, plus it was for the
wrong team! This early goal plus the cold water woke us up from our hangovers, but the
Essex keeper proved to be a good match for our shots, we grew into the game and a goal
from Dan and a penalty scored by Fernando we lead 2-1 after the quarter
The second quarter began with our stonewall in defense, Jack, stopping an almost
certain Essex goal by conceding a penalty. This turned out to be their last sniff at goal all
quarter with an interesting tactic of Essex swapping their very good keeper to play
outfield, absolute masterclass. With the team now fully recovered, we began breaking
down their defense and a flurry of goals hit the back of the Essex net. Most notably
coming from Felix who snuck one in, but got ignored by the ref and it wasn’t added. The
quarter ended 2-7 with a last-minute goal from our captain.
The momentum kept up into the third quarter with two beautiful goals from Ed, solo
drives from halfway. They were a sight to behold even if that put him out of action for the
fourth quarter. After a dubious major from Dani, Essex managed to capitalize on the
man-up to sneak a goal by us. We quickly responded with Popple’s second of the
afternoon and a scorcher from John slamming into the top corner. Essex’s long ball
tactic netted them two quick goals and another buzzer beater by Howard ended the
quarter at 5-13.
A quick goal from Essex and a major apiece, the second from Jack who made up for it by
scoring. A dent in his 100-goal target. Our lovely social sec scored his first of the season
from pit A and Dan rounded out scoring to complete his double brace. Final score 6-16,
although Felix’s goal wasn’t counted. When the dust settled the stags had added
another to our win streak, it was heartbreak for Fernando who was one goal of not being
eyebrows. Bring on UCL!!
Written by Sam Cross

Most Valuable Player:
Ed Wilkes for his two incredible solo goals sprinting from half way.

Dick of the Day:
Jack James for conceding a penalty and another major.

Goals / Majors:
Sam Ellis: 0/0
George Lea: 1/0
Felix Hirst: 0/0
Sam Cross: 0/0
Daniel Ammon: 4/0
Daniel Bourne: 1/2
Ed Wilkes: 2/0
Jack James: 1/2
Fernando Alvarez: 2/1
James Popple: 2/0
John Nelson: 1/0
Howard Teng: 2/0