After the rather bruising encounter against Norbury last week, the 31-0 drubbing of Rochdale was a first big step in moving on. In the pre-match talk, coach Shonfeld laid down the challenge of getting into double figures – this was exceeded within the first minute of the second quarter. The coaching team chose to rotate the team and play many of the lads out of position to give them all the opportunity to score. It was particularly pleasing to see the three newbies, Jake Fell, Josh Myers and Toby Halls all scoring their firsts, with man of the match Jake Fell scoring an incredible four as he seemed to find he favoured position on the right side of the attack. Whilst it was a difficult day for Rochdale it was a spirited performance and there was certainly some class on show in a side that is clearly developing, with 10 decent shots on target, all of which – unfortunately for them - Ned Donovan managed to keep out. The spirit of the game was clearly evident in the fact that there were no players sent from the pitch during the entire match – credit to both teams.
So, here goes with the goals. The first came straightaway from Tom Brady with the assist from Sam Griffiths as he ran half the length of the field. The second was from Sam shortly after with George Shonfeld assisting. A few moments later Sam had secured the team’s third with a solo effort. The fourth was from Tom coming from behind the goal and shooting at a tight angle. The fifth was a powerful shot from Ollie Hague. Goal six came again from Sam (his hattrick) but this time at close range, linking again with George. The seventh was Ollie’s second, as was the team’s eighth – this time the assist coming from Tom. The first quarter was brought to an end with a close range one coming from Tom - his third.
The tenth and eleventh came quickly at the start of the second quarter, both from Jake Fell. The twelfth had a decent build up with Toby running confidently out of defence passing to Sam who delivered it nicely to Eddie Jenkins for him to get onto the score sheet. The thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteeth came from Ollie (his hattrick), Josh Myers, George, and Eddie respectively.
In the third quarter Alex Chalmers found his legs in midfield with good running and linking well with some decent passing. Goal seventeen came from a shot from a good distance from Joey Bissel, and the eighteenth and nineteenth were from Jake and Eddie, both getting their hattricks. The twentieth was a solo effort from Jake securing a ground ball deftly. The twenty-first, twenty-second and twenty-third came from Sam, Jack Royle and Toby Halls.
There were eight more in the final quarter. The twenty-fourth was from Jack. There then followed some good pressure from Rochdale with two good attempts on goal. Goal twenty-five was another for Sam and it was good to See Joe Kynaston getting in on the action for number twenty-six. Goal twenty-seven was pretty special: Joey made a catch at full stretch above him, then managing to get a powerful shot on target as he got bowled over by a Rochdale player. Goals twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty and thirty-one came quickly from Ollie, Jack, George and Joe.
All in, what was great to see was all the boys thoroughly enjoying themselves and wanting each other get a taste of putting the ball in the back of the net. A difficult day for Rochdale but both Rochdale coaches remained positive with their players throughout, which meant despite the score line, there were many positives for them to take away.
Goals – Ollie Hague (5), Sam Griffiths (5), Jake Fell (4), Jack Royle (3), Eddie Jenkins (3), Joey Bissel (2), Joe Kynaston (2), George Shonfeld (2), Tom Brady (3), Toby Halls, Josh Myers.
Notable Assists – George (5), Sam Griffiths (3), Tom Brady (3), Alex Chalmers, Ollie Hague, Jake Fell.