East London Men’s Hockey team suffered a 3-2 defeat to Kings College 4th team on Wednesday.
The men’s opening game of the season saw a colourful clash which almost ended prematurely due to some alleged behaviour from spectators.
Before the game had even started the eventful evening began with a miscommunication of the push-back time.
With both teams preparing for the match to start 30 minutes later than the actual push-back, they were left with only having referees available for an hour.
Subsequently the match ended up being played as two 25 minute half’s instead.
East London Finding Their Feet
Kings were dominant from the whistle making several challenges on target within the first 10 minutes.
Commanding the game rewarded Kings early on with their first goal just past the 10 minute mark to put themselves ahead.
Chances on goal evened out through the first half with East London building momentum as they settled into the game.
Multiple attacks on goal boosted East London’s confidence despite no one being able to secure a goal from any opportunity.
Moments before half time East London leveled the game making it 1-1, with a superb strike from Alan Smith, his first for the team in his debut match for East London.
Tense Second Half
After half time East London looked to be even more threatening and took the lead very quickly after play got back underway.
A striking shot from William Brickell, inches into the circle gave East London their second of the evening, to take the lead for the first time in the match.
However that lead was quickly vanquished by Kings as they responded almost instantly, getting an equaliser to make the score 2-2.
The match looked as if it was going to end two a piece until a last minute winner from Kings put them ahead 3-2.
The loss is a disappointing result for East London, who now move down to fifth in the league while Kings join London School of Economics and UCL at the top of the league.
Unexpected Challenges
The game was overshadowed by an incident involving fans supporting the Kings team.
The opponents supporters were allegedly chanting in an abusive manner towards the East London squad.
The alleged behavior of the King’s fans caused the umpires to walk off and threaten to end the match, which would have resulted in a walkover and the win being given to East London.
Positives From The Captain
Despite all of the challenges faced by East London before and during the match, captain Josh Walsh-Oakes was looking at the positives after his first game as captain of the side.
He said “I think we grew into the game as it went on, and played well at times, we played well as a team and were quick to track back and defend. There a number of positives to take into the next game and for the duration of the season”.
