Roy Sullivan is an American, who probably has never seen a game of hockey in his life. But he plays a crucial role in this week's DogBlog.
We made the journey to Kenley with high spirits, a useful looking team and some considerable apprehension. Somehow, we had managed an outrageously improbable 1-0 win against this lot at our place, since when their full team - yes, the same one we were now facing - had eased past the Desperados 5-1. It was no surprise, therefore, that the early play saw us come under considerable pressure. But we held out (if not exactly firm), then we came into it a bit more and some crafty play by our canny golden oldies saw Nigel Scandrett hammer the ball in. Hey!! 1-0 'Dogs. Not for long though. A rather unfortunate 'Oops, I thought you had that gap' moment from a defensive short and, well, you've guessed, it: 1-1. More pressure from them and a second goal but - no! - on referral, we got a lucky break and it stayed 1-1. Then we got another lucky break when a move begun by Peter on the right, with a hint of accidental feet, saw us venture into their 'D' again and this time the diminutive figure of our very own Boy Assassin Richard S swept us back into the lead. 2-1 'Dogs. A massive hit from Barry (how lovely to see you back among us, where you belong) boomed back miles off a traumatised left hand post but then it was huge pressure back on us again and, albeit from a rather unlucky rebound, they scored a far from undeserved 2nd equaliser. And looked all set for a 3rd (or even a 4th) when, to our immense relief, the whistle blew for the end of a right old harum-scarum 1st period.
HALF TIME: KENLEY 2 'DOGS 2
Where to go from here? We'd matched a very good side with some of our best hockey of the season. The GMB, Nigel, Dave C, Martin and a Thames Barrier of a guest defender, Matt, had shored us up at the back while, further upfield, the youthful vigour of the 2 young Richards had melded to great effect with our old silver foxes Nigel S, Rupert C and Barry, all expertly led by example by Cap'n Peter. Could we possibly pull off another unlikely result? Early signs were not good, as they found various ways of squandering a series of short corners. Then a rare moment of relief - and of pure magic - saw Richard 'the dribble' Cruden leave defender after defender in his wake. His deft flick into the 'D' was fired goalwards by Richard S and there, again, on the rebound was Nigel S. Un-be-lievable: 3-2 'Dogs! There was really only one side in it, but somehow they were losing. Surely that couldn't be it? But as time went by, and fruitless Kenley short corner succeeded fruitless short corner, we began to think that maybe lightning would strike twice and our rather unlikely home win would turn into the most improbable of 'doubles'. Time and again, something or someone got in the way (...mostly legally), as we continued to hold out. Finally, they seemed to lose heart a bit and we relieved the pressure. Then, the sweetest sound of the afternoon (apart from the giggles which followed GMB taking one in the visor early on in the first half) - the final whistle. I'm almost embarrassed to say...
FINAL SCORE: Kenley 2, 'Dogs 3
What to say? A quite magnificent performance from 11 'Dogs playing as a team. As for Kenley,well done lads: top sportsmen, great umpire, and the usual warm welcome in your lovely clubhouse. Thanks for everything.
Well, lightning does indeed strike twice: for the second time this season they had murdered us, but failed to score the goals that would have proved it. Cheer up lads - Roy Sullivan (remember him, right at the start of this report?) was apparently struck by lightning 7 times and lived: an all-time record. Which means that, by my calculation, provided you continue to outplay us like this, we should stop mugging you by spring 2012. There's something to look forward to. All the best, and see you next season.
Bet you can't wait.
