Disappointing but that was the coach not the players

In 40 years of playing/coaching hockey I cannot recall when I have ever openly challenged an umpire as I did today, as I know how hard it is and how bad it feels to be challenged as an umpire. Today I horrified myself by actually breaking a 40 year record of biting my lip. I set an awful example to the youngsters I train by challenging the umpire, politely in my opinion, but challenge I did! As I explained to the boys over a pint in the legion it was wrong and they were never to do the same; a "do as I say not do as I do" moment.

Anyway back to the boys; Fleet turned up 45 minutes before the game keen as mustard and were completely fire up from the whistle. Unfortunately the Andover boys were too slow off the mark and paid for it as Fleet took an early lead in the first 2 minutes, swiftly followed up by several more before the team got better shape and the boys started to fight back.

Despite being on the back foot for the bulk of the game the Andover boys did not give up and rallied several times to return the pressure and slot a couple of well deserved goals in to the back of the Fleet net. We had several wonderful breaks that had the Andover crowd on their feet. Unfortunately we just could not put them away, which if we had done so, would have made the score more reflective of the play. Overall it was a gritty, if slightly daunted and intermittent effort which saw some great play from everyone for periods in the match. In future we need to start from the first whistle and not let the opposition win the morale battle by taking an early lead that makes it ten times harder to come back from.

Definitely one to put behind us, to learn from our mistakes, and to come out stronger and more determined next game.