Wapping 2nds 2 v 1 Thurrock 3rds
AGAINST a strong Wapping team, were under heavy pressure from the start and defenders Ethan Pinion, Chris Smith and George McAllister had to work hard. Gradually Thurrock got into the game and the midfield of Tom Archer, Ricky Smith, Mat Skinner, George Horgan and Jo Harvey performed some slick passes to move the ball up the pitch and threaten the home side.
After 15 minutes Dave Leeks collected the ball and played a series of one-two passes to beat the Wapping defence before passing Olu Akinwande whose shot was saved but Ricky Smith seized on the rebound and hammered the ball past the keeper. This built up Thurrock’s confidence and they continued to play the better hockey forcing the home side into defence. A change of formation and substituted resulted in Wapping having much more of the ball in the second half and it was Thurrock that had to defend with keeper Danny Hick pulling off a string of excellent saves to protect the lead.
Wapping penned Thurrock into their 25m area and limited them to solo attacks by Leeks which were quickly turned around. With 10 minutes to go, Wapping levelled the score from a short corner that crept inside the post. Both teams then went all-out to add to their score with the game moving rapidly from end to end. Due to a shortage of player, four of Thurrock’s players had already played in an earlier game and Wapping took full advantage of eventual fatigue by scoring the winner from a breakaway with the last hit of the game.
