Away: Walcountian Blues v Hitchin

A humid grey loomed on the horizon as the Mighty Orange of Hitchin ventured into the heart of surrey to face the premiership side of Walcountian Blues. The day promised to be one of valiance and bravery as the first Orange possession resulted in a two man advantage for the azure army. Attacking downhill in the first quarter, Blues erupted out of the gates to a commanding 6-1 lead until late in the quarter when an Orange timeout would allow them to regroup and cut the deficit to four as the period expired.

With the high ground to their backs, the Mighty Orange returned to the pitch with a revamped aggression, scoring the next five goals of the game before Blues were able to equalize only seconds before the half-time whistle.

Once again surrendering the high ground, Hitchin returned to the pitch with a new game plan as well as some new footwear. With studs on their shoes and patience in their hearts, the Mighty Orange devoured over three minutes of game time before finding the net on their first possession. These long possessions characterized the third quarter as Blues were held to a pair of goals while the Orange were able to extend their lead to three.

With the slope in their favor for the final twenty, Hitchin could smell blood in the air. A combination of smart possessions, fast transition, and successful man-ups fuelled the Orange offense while the defense contributed with well-executed clears and some great saves. All in all, as the final three shrieks pierced the muggy afternoon air, our Mighty Orange led by a hard-fought six goal margin. This humble author extends a bruised and battered thanks to the courageous play of the Walcountian Blues for a well-played game and a much-needed pitcher of golden delight. It is with utmost sincerity that I apologize on behalf of the Mighty Orange that we were not able to partake in your beer-swilling festivities on the night of our battle. Perhaps we can rectify this upon the eve of the return fixture as we have just recently acquired access to our own lacrosse pub in the nearby hamlet of Ickleford. Although this author is not particularly bothered by individual statistics, there are individuals who might feel betrayed if their efforts were not rewarded with at least some mention. Thus, to be fair, here are the stats as best I remember them:

Goals: Travis, Eamon, and Wavey each with 4; Josh with 3; and Steve and Middleton with 1 apiece.

Face-offs were dominated by Middleton while Dan also contributed a couple victories.

Our new keeper played well despite playing in running shoes for the first half and not having played in quite some time. Once appropriate footwear was made available, his saves became more frequent and his clearing was superb.

Most of our goals were assisted, so go team.

And we won more ground balls than we lost, so yippee.

Team: Craig, Bish, Shreddie, Alex, Middleton - 1, Dan, Eddie, Wavey - 4, Josh - 3, Naz, Steve - 1, Eamon - 4, Travis - 4.