Bury 4 v 2 HBU(2)
Time: 19.15, Date: 6th Feb, Location Soham
HBU(2) 9 v 5 Herne Bay
Time: 11.15, Date: 7th Feb, Location: Pier Pavilion
This weekend saw HBU(2) in Premier League action for the first time following the shock defection of virtually the entire HBU CSL squad & coach. It was going to be a baptism of fire for the players. The new look HBU(2) were away to Bury in their first match of the weekend. HBU(2) is made up of the HBU veterans and 2 players who refused to leave the club when the mass exodus took place. Bury had drawn 5-5 with HBU’s first team earlier in the season so it was always going to be a tough game.
HBU(2) played a tight defence and hoped to make their opponents over commit and then catch them on the break, the tactic worked perfectly as Bury struggled to create any chances, with 12 minutes remaining in the half United captain Phil McVey fired a rink long pass to teammate Nigel Mills, who deflected the ball past a helpless keeper to put United 0-1 up. Bury were shocked by the goal, and came at United even harder. United continued to soak up pressure and hit Bury on the break, Steve Clarke won the ball on the halfway line and beat Bury’s last defender, who tripped him up, somehow as he was falling he managed to get the shot off, unfortunately missing the target. The ref should have awarded a penalty and sin-binned the Bury defender, however he didn’t, as he said he played the advantage. 2 minutes later Clarke received a ball to the head and had to be taken to the hospital for stitches to be applied. United did not let this affect them and at half-time the score was 0-1 to United.
Bury came at United straight from the opening whistle of the 2nd half, and were rewarded almost immediately when they scored from a tight angle to make it 1-1 with only a minute of the half gone. 4 minutes later they made it 2-1. Bury now had the momentum, and the game looked to be slipping away from the United veterans. Using all their experience HBU battled on, they stunned Bury with 12 minutes left, another long pass from Phil McVey found his brother Paul who deflected the ball past the Bury keeper, a carbon copy of their first goal to tie the game at 2-2. However as the half went on United started to tire, with 7 minutes left Bury went 3-2 ahead, and it looked like there was no way back for United. Then with 4 minutes left Phil McVey won the ball and beat the last defender, only to be scythed down. A blue card and sin-bin should have shown to the Bury player, to everyone’s amazement this did not happen, a team foul was awarded instead. A penalty was awarded which Phil McVey missed. United now had to throw caution to the wind if they were going to get anything out of the game. With 2 minutes left Phil McVey earned a blue card and sin-binned for a foul. Bury scored the resulting penalty to make it 4-2. Despite their best efforts United ran out losers 4-2.
Match 2
The next morning HBU(2) faced local rivals Herne Bay, this looked like it would a close game. United though had taken a great deal of confidence from the previous nights game against Bury, and had decided to play a more aggressive defensive system, man 2 man marking the Bay side. After a tense opening to the game, United settled better and scored first, Paul McVey scoring from close range to make it 1-0. It didn’t take long for the Bay to equalise, and after a slack pass from Phil McVey, Herne Bay’s Steve Parkes tied the game at 1-1. United’s passing game was still a little rusty but improving all the time, with 10 minutes left in the half, Chris Espejo won the ball in defence, sprinted the length of the rink and coolly slotted the ball home to make it 2-1. Again the Bay responded immediately through Steve Parkes to tie the game (2-2). United were now beginning to dominate play and 2 unanswered goals from Nigel Mills made the score 4-2 to United at the break.
The second half saw United step up a level. Their team game was improving with every passing minute, gradually Herne Bay’s defence was being put under more and more pressure. The chances started to come, and the United players started to enjoy themselves. Goals came from all over the team as Chris Espejo scored 2 more, Phil McVey (2), and Paul McVey (1) . Although Herne Bay scored 3 more of their own United ran out comfortable 9-5 winners.
Following the game HBU’s Nigel Mills said: “As a team we haven’t all played together in the Premier league since we played in the title winning side in the 1992/93 season, so we didn’t really know what to expect. We know we used to be a good side, but we were up against the current young stars of the game in the match against Bury last night. We pushed them all the way, and to lose 4-2 is a credit to us. The average age of our team is 37, whereas Bury’s average age is 22. On another day we could have won that game. We pushed on from that performance, and we were rewarded with a very satisfying win today. It’s been a long time since we have experienced this amount of hockey in a weekend, especially at this level, and I feel every one of my 47 yr’s. I won’t be able to move for a week.”
HBU captain Phil McVey added: “Although we are veteran’s we are still a very good side, and we showed this weekend that we are an extremely tough side to beat. We are looking forward to the challenge of facing the cream of English roller hockey. 20 years ago we were the best in the country, it’s amazing to think we can still compete. One of our team (Richard Walker) hasn’t put on a pair of skates on for 15 years until last week!! It’s nice to pick up our first win, hopefully we can win a few more before the season it out. There’s no pressure on us, we just have to fulfil the fixtures. Every team in the league as to play us at the pier, it has always been a fortress for us, so let’s see if we can upset a few teams this year.”
HBU team: (goals in both matches) Garrett Priestley (GK), Jason Robertson (GK), Jon Barton, Nigel Mills (3), Chris Espejo (3), Phil McVey © (2), Paul McVey (3), Steve Clarke, Richard Walker, Nick Barton.
Phil McVey
