Men's Indoor squad miss out on National Div 2 status by the finest of margins

Havering entered their fourth straight season of National league indoor with a trip to Lillishall to face Sheffield Hallam, Bardford Tigers, Preston, Harlston Magpies and Cheltenham in Div 2 North. In the last three seasons Havering had failed to finish in the top three in order to progress to Div two and had been relegated back to the regional qualifiers in Cambridge. Last year Havering had narrowly missed out on goal difference and were looking to go one step further this year after a good showing in the East qualifiers.

First up on the Saturday was National Premier league outdoor side Sheffield Hallam and in a close encounter throughout Havering pushed the favourites close, Hallam led 4-3 into the closing stages but Havering had two golden opportunities to level the match from the penalty spot but Nick Lampkin and Harry Andrews both fired wide of the target. Havering were then on three occasions reduced to four players receiving cards for tackles and Hallam capitalised to run out 7-4 winners. Havering's goals coming form Staurt Garnell, Lampkin, Paul Dover and Andrews.

Already the second game of the tournament was huge if Havering were to keep in touch and they came flying out of the blocks to take a 3-0 lead within the first three minutes of the match with goals from captain Paul Johnson, Andrews and Dover. For the remainder of the half Havering had to soak up a barrage of pressure from Barford with Marc Lloyd making some crucial saves. Barford did pull a goal back but just before half time but Garnell added another to give Havering a 4-1 half time lead. Garnell added a further two goals to complete his hat-trick to ease the nerves and further goals from Connor Poulain, Lampkin, Johnson, and Josh Cipa sealed an impressive 10-3 victory with reserve keeper Nik Males getting on for the last few minutes of the action.

A 9.00 start Sunday morning was never going to be easy but a well rested Havering side new a win against Preston who had lost both of their Saturday games would put them firmly in the reckoning. Preston got off to a flyer and scored within the opening thirty seconds but Havering responded well and equalised through Poulain from a penalty corner, this was to be as good as it got for Havering as an error filled first half saw them go in 4-2 down with Lampkin adding the other goal. The second half was a different story as coach Alastair Lewis refocused the team and sent them back out with renewed focus, Johnson bought the deficit back to one goal and Andrews added another to bring the score to 4-4. Momentum was firmly in Havering's favour but the match changed with a contentious incident, LLoyd closed down a Preston forward who seemed to lose his footing on the wooden floor but the umpire judged that in fact LLoyd had made contact and awarded a penalty flick which was dispatched. Now chasing the game with minutes to go Preston added a sixth with a fast breakaway and despite LLoyd being subbed for a five man outfield Havering only managed to pull one goal back through Dover and ended up losing 6-5.

Havering were now really going to have to perform in their fourth game to stand a chance but were facing the stand out team in the tournament Harlston Magpies, again Havering came out flying and scored two early penalty corners from Lampkin and Dover. Harlston soon began to find their feet and bought the scores back 2-2 but as the half came to a close Lampkin added another penalty corner to regain the lead. Havering looked to see out the remaining minute but on the buzzer Harlston equalized, there was a big appeal from Havering that the shot seemed to be taken a considerable distance outside of the D (and was later admitted by the Harlston player) but the goal was awarded and the scores were level at half time. Momentum had firmly switched as Havering looked visibly down at the start of the second half and Magpies took advantage with two quick goals, Havering gave it their all but were unable to cope with Harlston's fast moving play and finished up on the end of an 8-3 defeat.

By this point it looked all over for Havering but as the afternoon games unfolded results went their way and they went into the last game against Cheltenham knowing a win by four goals would be enough for them to qualify with the added spice that Lampkin went up against his current outdoor side. Havering dominated from the outset and kept possession of the ball better than they had in the previous four games with no signs of fatigue setting in. Garnell gave Havering the lead and added a second shortly after, more chances came and went as Cheltenham's England u21 goalkeeper was in fine form, Lloyd was mostly a spectator as Havering went into the break 2-0 ahead. Sensing the game was there for the taking Havering started the second half as they finished the first and Poulain and then Andrews gave them the four goal cushion they needed. The cushion didn't last long however as LLoyd was beaten with a clever finish from the Cheltenham forward, the game at this point was opening up with both sides having failed attempts from penalty corners. As the game entered its final phase Johnson slipped the ball past the Cheltenham keeper to regain the four goal lead with just three minutes left on the clock. As the clock ticked down it looked as if havering had done just enough but as the game entered its final minutes Cheltenham pulled their keeper and with under a minute remaining the Cheltenham forward flicked an unstoppable shot past LLoyd into the roof of the net. LLoyd was immediately pulled as Havering went for broke but with the Havering team high up the pitch a loss of possession resulted in a Cheltenham penalty corner as the buzzer sound, with no keeper in the goal the ball was flicked into the empty net to seal the Havering heartbreak and a 5-3 score line.

Another year where Havering pitted themselves against vastly superior opposition and missed out by the finest of margins, the team played extremely well for most of the weekend but a below par performance in the opening game on the Sunday ultimately cost them. A huge thank you to the injured Michael Caruana Smith who managed the boys over the weekend and Alastair Lewis for coaching the team. A very special mention to our small band of supporters who travelled up on the Sunday, you made the noise of fifty people and almost got us over the line.