Mens 1's come back from 0-3 down to grab a point

After what had been a tough few weeks for Havering things were not about to get any easier with the visitors being local rivals and 3rd placed Old Loughts. Adding salt into the wounds Havering were missing Ollie and Josh Cipa, Gaz Ingram, Lewis Smith and captain Michael Caruana Smith who had to fly back to Malta the morning of the game to be by his Dad’s bedside in intensive care. Alex Lee and Ashley Dawes were bought in from the 2’s with the latter making his first team debut.
 
The game started at a frantic pace with Loughts dominating possession and territory from the start. Havering struggled to match the early running of the opposition and could not keep the ball well enough to relieve pressure when it was much needed, it was no surprise the away side took an early lead with Loughts working the ball to an unmarked player in the D whose high shot was deflected in at the far post. Loughts continued to pressure the Havering defence and soon built a 3-0 lead within the opening twenty minutes, the second goal coming from a well-placed penalty corner drag flick and the third a reverse stick finish from the top of the circle that Joe Shearer-Rust would have been disappointed not to keep out.
 
Loughts intensity inevitably starting to drop and Havering began to take a foothold in the game with Paul Dover and Connor Poulain becoming more prominent in the middle of the park. Havering gained a lifeline just before half time as Dover fed Paul Johnson at the top of the circle whose ball into the D caused confusion in the Loughts defence with the ball deflecting kindly off of the keeper to Chris Dunn who made no mistake from close range.
 
Havering came out with strong in the second half with a change of formation and intent to up the tempo. Despite a much better opening Havering had to weather an early Loughts onslaught with Shearer-Rust and Harry Jenkins in particular defending well from a chain of Loughts penalty corners. However from this point on Havering grew and grew into the game thanks in large to the tireless running from the Havering forwards spearheaded by Man of the Match Alex Lee. The deficit was back to one midway through the half as good build up from Havering found Dover on the right who fed Harry Andrews on the baseline whose first time ball across goal found Lee who calmly slotted home at the back post.
 
At this point Havering had the forward momentum and after good work from Connor Poulain won their first penalty corner of the match. Havering switched the ball well at the top of the circle with a composed ball from Alastair Lewis finding Poulain on the back post for a close range finish. With five minutes to go Loughts put everything into attack but failed to break down a spirited Havering defence who clung onto a priceless point against a very good side. It was just reward for a spirited performance and a refusal to be beaten, an attitude that will be imperative going into crucial games before the Christmas break.