First win of the season for the men's 1's

Late Cornish goal seals comeback win

Havering were given the task of facing the mighty Bourne Deeping for their second fixture of the season without 5 of their regular squad and a team with an average age for 38, however they remained confident that the fans (attendance of 7) that had flocked to fortress Campion on this spectacular occasion would act as a 12th man to help pull them through with such a depleted squad.

The home team began brightly pressing the visitors early on with Paul Dover (all hail) leading from the front and on numerous occasions gaining possession. Eventually the home team were rewarded when Dover intercepted another weak defensive pass and then provided a pass to Sunny Singh who used his calm but quick hand skills that even the flash would envy to round the goalie and pass into an open net. A second goal quickly followed when Dover intercepted another pass and provided Liam Appleyard with a pass which he deflected into an open net whilst diving fully stretched and face first, something the team have been waiting to see for many seasons.

At this stage of the game it looked like Havering should go onto win comfortable but this sadly would not be the case as Bourne scored a breakaway goal not long before halftime. After a rousing speech from Coach Brad Morland Havering knew that they could not afford to be complacent in the second half. With that said Paul Dover chucked an aerial from the push back deep into the opposition half which as usual had no outcome other than providing the opposition with the ball and an opportunity to attack. Immediately after the turnover the away side charged forward and managed a shot from outside the D with an altitude of around waist height which keeper Lee Bennett decided to save and then leave on the floor for an opposition attacker to run up and pass into an open net, the scoreboard now showed 2-2.

Times were only about to get worse for Havering as they conceded a 3rd goal from a short corner that deflected off the clubs only current international (Michael Caruana) stick, through Bennett’s legs and into the back of the net. Whilst the crowd believed the home team were in big trouble having thrown away a 2 goal lead little did they know that this was just the beginning of the emotional roller-coaster to follow. With only 10 minutes left in the game and Havering still trailing they found inspiration in the shape of Alex Defroand taking the game by the scruff, it appeared he had suddenly recovered from the sniffles he claimed to be suffering from before and during the game.

The beginning of the home sides recovery began from a short corner, a quick exchange of passes from Harry Andrews to King Dover and then back to Harry provided him with an open shot on goal which was fired into the bottom corner. With this goal the momentum had now been switched back into Havering’s favour and the away side looked nervous not only from conceding but also when hearing the Roar of the crowd following the equaliser. The relentless pressure continued and eventually Havering’s Aaron Cornish ( or was it Johners they look the same?) provided a goal that secured the first 3 points of the season for the home side. With the final whistle following soon after the crowd rushed onto the field to celebrate the team’s first points of the season.