Repton played Stone hockey club in their fourth game of the season. Could the Vikings do it on a cold rainy Saturday afternoon in Staffs?
In short: Yes. Yes, they could.
The match remained scoreless for the first 5 minutes until Martin Jones scored a familiar reverse hit strike with his first entry into the opposition D. Jonesy actually used to play at Stone as a child and returned a few years ago to open the same pitch being played on.
Moments later in the game, Repton won a short corner due to some nifty and skilful work by James Johnson to find a Stone foot in the opposition’s circle. The corner was despatched by Si Claris, which would be one of three corners he would score throughout the game.
Repton dialled into their normal game plan of controlling vast periods of possession and pressing aggressively to force turnovers- similar to the tactics of Klopp’s Liverpool team. One such occasion saw Archie Vaughan rob a Stone midfielder of the ball before passing it to Dom Bennet who then threaded a forehand hit to the back post for Matti Thomas to deflect in. Henderson- Mane to Salah.
Before the end of the first half Si Claris completed his hat-trick and Andrew Cook continued his scoring run for the season. The break came with the score sitting at 6-0.
The second half would see the score line and both team’s passion rise.
Ben Clague was the unanimous man of the match due to his energy levels and total dictate of play at the heart of the midfield. His hard work was rewarded when the ball fell to him in the Stone D from a rebound off the goalie. He didn’t think twice about slotting the ball coolly into the Stone goal.
The second half also featured a penalty flick scoring master class as Lloyd Madsen, Repton’s captain and dedicated club man, scored four from the spot. One of which he cheekily took with the reverse of his stick after being ‘challenged’ to do so by the Stone coach.
Repton were able to dictate the game through having talent in all positions on the pitch. Their half backs, Seb Willars, Joe Sookias and Zack Brough all carried the ball well and made crucial tackles to terminate any Stone counter attacks. Jeremy Nelson between the sticks notably made a crucial save tipping a Stone shot onto the cross bar. However, just 5 minutes later Stone finally scored a consolation- the first Repton had conceded all season. This was deserved for the Stone side who rallied well from the onslaught of Repton goals.
The game finally ended after Martin Jones and James Sookias added to their impressive goal tallies for the season with the final score at 14-1.
A well fought, high quality and heated game throughout. Both teams were smiling over socially distanced pints at the end of the game.
Next week Repton play Bridgnorth at home in hopefully better conditions.