Devonport Services Men's 2s vs Okehampton Men's 2s

With morale high from our amazing start to the league, we knew today was going to be a challenge. Gary Chapman back in charge for his first game this season. Things were looking good. Kieran arrived with a weird lump popping out of his belly. He was keen to get going but before the pre-match warm up, Kieran decided to say to Will "ere I have got this weird lump". Will gave Kieran a pitch side diagnosis of a hernia which meant he was out. Step in Matt Crossey who keeps his kit in his car just in case of emergencies. Today with Reece "The Weapon" Moore not playing and not involved in the box I was happy I wasn't going to get injured before the game.

Both teams started well and it was clear early on that this was going to be a good game. Okehampton scored first after I stopped the shot but my big size 10s put it in. Both teams playing well with lots of chances at both ends. It didn't take long for us to get a short corner. Andy H stepped up and smashed it in the goal after a great injection. That was 2 goals in last 2 games for Andy. Fred was running late and when he turned up he went straight on the pitch. Fred made a great run around the back and put the ball into Will who put it in the goal. With the passion of the game clearly getting into the hearts of both teams there were some challenges and shoulders going in.

Half time called and we were winning 2 - 1. Colin called captains in to have a chat about the questionable challenges from both sides. Warning given and both teams knew their place. Another great half time team talk by Jim and back out we went. Second half saw some great passing around by the team and we looked confident. Okehampton wanted a second goal and pushed hard with some cracking balls in the D but they just couldn't convert.

Now we get onto why I got the DOD votes today. With Okehampton pressing high they managed to find themselves in a position where they were past the defence. I made the decision to go charging out. The Okehampton forward panicked and mis-controlled the ball. I then found that I had ran out of the D and found myself in a position in front of the ball. Never being in this situation before and only been playing in goal since summer league I didn't know the rules for keepers outside of the D. With the blood rushing to my head and the nose bleed for being out of the D starting, I ignored the team yelling "USE YOUR STICK" and went old school with the saying "if in doubt kick it out". So yes a penalty corner was given. Luckily no green card as Dizzy later said "It was Carl" when asked. I made up for the mistake with a save from the shot.

As we entered the last 5 mins Okehampton applied more pressure as they tried to force the equaliser. With a minute and half left they got a short. Injection came in, the initial touch was poor but they kept trying. The shoot came in directed to the bottem right corner. At full stretch I wasn't getting it. But then stepped up vice captain Chris P who has decided he isn't running for shorts anymore and was fashioning his new face mask with orange trim. Chris stopped the ball on the line and it went out for a long. We held on for the final whistle and a hard fought 2 - 1 win.

321s saw Ryan Steadman coming 3rd and 1st place being a close competition between Andy and Jim with only one point in it. Andy pipped it coming 1st with 22 points.

DOD was close with Kieran's hernia getting 5 votes but it was clear there was only going to be one winner, yes me.

Big shout out to the whole team as every one played well. There were some tired legs today but everyone worked hard and we got a great result

So 4 games in and currently top of the league. Do we start to believe?????