| Report
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Team: Chris baker (C), Chris Long (GK), Colin Campbell, Tony Hawksley, Ted Thom, Johnny Hobbs, David White, David March, Barry Corbett, Jerry Morton, Brian O’Connor. Umpire: Peter Hodges.
For those wondering who Baker’s XII are, we are the third veteran side of the Wimbledon Club. I say this because we seem to be the forgotten side of the Club, unmentioned in dispatches.
Old Masonians are playing at Sunbury on grass, whilst the pitch at Wimbledon is recovering from the reseeding. Baker’s XII were playing on grass for the first time since early December and it showed. As regards ‘Old’, it was clearly Baker’s XII that should have been labelled ‘Old’ . Regularly fielding two septuagenarians and six players well over sixty, this really is a veteran side. But we make no excuses. O.Ms. attacked from the whistle, and Baker’s XII struggled to keep them out of the circle. Colin, playing outfield for the first time in many a moon, was thrown into the fray from the start. He hadn’t forgotten his skills and even managed to avoid kicking the ball. O.Ms. constant attacks were rewarded by numerous penalty corners, none of which they converted. However, they did open their scoring with a solo effort from their youngest player, after eight minutes. Ted was kept busy, trying to turn defence into attack. He produced a memorable long diagonal pass to Jerry, unmarked on the right, from the left half position. Jerry was unable to control the ball, and complained after the game that the ground was too soft and bouncy. (He would say that, wouldn’t he?). Johnny, in his usual terrier style, was breaking up attacks, but it was not enough. O.Ms. scored again in the eighteenth and twenty-eighth minutes, having dominated the half. The half time team talk must have worked, as Baker’s XII came out fighting. They were more aggressive in attack, but the forwards were receiving the ball too near the halfway line, rather than inside the 22 metre line. This gave them too much to do before being in a realistic position to score. Chris Baker, David White and Tony played steadily in defence and David March continued his good form on the left of attack. As last week, he rarely missed a thing. Up front. Bazzer, fully recovered from his nasty knock last week, and Brian had few opportunities to score despite the best efforts of Jerry to cross the ball into the circle. O.Ms. had not had the possession they enjoyed in the first half, and it was not until the last five minutes that they scored their fourth goal. Chris Long was awarded Man of the Match for his heroic goalkeeping, which helped to keep the score down to a less embarrassing four goals!
Next week TBC
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