Mens 1 Vs Kelburne

Dundee Wanderers played host to league champions Kelburne in a no-pressure game, as the pundits had them written off before any hockey was played.

From the start Wanderers were in the visitors face, pressing high up the pitch to force errors from the noticeably shaky defence of Kelburne. This resulted in a few successful turnovers for the home side, who came close to opening the scoring early in the game when Allan Law fired the ball into the oppositions attacking circle, only for Jack Fullerton to deflect it wide on his reverse stick. The visitors were not without their chances however, with the Wanderers defence working at full capacity to keep them out. However, they scored the first of the game after Allan Law broke the line while defending a short corner, causing him to be sent to the halfway line and the all blacks to be left with three defending. Kelburne took full advantage of the absence, and sent a flick into the bottom corner to take the lead. Despite this, the Wanderers kept plugging away, maintaining a high work-rate to try and close the gaps and limit the opportunities of the opposition. Kelburne still managed to create scoring chances however, and a couple of good saves from Paul Johnstone kept the score-line tight. He could do nothing for the next short corner, as the flick took a deflection off the stick of Law, which Marcus Schiling, standing on the goal line, could not prevent going in. Perhaps not a deserved lead, but Kelburne found themselves 2-0 up none-the-less. A lesser team may have crumbled at this point, and let Kelburne run away with the result, but not Wanderers. They continued to create scoring opportunities, at times outclassing the champions, however the forward line could not convert. This proved to be costly, as Kelburne took full advantage of an unsuccessful short corner routine from the team in black and created a counter attack. Fluid passing and advantage in numbers allowed them to score their third goal, leaving Wanderers with a mountain to climb. They went a small way to scaling that mountain when five minutes from the half a Law flick was deflected by Fergus Sandison to put the score at 3-1 going into the interval.

With the deficit reduced to just two goals, the home side went into the second half looking refreshed and ready for the challenge. The forwards kept up the pressure on the Kelburne back four, and the defence and midfield areas worked hard to contain the opposition attacks. They were rewarded to the tune of a goal for the effort they put in when Nick Gamble out-witted the keeper in a good solo effort following a slick attacking move. Wanderers surge did not last long, however. A temporary lapse of concentration in the home sides back four led to a Kelburne fourth, who went on to seal the game with a fifth soon after, to finish the game at 5-2.