West Midlands Police Men’s Hockey v Sutton Coldfield Vets

West Midlands Police Men’s Hockey v Sutton Coldfield Vets – 16 February 2022

West Midlands Police were not able to field a full Vets side (Over 35) for this game given a number of absences/injuries, so made up the numbers from within the squad while still being able to rest some of their better players and Sutton Coldfield kindly providing Goal Keeper cover.

West Mids started off moving the ball around well but soon came under sustained pressure from Sutton Coldfield who looked the more likely to score as the half continued. Yet it was Mids who scored first with their first meaningful entry into the oppositions D, Gareth Unett being able to stretch and divert the ball past a surprised Sutton keeper.

This gave West Mids confidence as they grew into the game but despite Mids creating the better chances it was Sutton who scored on their own counter attack to level the score. West Mids didn’t let the pace of the game drop and quickly took a two goal lead via Luke Windsor and guest Dan Harris (a substitute for a late injury).

Once again, having an abundance of forwards in the team West Mids changed tactics for the last 8 minutes of the half in order to better assess several new players, however this worked in Suttons favour who turned the flow of the game and were able to score a second shortly before half time (3-2).

West Mids went back to their starting formation, which saw a balanced game with chances at both ends throughout the second half. Though West Mids had the better opportunities, they were unable to capitalise through a combination of misplaced passes and poor finishing. At the other end, Sutton had chances of their own and eventually converted one a few minutes before the full time whistle to finish the game 3-3.