On Saturday 19th Jan, Upminster Men’s 2s welcomed 2nd place Wapping 5s to Coopers which turned out to be a fantastic game of hockey.
As predicted the game started with Wapping really making the home team work hard to stay in the game with their clever movement up front. The U’s began to grow into the game and looked a real threat on the break but Wapping took the lead with a near post finish. This was short lived as the U’s expertly converted a PC through Josh Cipa’s drag flick to level, the U’s continued to surge forward and struck the crossbar twice and were rewarded for their pressure when a fine strike at a PC from Chris Abrey put them 2-1 ahead. The first half action was still not done as 2 quick breaks from Wapping saw the away team take a 3-2 lead into the break.
At the break Upminster knew that they definitely had a chance to get something out of the game and carried on in the 2nd half looking the stronger team. Mike Scrivener missed an early chance before a fine move saw Phil Hudson break through the middle and flick the ball over the oncoming keeper. At 3-3 the game went from end to end and with 10 minutes left, Upminster forced another PC. MOTM Josh Cipa received the ball at the top of the ‘D’ and his low drag flick to the keepers left was too good for the Wapping defenders attempt to stop on the line. A final onslaught from Wapping was expertly defended by DOTM Andrew Berry who denied an equaliser with a string of fine saves. A great win against tough opposition for the Men’s 2s keeps them 5th place in Div 3SE.
Next up for the U’s is an away game to the league leaders Brentwood Mens 1s.
