After all of the recent injuries to the outdoor 1st XI and the scrabbling around to get cheap indoor sticks on the internet, the wait for indoor hockey was over. With most of the squad turning up early to watch the games before and orientate themselves, the only question was what team the mighty Saffron Walden would bring? The answer was a very young one!

Having no practices or game time before the season opener, this was definitely for the better. Despite being very technically skilful and gifted, the youngsters from Essex were a little overpowered at times, with a core of their 2nd XI squad and essentially an Under 18 edition of the club. Game on!

Walden started the brighter of the teams and showed they had organised themselves defensively and were happy to knock the ball around and keep possession of the ball. South had to weather the first five minutes or so and get to grip with the faster nature of the game and also additional restrictions. The stout back three of Rich "Archibald" Hollidge, George Toynton and stand-in skipper Nev Warren were competently able to deal with most attacks and retain possession. As the South attackers adapted to the conditions, a few chinks in the Walden defence began to be exploited and some pressure applied from short corners. From one of these the imperious Chris Pearson slotted a hard flick low past the keeper to just about earn the lead.

The lead looked to be doubled just before the interval when a fine passing move from Ollie Lamming left an unmarked Pearson to sweep home from the back post into an unguarded net. The umpires were zealous in punishing the hit for having too much of a swing, but he was all alone and they don't tend to punish the internationals when they do it! Anyway, half-time came with South holding their own and looking positive.

After Jim Hockley tried to confuse people by giving the same starting 6 as the first half, South settled back into the rhythm of absorbing Walden attacks and countering with pace and power. Ollie Lamming and Mike Karran were the beneficiaries of Dan Loy’s incredible tackling, allowing a couple of three-on-ones that were narrowly missed. Mikey seemed on a personal mission to score past the kids when he had three attempts saved by the Walden goalie in succession. The fine margins between success and failure!

After winning a couple of short corners in a row, Saffron Walden surprised even themselves by scoring and levelling the match after George had pulled off a string of fine saves. This brought the opposition out of their collective shell and they started to thrive on their newfound belief and confidence. George carried on saving the shots and the defence kept mopping up after him and it seemed that the game may peter out to a draw, with the Walden keeper in fine form.

Chris Person had other ideas. After smartly robbing the last defender with a reverse stick tackle, he zoomed into the circle and dispatched the ball into the corner. The Goal King title may well be his this year if he scores for fun like this. Other contenders may have to have a word with Colin and Sophie to stop him playing Mixed!

After all was done, a satisfying first game and victory in the competition. The slightly better boys of Perse Under 18s await next week, being national champions for the past couple of years. We actually play against adults after that. Will we cope? Stay tuned!