WBTHC end Medics unbeaten start to season to gain control of North East Intermediate League 1.

This week WBTHC men’s 2nd team entertain the unbeaten Newcastle Medics at The Parks in a top of the table clash.

Medics started the brighter of the two teams, coming out on top of the early encounters and moving the ball around nicely, however the WBTHC held firm and prevented the Medics attack from carving out much success from their early possession. As the half progressed WBTHC began to take control of the match and started to push the advancing Medics back. WBTHC continued to control the centre of the pitch and pinned the Medics into their own half with a high press. The building pressure applied by WBTHC soon reaped rewards with the forward players winning a number of short corners. The breakthrough finally came midway into the half with a successful short corner routine; Mark Gill played the play to the outside of the far post to Matthew Saxton who play the ball across the face of the goal for Daniel Jones to put into the back of the net in his first match against his former team. WBTHC continued to apply the pressure and prevented the Medics getting into any rhythm. A second goal followed shortly after when Harry Hewitt-Chick pushed forward from his right-back position to latch onto a loose ball on the edge of the D and coolly slotted into the bottom corner to give the home side a 2 goal cushion. The Medics were spurred on a little by the second goal and began to apply pressure onto the WBTHC defence who were able to stand strong and take a 2-0 lead into half-time.

Medics once again came out strong and a few errors among the WBTHC players allowed the Medics to have the better of the early exchanges in the 2nd half. Once again the WBTHC held out and the home side built their way back into the game. Midway through the 2nd half the game began to fizzle out a little with the two teams cancelling each other out, until WBTHC won a penalty flick when the ball struck a defender on the line. Mark Gill stepped up the spot, but missed the opportunity to give the hosts a 3 goal lead when he put the ball wide of the left post. The third goal for the home team finally came when Matthew Andrews broke through the middle of the Medics defence and put the ball passed the keeper to kill the game off. WBTHC shut the game down after that and the Medics knew it was going to be their first loss of the season, with the match finishing 3-0.

It was a solid performance for WBTHC who played some very good creative hockey, whilst holding off a strong Medics side. This win sees WBTHC claim back the top spot in the league with the team continuing to develop nicely and looking keen to continue the drive for promotion.