Match Report Valley D vs. RHOBA B

Hot off the back of a win against KCC, Damage’s third game of the 2020/2021 season was against Rhoba. In an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at subterfuge, Rhoba donned Valley’s colours and packed their side with more people than a Wan Chai dance club. Damage was unphased by these underhanded attempts and - despite the weather making the team sweat like Rudy Giuliani at a press conference - was ultimately victorious.

Pre-game, Howard warned the team that Rhoba had some strong ball carriers and would control the game if we let them play in our half of the ground. Howard’s prediction proved true in the first half with Rhoba controlling the majority of the play. Fortunately, Damage’s backline held strong and kept Rhoba from converting. Despite Rhoba controlling the majority of the play in the first half, Damage had some strong passages of play in the forward line - G took as many swings as Trump’s legal team trying to overthrow an election and Lester, who was undoubtedly inspired by his recent nuptials, played an impassioned half of hockey and kept the pressure on Rhoba at all times.

At half time, things could have gone either way with Damage feeling the effects of the heat, some frustration creeping into the team and the younger Rhoba side (together with their 10 bench players) still looking fresh.

At the beginning of the second half, Munz put everything on the line (including his feet) and Gee valiantly saved the resulting penalty. From this point on, there was a change in the tempo in the game with Damage playing its trademark aggressive brand of hockey to take control of the game. The backline kept up their strong defence during the third quarter. With decisive transitions out of defense, the midfield and the strikers kept the ball in the attacking half which resulted in a number of good chances to score.

Despite failing to convert in the third quarter, the game was Damage’s for the taking during the fourth. Fabian’s level head and experience shone through when it counted holding Damage to account to keep the team pushing for the win. With only a few minutes to spare, G and Jonno connected during an explosive passage of play to slot Damage’s first goal. True to form as an insolvency lawyer, Jonno made sure there were no scraps left and quickly followed up with a second goal with assistance from Dan to secure the win.

Despite some classy play by Rhoba, their efforts were much like their peculiar method of affixing numbers to their kits - flimsy and unable to stand up to the heat.

- written by no nickname yet: George -