Men's 3rd XI Vs Torbay B [League]

What a difference a week makes! 

Travelling away to face Torbay B was clearly a good tonic for us, as we came away with our first win of the season! with a squad of 12 players we battled a resilient opposition who clearly didn't want to give up the home advantage, and after some direct attacking play from Duchy we became very much aware of their swift counter attacks, conceding a few short corners early on despite our superior possesion, spending much of the time deep in Torbays half of the pitch. The new fomation tried seemed to give us much more outlets for passing and creating space, and despite the big change everyone performed very well, adapting quickly and hassling the oppo. Taking a 0.0 into the second half was a brilliant first for the lads, and a positive tactical talk amongst us gave us the belief that we wasn't going to come away with just buckets and spades from the Riviera! and after a steady onslaught on their D, Duchy got the goal following a lovely passing move, and the finish by Colin Thomas. Duchy seeked out a 2nd goal but didn't quite get there After Colin thought he'd sealed the deal but the post had the final word. 

Late in the game Torbay pushed men higher up the pitch and much to good tacticl awareness Ben Pascoe brought Steve deeper to form a back 4, and our midfield worked tirelessly dropping deep to see out the final minutes despite the oppo's determination. Duchy 3s first win, MOM was Ethan Allen, who comanded the defensive unit wonderfully, taking charge in a mature confident fashion and earning a clean sheet in only his 2nd senior appearance! We also managed to give Doc ( Tom Ettling ) a celebration win on his 100th cap for Duchy Hockey club, a fantastic achievement. A special mention to Euro ( Chris Pound ) for tidying up our matchplay really well in training last week giving good pointers and advice to improve our hockey brains.

I'm proper chuffed with this chaps, Onwards and upwards!