De Cymru and Marches One League

Yate 4 Stroud 2

YATE welcomed Stroud on Saturday and started much faster than previous matches and put Stroud under pressure straight away.

Fast-flowing passing and moving hockey left Stroud chasing shadows for much of the first half and Yate were denied a first goal by some weak finishing and excellent goal keeping.

Elliott Lawrence was unlucky to have his shot saved and several penalty corners were only just kept out by the Stroud defence.

Late in the first half, and completely against the run of play, Stroud managed to take the lead when their only shot was saved by Michael Edwards only for the ball to rebound to the Stroud centre forward who scored easily.

In the second-half, Yate continued to dominate the play and were back on equal terms when Jordan Reed converted a penalty corner. Yate then went ahead when Elliott Lawrence turned his defender and blasted a front stick shot in from the top of the D.

The lead did not last long as Stroud won a penalty corner of their own that was stopped on the line by a Yate defenders body and Stroud made it 2 goals all from the resulting penalty stroke.

Yate’s spirits were not dented and Domonic Chamber put them ahead with a fierce drag flick from a penalty corner and the win was wrapped up with five minutes to go when Matt Child’s accurate pass found Danny Pearce who flicked the ball expertly passed the Stroud goalie.

With tempers fraying amongst some of the Stroud players, the umpires did well to maintain discipline and Yate were able to close out the game by retaining possession and exhausting their opponents.

With so many new players in the Yate first team it was pleasing to see them maintaining their efforts and enthusiasm for the full 70 minutes and they now sit equal fourth in the league when realistic expectations were considerably lower.