Despite the 3-0 loss to Cavaliers in Busselton on Saturday the result certainly did not reflect the dominance displayed by the Margaret River A2 men’s hockey team throughout the game.
The team just didn’t make use of their numerous chances, particularly in the second half when the statistics showed that Margaret River had sixteen penetrations in the Cavaliers’ goal circle, compared to only four from the opposition.
The difference was that Cavaliers scored from their limited opportunities.
During the game, there were some fantastic passages of play from Margaret River, particularly when players executed the short passing game to maintain possession.
Generally though, players needed to make better decisions and do the unrewarded running in deep attack to draw the Cavaliers’ defence wide to open the gaps and enable the forwards to take full use of the attacking opportunities.
Matt Bycroft was Margaret River’s best, playing with intensity, effective talking and on-field leadership as a midfielder.
Likewise, Daniel Stocker and Brynley Jenkins performed strongly in defence, and Tyron Bradshaw positioned himself well to keep pressure on the Cavalier’s defence.
Following the Easter bye next weekend, Margaret River takes on Capel on Sunday 23 April at 12:00 noon on Grass Ground 1.
The match up should make for an interesting game and the team may be brushing up on their grass field playing skills in the weeks approaching.