Colchester 3 Old Boys '97 1

Centenary Match

Colchester Men's 1st XI 3 Old Boys '97 1

Colchester Hockey Club's centenary celebrations continued with a friendly match between the current first eleven squad and their counterparts from ten years ago.

The match started slowly as both sides looked to suss out their opposition and give nothing away early on. It took until the fifth minute before either side had managed to venture into their oppositions 'D'.

It was the old boys that had the first meaningful chances of the match. From the first Penalty Corner of the match Colchester were indebted to Liam Phillips as he made trio of good saves from Sheridan Norrey, Tony Elston and Chris Maitland.

Phillips was again in the thick of the action moments later as Martin Dye picked up a loose pass and drove into the Colchester 'D'. Dye was forced down the left hand side but still managed to unleash a reverse stick shot which was deflected by Phillips on to the bar.

Colchester then came back into the match with Craig Warriner and Matt Brown coming to the fore, however they both found Graham Crossman in good form in the Old Boys goal, Brown forcing a good save from a low Drag Flick and Warriner having two reverse stick shots well save.

The Old Boys ended the half in the ascendancy with Norrey going close and Dye forcing Phillips into action late on. The half ended as it started, goalless but with both sides having some encouragement for the second half.

The current Colchester side came out of the blocks running in the second half and really took the game to the old boys.

Warriner was once again the instigator of Colchester's attacks and it was his good work that resulted in a Penalty Corner. A fairly tame effort by Wayne Masters was saved by Crossman, but only as far as Rohan Khaira who sent his effort high towards the goal but couldn't beat Tony Elston who made a vital goal line clearance.

Colchester didn't have to wait long before they had the goal they deserved. Warriner picked up the ball down the left before driving straight at the heart of the defence and unleashing a stinging shot into the bottom corner.

The Old Boys pressed for an equaliser with Jon Dye beginning to make some of his legendary runs. Dye was upended in the 'D' leading to another Penalty Corner. A slip back to the injector was narrowly missed by Tony Elston.

Colchester took the hit out quickly with the ball finding Khaira down the right. His ball found Tom Philp, Philp's cross drew Crossman out of the goal, which left Warriner with a simple tap-in.

This spurred the Old Boys back into life and they had a number of chances to get back into the match, Norrey and Crowe going close.

The Old Boys did get their reward when another good run by Jon Dye was halted by Mark Kennedy's foot just outside the 'D'. The resulting free hit was deflected by Jon Dye to give the Old Boys some hope.

The Old Boys should have restored parity moments later when Jon Dye intercepted a misplaced pass and found Norrey unmarked at the top of the 'D', however Norrey couldn't find the target.

Colchester were then thankful that Phillips was on good form as he saved from Martin Dye after the Old Boys midfielder had made a good run.

As the Old Boy's tired a few gaps appeared in their defence and only a superb tackle by Chris Maitland prevented Warriner running through for what could have been his hat-trick.

Colchester finally put the game out of the Old Boys reach when Masters squared the ball to Kennedy, Kennedy completed fluffed his attempted first time pass, however with no-one near him he regained his composure and found a pass to Khaira. Khaira's cross was deflected past the hapless Crossman by Maitland to give Colchester their third goal late on.

There was still time for one last effort from the Old Boys, with a Penalty Corner strike being deflected off the post.

Hills residential Men of the Match were Liam Phillips (Colchester) for his superb display in the Colchester goal and Martin Dye (Old Boys) for his display in the heart of the Old Boys midfield.

Both Captains said what a success the day had been and both were hopeful that a regular fixture could be arranged in the future.

Colchester: Phillips, Pearce, Foakes, Long-Price, Wright, Kennedy, Mark Thorogood, Khaira, Masters (Cpt), Warriner, Brown. (Subs) Philp, Robinson

Old Boys: Crossman, Elston, Edwards, Maitland, Michael Thorogood, Avery, Martin Dye, Jon Dye, Norrey (Cpt), Slater, Crowe (Subs) Wormington, Macaulay.