Slazenger Men's EHL South Division - University of Exeter 8 Ipswich 2THIS Slazenger EHL South Division game provided the Ipswich team with a dreaded round trip of some 600 miles.

Slazenger Men's EHL South Division - University of Exeter 8 Ipswich 2

THIS Slazenger EHL South Division game provided the Ipswich team with a dreaded round trip of some 600 miles.

The team, lacking Oli Woodgate who was retained by Framlingham School, and Royce Waters due to coaching commitments with the ladies, arrived at Exeter University for the first of the weekend's two games. The objective set by player/coach Iain Gall was three points during the weekend, with any additional points being considered a bonus.

Bearing in mind the quality of the student team, containing no less than six internationals, it was always going to be a challenging game. The only thing the score line of 8-2 failed to illustrate were the heroics of Tony Birch in goal who was widely accepted as the man of the match.

The Ipswich outfit was courageous despite the score line, albeit with frustration vented at the poor umpires on too many occasions. Consolation goals were scored by Mark Wheelhouse, who was lucky after his drag flick took a wicked deflection and by Phil Messent. Messent's goal deserves particular mention, not for the quality of his strike, but more the fact that he single handedly beat most of the Exeter team before topping into the corner. This left many wondering why he hadn't demonstrated such skills more often during the game!