Terriers quick out of the blocks

The Terriers faced a Pheonix & Ranelagh side displaying a similar mix of youth and experience at Reading Uni on Saturday. An electric start had the South Berkshire side pinning the opposition in their own half for the first 5 minutes. The passing and movement were sharp particulary down the right wing as Jack Barker and Alexander O’Keeffe danced past the opposition to supply the forwards. It was from such a move that the first short corner was won. A misdirected injection was recovered and a push found Julian Chapman in acres of space at left slip and he duly converted the opportunity.

It was not long before a second goal came again from a break down the right which Duncan Wigget rifled into the net from the edge of the D. The game settled down and the Terriers lost their early sharpness but still had the better of the play. Before the half was up the second short corner was awarded. This time things went to plan. The injection at pace was stick stopped and slapped toward James Romain who was charging toward the far post. Infact it went behind him, but a magnificent stop on the reverse was followed by some quick adjustment to see him fire the chance home.

The second half was literally more of a an uphill struggle on the sloping pitch. Having come close to getting a forth second after the pushback, overconfidence may have resulted in some sloppiness creeping into play and Tony Simpson’s goal for Pheonix served as a wake up call. More success was had down the left in the second half with Dominic Harvey repeatedly taking on the opposition amd beating them with his superior stick skills. Terriers got numbers into the D and David Murray was unlucky not to be rewarded for his tenacious midfield display as he fired inches wide.

Another goal settled matters when Robbie Campion swepped the ball at the keepers pads and recovered the rebound before slotting the ball home with his back to goal. The Terriers find themselves in a higher poisition in the league than they perhaps expected with just four games ro go.