College Hockey: Goodricke 7-0 Langwith

Goodricke crushed Langwith 7-0 in the first match of the spring term college hockey programme, including hat-tricks for both McDonald and Crawley.

The result is harsh on Langwith, who gave everything to the cause despite being unable to recruit as many substitutes as Goodricke at the start of play.

Goodricke played a refreshing attacking style and were clinical in front of goal. They demonstrated emphatically that they will not be easy opponents for any team this term.

The start of the match was a scrappy affair, with a number of fouls being committed, but the first Goodricke goal came after only four minutes.

A free hit was taken by Tom Wilkinson about 25 metres out which found its way to McDonald, who tapped in from close range in poacher-like fashion.

Langwith responded well to going a goal down, however, winning a sequence of free hits and short corners but being unable to create a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

At one point Craig Burnell won possession high up the pitch and played a one-two with captain Doug Jayatilaka, but Goodricke somehow blocked the ball behind for a short corner.

But the majority of play was taking place in the Langwith half, and before long Goodricke doubled their advantage.

Captain Tom Merriman delivered a short corner which Ben Crawley deflected instinctively into the goal past two Langwith players on the line.

Goodricke continued the barrage at the start of the second half, forcing Langwith into some heroic last-ditch tackles and blocks.

The third goal arrived 10 minutes into the half after some wonderful team play; Merriman picked out Wilkinson with a raking long pass. His ball was tapped into an open goal by Crawley as Langwith couldn’t retreat fast enough.

Then, Wilkinson raced onto a delightful through ball and unselfishly fed McDonald who duly made it four with a simple finish.

Seconds later, it was five as a Goodricke short corner resulted in Crawley firing a cross-shot which went into the far corner.

McDonald almost secured his hat-trick when he couldn’t stretch far enough to make contact with another long Merriman pass, but he soon did after dinking in Wilkinson’s drive from literally a few inches out.

The final Goodricke goal came on the stroke of full-time, Merriman weaving his way through a packed Langwith defence in the D, before firing home in a stunning individual goal.

After the game, Merriman said: ‘I’m very happy with the result. Langwith played well, and I’m proud of our players. If I had to pick a man of the match, it would be McDonald.’

A philosophical Jayatilaka said: ‘It can be difficult playing at 9am, but on the day they were the better team. They had a few more players than us but we should have more next week.’