After two weeks of postponement due to snow, the college hockey season got underway for Langwith and Derwent with a fixture which, on paper, could have gone either way. The ex-neighbours both performed well last term; Langwith overcame a shaky start to put together a string of wins, whilst Derwent consistently found themselves towards the top of the table.
For this fixture, Langwith had to make do without star player Charles Cuthbert Williams and, when Derwent took the lead almost immediately after the whistle, it looked as if they were going to struggle without him. Langwith however, captained by the ever-enthusiastic Jamie Hanna, had other ideas and levelled the game at 1-1 through a well worked move finished by Mike Dunnett-Stone.
After a dramatic 20 minutes in which the teams traded chances and saw goals disallowed at either end for lifting, it was Langwith who were ahead at the half time whistle. A 2-on-1 situation allowed Dunnett-Stone to set up Guy Bennett for an easy finish to put them into a 2-1 lead.
The second half saw Langwith consolidate their advantage through powerful attacks and a defence that neutralised the driving runs of Derwent captain, Jack Bradshaw. Bennett added a further two to his tally, including what could probably be described as a ‘goal-line steal’ after Millie Reed’s hard work. Perhaps it was going wide. We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
At 4-1, Langwith were in a commanding position and continued to attack in search of more goals. They found them. Dunnett-Stone slotted in another two to bring up a hat-trick each for both him and Bennett, while Steve le Cornu and Matthew Noble provided the chances.
At 6-1 down and with 5 minutes to go, Derwent could easily have given up the fight. To their credit, they continued to push forward, and got a well-deserved goal after some quick cross-field play found a player in space on the edge of the D.
A comeback was never really on the cards though, and the final score of 6-2 reflected the extra composure that Langwith showed in front of goal. Both sides showed quality at times and could both easily be contenders in this term’s competition, but with this convincing win adding to their strong finish to last term, Langwith are surely the team with the more momentum.