Crowds had been gathering throughout the day’s back to back hockey matches on the JLD, and the air was filled with excitement for the final match of the day between the men’s 1sts.
York played a strong team throughout, and there was great passing between George Richards, Marr Foakes and Laurie Torrington at the back that freed up plenty of space, enabling the team to use the whole pitch effectively. As a result, the ball worked its way up the pitch with ease and Henry Meller managed to break through the opposition’s defensive back line during the opening minutes of the game. But his final touch just wasn’t there to secure the goal in the early stages. Soon after this attempt, his effort’s were rewarded, as Meller worked the ball into the hands of Kris Siva, who lifted the ball over the keeper and into the opposition’s net making it 1-0 to the home side.
Lancaster got the ball into the back of the net after 20minutes, but luckily team did not go ahead and the goal did not stand, as the shot was from just outside the D. The visitors performed a second formidable attack on goal just a few inutes later, but Torrington saved the say after managing to get a touch on the opponent’s high flick shot as he stood on the goal line.
York edged further in front after George Richards scored from a short corner – with a shot that owed largely to a big deflection – moments before half time, making the score 2-0 to York.
Lancaster flew out of the starting blocks after the break and York’s goal keeper Sam Harriman, with his quick reactions, made an excellent save; batting the ball away from a shot fired on goal during a Lancaster short corner.
For the majority of the second half, York played a defensive game as Lancaster pulled out all the stops to try and get the ball into the back of the net. Adam Tyrrell was taken down by the Lancaster goal keeper and the referee granted a penalty to York moments before the full-time whistle blew. Captain Andy Harris stepped up to the spot and with a mid-height flick to the keeper’s right, scored with the last touch of the game. Commenting on his team’s 3-0 victory, Andy Harris said that his team was “solid for the whole game. I’m absolutely speechless!”