v East Grinstead, (Home), 13/10/07 - Lost 2 - 6
Canterbury’s second home fixture of the weekend ended in defeat as East Grinstead struck hardest when and where it mattered.
Still searching for their first points of the year and looking to bounce back after the previous days disappointment, Canterbury knew that their perpetual indoor rivals would pose an equally strong test in the alfresco version of the game.It was to be the case.
Disorganisation at a D-edge free hit saw Scott Ashdown presented with a free shot after 5 minutes with which he made no mistake.Then, in the 17th minute Mark Justice was the beneficiary of an East Grinstead overload in the Canterbury defence and his shot found the goal after Adrian Kimber could only half-stop the effort.Gallingly, this came during a period of numerical advantage for the home side after Darren Cheeseman had thrown away his stick and man-handled Darryl Cassidy in an earlier altercation.Cheeseman was arguably lucky to escape with only a temporary exclusion for the act.
Goals aside, there was little to choose between the two sides in the first period, but with results decided on what happens in the D’s, East Grinstead were the team in charge.
Canterbury’s response after half-time was exactly what was required if they were to give themselves any chance.Controlled and measured, they were rewarded within 5 minutes when Christian Pryce scored his second of the weekend at a penalty corner.
With the home side in the ascendency the next critical event knocked them not only down, but as it transpired, totally out.
A foul on a Canterbury defender was ignored by the umpire who then compounded the home side’s misery by awarding a penalty stroke after what appeared a clean tackle by the goal scorer Pryce.Richard Payne converted the stroke to leave Canterbury 3-1 down, a deficit from which they never recovered.Danny Hall confirmed the result with two goals in as many minutes to render Matt Harper’s 61st minute strike a consolation effort.Hall then completed a 15 minute hat-trick in the 67th minute and inflicted upon Canterbury their heaviest margin of defeat this season.
An objective onlooker would concur that for long patches Canterbury were equal to their guests, if not better.However, they would also agree that where it counted, East Grinstead were on another level to that of their hosts and rightly left with the spoils.
Next week Canterbury must regroup to take on the improving Loughborough Students before facing Cambridge City in the National Cup on Sunday.
Squad: Bassano-Harper, Cassidy, Cowling, Dowsing, Dunn, Farrer, Garcia, Hare S, Harper, Keir, Kimber, Pedersen, Pryce C, Pryce R, Richford, Stevens.