v Hampstead and Westminster, (Away), 23/09/07.
Lost 1 – 2
Perennial bogey side Hampstead and Westminster once again took the points in a closely fought game which Canterbury did not deserve to lose.
The game’s three goals all came in a ten minute period after half-time, but this could have been very different had Canterbury shown greater equanimity at crucial moments in front of goal.
Clear openings came for Chris Bassano-Harper and Jess Dowsing, but certainly the former seemed unnaturally apprehensive in front of goal, indubitably down to opening match anxiety.
Despite Canterbury’s first half chances, it was the home side who opened the scoring for the in the 38th minute through Andy Cornick; the Welsh international firing home from the top of the ‘D’ having beaten three Canterbury defenders. Although Cornick was lucky to be allowed to continue his run after clearly kicking the ball, his shot was clinical leaving Adrian Kimber no chance in the Canterbury goal.
Within 5 minutes Canterbury found themselves level, courtesy of Christian Pryce’s penalty corner strike. However, parity was only temporarily restored, as Jamie Edington finished off a smart Hampstead attack to put the hosts in front once more.
Canterbury were clearly frustrated by their inability to convert the chances they created and Matt Harper was guilty of dissent towards the umpires, resulting in a yellow card for the visiting captain. Despite their numerical disadvantage Canterbury continued to threaten, looking solid in defence and lively going forward with the exceptional Rob Pryce causing numerous problems for Hampstead.
The result was never certain for the entire match, but when Christian Pryce struck the outside of the post with less than 2 minutes remaining it seemed that Hampstead had luck on their side.
The final whistle sounded with the score line at 2-1 leaving Canterbury to ponder what may have been if they had finished some of their first half opportunities. Although not deserving to come away from the game empty handed, Canterbury were undone by a combination of opening match nerves and too great a concern for factors beyond their control. However, as the side settles over the coming weeks, they will find that results begin to go their way.
Squad: Bassano-Harper, Cowling, Dowsing, Dunn, Duvall, Goodman, Hare S, Harper, Keir, Kimber, Pedersen, Pryce C, Pryce R, Richford, Stevens, Wild.