Surrey Spartans Men’s 1st XI earn a victory in their first league game of the 2013/14 season with a 2 – 1 home win against a strong Wanderers 2nd XI on Saturday October 5 at Surrey Sports Park.
With some considerable player turnaround in the summer and a new 1st XI Captain, Surrey Spartans are in the early stages of building a strong 1st team for the future. So when, Wanderers arrived at the Surrey Sports Park with a squad of 16 players the task of getting off to a winning start looked a tough one from the outset.
With a new look formation the Spartans started with a spring in their step and dominated the opening 20 minutes of the game. Charlie Baker and Arran Higgins looked strong in last line of defence and they were well supported by wide players Russ Odendaal and Mark Scrivener.
After 20 minutes Wanderers began to get a foot hold in the game and their midfield started to trouble the Spartans shape with their own midfield dropping deeper into their own half. Wanderers however looked a little lacklustre up front with their only opportunities coming from a couple of well-defended penalty corners.
0 – 0 at the break and the second half looked like it could open up as both teams began to tire. Spartans began the second half in similar fashion to the opening 20 minutes but this time their pressure forced Wanderers to concede an early penalty corner resulting in the opening goal of the season. A simple routine saw Russ Odendaal sweep the ball across the face of goal bypassing both the keeper and the last defender too fall neatly in the bottom right-hand corner just inside the post.
The Spartans then looked to dominate the half and they did this by extending their lead when a quick pick up and release by Will Hams slid in captain Andy Jurd on the right baseline. With Lowell Lewis steaming in to the top of the circle Andy Jurd’s precise pass allowed him to finish ‘Gretzky’ style easily beating the Wanderers motionless keeper.
Despite the 2 goal margin Wanderers did not fade and the weakening Spartans fitness started to show in the last 10 minutes. Looking for a quick goal Wanderers resorted to firing a number of crosses in to the circle and eventually one came off. With Spartans unable to clear their lines Wanders scrambled to a late consolation goal but with only seconds remaining it was not enough to overhaul their deficit.
The Spartans can be happy with their opening game but as a team they will be fully aware that they must improve in a couple of areas if they are serious about contending for promotion this season. Next week they travel to local rivals Woking HC for Game 2.
Elsewhere, the Surrey Spartans Mens 3rd XI opened their account by picking up a point on the road at Teddington. The Mens 2nd and 4th XI were narrowly beaten in their first games of the season losing 1-2 and 0-1 respectively. The new look Ladies teams take to the field for the first time next week with the 1st XI looking to carry on where they left off last season and extending their 7 game winning streak.
Club Results Summary
Mens 1s: Home vs Wanderers 2s – Win 2-1
Mens 2s: Away vs Reigate Priory 3s – Lose 1-2
Mens 3s: Away vs Teddington 6s – Draw 1-1
Mens 4s: Home vs Old Reigations 3s – Lose 0-1
Next Week’s Fixtures
Ladies 1s: Home vs Horley
Ladies 2s: Away vs Wimbledon 4s
Mens 1s: Away vs Woking 2s
Mens 2s: Home vs Old Georgians 2s
Mens 3s: Home vs Surbiton 8s
Mens 4s: Away vs Old Kingstonians 3s
Andrew Jurd