Maidstone 1s (home) vs Herne Bay 1s (away)

A HUGE 6 point game in Herne Bays fight for survival in the league. We currently sit 2 points above Maidstone in 8th with them having a couple of games in hand.
With some of our most experienced players out due to injury and other commitments. Herne bay had to dig deep and work hard for each other against a strong Maidstone team that were fully focused and ready to compete.
Herne Bay started well. We all pressed as a team allowing us to quickly pounce on any loose balls or stray passes. We had them on the back foot from the beginning.
We played good possession hockey and moved the ball efficiently leaving pockets of space for our midfield to receive the ball and turn towards the home goal.
Unfortunately, after about 20 minutes Bays attack was broken down and Maidstone countered quickly around our defence and neatly finished a shot into the bottom corner on a reverse.
Herne Bay was not phased by this and we instantly replied with a well-worked goal starting from the back. Waiting patiently for the opening in the midfield to then be played up to our attack which led to a fine finish from Craig who had little to no time to react at all. The ball came to him in the air and he directed it into the right side of the goal.
This led to the end of the action for the first half. 0 - 1

Oranges were seen being passed around the oppositions half and we knew from that moment they were gonna come at us hard with that fresh instant boost of energy. ( I feel we need to implement this back into our own halftime breaks. )

Herne Bay seemed to lose their shape in the second half and not be able to retain possession for long periods of time due to Maidstone's high press and pressure on the ball carriers.
With over 10 circle penetrations and constant crash balls into the D. It was inevitable that short corners were going to be given.
We stayed resilient and compact as a squad and with some decent saves from Jamie, we managed to keep the scoreline to just 1-1.

Herne Bay are showing great character in tough times where unfortunate untimely events could see us drop our heads and points but through grit and determination, we never make it easy for the opposition and now are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
We have now picked up 4 points in the last 2 games and seem to be on an upwards trajectory.
From players stepping up from teams below to the core group of players who give it everything each week. We keep going and face the next challenge head-on.

FINAL SCORE:
Maidstone 1s - (1-1) - Herne Bay 1s