Ultras sparkle under the lights
Author: James Perry
The Men’s 3s, or the Ultras to give them their proper name, are in uncharted territory. Unbeaten in their first four games to start the season, including a gutsy away point against an unbeaten Clapham side, spirits were high heading into the enforced November break.
Well, what better way to get back into hockey than heading back on the road to face the other unbeaten team in the league? The opposition, London Edwardians, were more than just unbeaten, they’d won all of their first four games, scored 17 goals and conceded a grand total of zero. If that wasn’t reason enough to drag the rag-tag bunch of Ultras from their various flats, houses, boudoirs, and dungeons then a 4:30pm pushback, in Battersea Park, under the lights, in freezing cold temperatures was sure to do the job… For previous versions of the Ultras, this combination of conditions was almost sure to result in a skeleton squad turning out and maybe one substitute if we were lucky. Thankfully this version of the Ultras are a different bunch, and a full 16 showed up at Battersea Park raring to go.
The game got underway in a similar fashion to tough away games of years past, with the Ultras under frequent and intense pressure. Edwardians high press was causing problems and this, alongside some errors, was giving an initial impression of this becoming a long evening for the boys. A flurry of Edwardians attacks and short corners drew Ultras’ veteran keeper JP into action, the highlight of which being a quadruple save from a short corner. Edwardians, clearly buoyed by this, committed more men to the attack which allowed the Ultras some chances on the counter and midway through the first half some industrious work resulted in a short corner. Time to unleash the Ultra’s biggest weapon - Sam Allen. 8 goals in four games before this game and his first sight of goal from the top of the D did not disappoint, a rocket of a strike to the bottom corner had the Ultras 1-0 up. The remainder of the first half followed a similar pattern of Edwardians pressure interspersed by Ultras counter attacks and the half ended with an Edwardians short corner seen off expertly.
Captain Butt rallied the troops at half time, extolling the virtues of simple hockey and a bit more movement to beat the Edwardians’ high press. The second half started positively, before a clumsy error in the D presented Edwardians with another corner and a way back into the game. The Edwardians attacker managed to dance around a Russian missile headed to the top of the D before flicking low into the bottom corner. 1-1, a position from which Ultras of old would begin to question themselves and potentially crumble, especially with a bumper crowd of five spectators in attendance. However, this side is made up of a different type of Ultra, and they immediately went on the attack. A clumsy challenge from a combination of Edwardians’ keeper and centre back gave the umpires no choice other than to award a stroke and the chance for the Ultras to strike back. Up steps Sam Allen who sent the keeper the wrong way and flicked strong and low into the bottom right corner, 2-1 Ultras. This quick riposte seemed to have sapped some of the energy from the opposition as the Ultras started to control the play in the middle of the park. More pressure down the right wing resulted in Chubbs, having swept his emo fringe out of his eyes, playing a speculative ball into the D, the Edwardians keeper chose to leave it to cross the goal line but didn’t account for a diving Sam Allen who jabbed the ball across the line from a yard out to round off his hat trick and put the Ultras in the driver’s seat.
Edwardians committed men forward in an attempt to claw the game back but this presented more open spaces for lively Ultras counterattacks. The high point of which saw an usually energetic Woodsy (who knew the pubs being shut for four weeks would make him look so alive?) trap the ball at the top of the D, before slipping the ball left to a rampaging Jack Chapman. Chappers, showing extraordinary calm for an attacker yet to open his account for the season, managed to slap the ball precisely under the diving goalkeeper. The resounding thud of the ball against the backboard like a celestial gong signalling Ultras glory.
Onto the final game before Christmas, and the Ultras third away game on the run, against HAC Sutlers.
Man – J. Perry
W*nker – J Andreyev
Squad – J. Perry, Butt, Andreyev, Golar, Blake, Wheller, Greenwood, Parker, Woods, Chapman, Allen, Fomin, Green, Knoetze, Wightman, T. Perry
