Once again Bar were playing a vital match on the main pitch at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, with thankfully the remaining remnant showers of Storm Jorge (that had earlier left the home Dame Alice Owens pitch covered in hailstones) clearing away just before the 4pm push back. The late finish of the earlier games was helpful to ensure a full 14 man squad as Miles Tomkins and Harry Wilkinson were able to make the start from their afternoon school duties, while skipper Mark Turpin and Graham Abrey had time to warm up after being delayed by and ambulance being involved in an accident.
Wapping’s last 3 matches had finished in 1-0 results and with the 2 teams having easily the best defensive records in the division, this was always likely to be a tight affair with the opening goal vital in deciding the final outcome. Despite the home side starting with a very high press, it was Bar who were in the ascendancy early on, creating a number of chances. In the very first minute a lofted ball from Josh Edge found Ed Seaman down the right hand side and his ball up to Ed Whybrow resulted in an early short corner opportunity but Graham Abrey’s effort went just wide of the post. Soon afterwards another lofted pass over the press saw Tom Clarke chase down the ball just inside the D but his pass across goal was too far away from Jonathan Elms to be able to make a connection. On 5 minutes a wonderful move from the back involving Ed Seaman, Rory Kenney-Herbert and Mark Turpin saw the ball go through to Tom Clarke and his effort was deflected wide of the post.
The Wapping forwards were always a handful when they ran hard at the Bar defence and their first such run of the match on 7 minutes resulted in a short corner with Bar keeper Ben Balmforth then able to save the resulting shot. However disaster struck for Bar on 10 minutes. The ever dependable Josh Edge was surprisingly caught in possession as the last man from the high press and the Wapping forward ran through on goal unchallenged before expertly rounding the on rushing Ben Balmforth and tucking the ball into the empty net for the crucial opening goal.
The goal seemed to knock the wind out of the Bar sails who remained competitive for the remainder of the half but without creating the types of chances that came in the opening minutes. Meanwhile Wapping were continuing to look threatening. After a 15 minutes a lofted pass was latched onto by a Wapping forward and he was able to run all the way through into the D before Ben Balmforth was forced into a key save close to goal. Balmforth was then forced into a similar save just 3 minutes later.
Wapping thought they had doubled their lead after 28 minutes when the umpire awarded a goal despite the fact that there had been a clear trip on Ray Li that resulted in the goal scoring chance. With protests from both sides the umpires got together and after a very long discussion they reached the correct decision to award Bar a 16 for the trip.
Wapping were briefly reduced to 10 men as the half ended as one of their players was awarded a green card for a foul. Nevertheless they were still able to create another chance just before the half time whistle blew, as a snap shot from just inside the D was brilliantly saved by Ben Balmforth.
The half time team talk was upbeat with the skipper feeling that Bar were very capable of coming back into the match with the key being to avoid conceding a second goal. It was crucial however for Bar to get more used to the surface and also for the ball passing to be crisper to try to avoid difficulties with the high press. Almost immediately on the restart Bar should have equalised as Ed Seaman’s astute long ball from the right got through to Mark Turpin inside the D but his effort was well saved by the Wapping keeper.
Sadly this week when number 41 was called over on 42 minutes by the umpire to receive a green card for dissent, there was no Wapping player with that number, so it was Ed Whybrow taking a 2 minute break! Bar saw off this danger and had 2 chances to score from short corners after 45 minutes but both efforts were rather easily dealt with. When Wapping won their own short corner after 48 minutes the defending wasn’t quite so comfortable, as Ben Balmforth was again called into a flying save to keep his goal intact.
Bar then probably had their best spell of the game and should really have taken at least one of the chances that fell their way. On 53 minutes an excellent run down the left by Hugh Kenney-Herbert eventually found Ed Whybrow in space and his initial pass across the D just evaded Mark Turpin, but when the ball came back into the D the ball ping-ponged around the D and at one point came back off the post in the scramble. Two minutes later Ed Seaman put another great ball into the D and Ed Whybrow managed to dummy the goalkeeper but put his reverse stick effort wide of the post. Then on 57 minutes Josh Edge started a move that went from Mark Turpin to Ed Whybrow but the final pass to Tom Clarke in front of goal was just too far ahead of him.
The game was very much in the balance at this stage but then ran away from Bar as they conceded 3 goals in 9 minutes. On 58 minutes (like London buses) came another rare Josh Edge mistake – as last man his pass out of defence went straight to a forward and once again he was severely punished as the forward ran past him and clinically finished into the corner of the goal. Two further goals came with Bar trying to press to get back into the game – on 63 minutes a goal was conceded from close in from the second effort from a short corner and then on 67 minutes came a 4th goal that the Bar defence felt should really have been disallowed, as they thought that the ball was still moving from a quickly taken Wapping free hit before it was passed into the D for a colleague to score – not that it really mattered by this stage.
A harsh final score line but Bar only had themselves to blame for making crucial defensive errors and not taking the chances that came their way when they were in control of the match. The result sees the gap to 3rd placed Crostyx cut to just 3 points with 3 vital games to come, starting with West Herts 2s at home next week.
Wapping 3s 4 Potters Bar 0 (HT: 1-0)
Team: M Turpin (Capt), B Balmforth (GK) E Seaman, H Kenney-Herbert, R Kenney-Herbert, R Li, J Edge, G Abrey, S Tenwick, E Whybrow, T Clarke, M Tomkins, J Elms, H Wilkinson
Goals: None
Green Card: Ed Whybrow (42)
MVP: Ed Seaman
TFC: Josh Edge