Gutted

Where do I begin?

The weather. It was nice. Again. That's six Saturdays in a row.

The food. Sandwiches and chips. Not bad. At least we didn't have to sign a disclaimer this time.

The match. I've been avoiding this, as I don't really want to talk (write) about it. We lost. But that's not the whole story.

Sale started abysmally, with neither verve nor vigour on display during the opening exchanges. We looked lethargic, just devoid of drive. Sure enough, the home side went 1-0 up. It could have been 3-0 after that first ten minutes.

Thankfully, Sale couldn't carry on that badly. Somehow, we clawed ourselves back into the game, dominating the last 20-25 minute of the first half. Indeed, our equaliser was well-deserved, Scott Raftery hammering home at the second attempt, his first shot having been well saved.

1-1 at half time could have, and perhaps should have, been 2- or even 3-1 to Sale. Yet again, we couldn't make our dominance pay off.

We started the second half well too, and eventually took the lead, Ian Ellis sweeping home. By this time, Lionel Robinson was attacking at will...but Sale just couldn't get that third goal.

2-1 is never a safe score in hockey. Denbigh left it late until they got back into the match, capitalising on some sloppy Sale play to test Anthony McGreal. He made several fine saves to preserve Sale's lead.

However, he couldn't quite make it stick, as Denbigh scored from a short corner with just 30 seconds left. Sale were in disarray, not knowing whether to attack desperately or hang on for the draw. In the end, we did neither, choosing instead to let Denbigh score the winner with just 7 seconds of play left.

I thought the 4-4 game at Oxton last season was bad. This was worse.