In less than ideal conditions, the first Men’s Hockey Exhibition game of the 2019/20 took place on Friday 17th January. Wind and rain threatened the fixture, but the rain stopped by the time the two teams lined up to start.
Bermuda South Shore sticks, in white, took an early lead in the first minute through some effective passing with Gary Tavares finishing off the passage of play. This rattled the opposing Bermuda North Shore sticks, in black. The pace of the game continued with North Shore unable to find an equalizer in the first quarter of play.
Midway through the second quarter, North Shore were awarded with a short corner after some sustained pressure on the South Shore defenders. A breakdown in the short corner routine was quickly rectified with a slip pass to Matt Spencer with time and space to pick his spot with a hard low shot beating keeper, Kim Kimiti.
South Shore looked to regain the lead again quickly with Donny Simmons finding some space down the right wing and dribbling around the last defender. With just North Shore goalkeeper, Jullian Wheddon, to beat, Simmons was fouled and brought down but the ball kindly fell to Tyler Smith who, at full pace, was unable to convert and reestablish the lead. The teams went in to the second half still with the scores level at 1-1.
An unfortunate injury early into the second half to Peter Loader forced a change to the North Shore side lineup with Gary Tavares switching shirts to even the teams after the loss of Loader.
North Shore took the lead for the first time through a very similar move to their first goal. A mishandled short corner was recovered and the ball passed wide to Alex Godet who was well placed to take a quick snap shot to beat Kimiti in goal. North Shore continued to dominate possession after grabbing the lead. Solid defending from Jeff Hollis and Gordon Kooiman helped keep North Shore from furthering their lead. South Shore were able to counter attack and with 10 minutes left of the game were able to win a short corner and have a change to level the scores and get back into the game. An accurate injection from Rupert Cuddon-Large was well stopped and the shot lined up by Jack Finlay was fired into the bottom corner.
The game continued its pace right to the end with the final score of 2-2 an honest reflection of a well balanced, hard fought game.
The next men’s game is loosely scheduled to be played in early April
North Shore Sticks (Black)
- Peter Illston
- Akhil Kapur
- Jack Higson
- Rick Morris
- Colin Campbell
- Jonny Evans
- Jullian Wheddon (GK)
- Alan Gilbertson
- Peter Loader
- Tom Gridley (C)
- Matt Spencer
- Alex Godet
South Shore Sticks (White)
- Tyler Smith (C)
- Rupert Cuddon-Large
- Gordon Kooiman
- Gary Tavares
- Jack Finlay
- Donny Moniz
- Scott De Costa
- Jeff Hollis
- Donny Simmons
- Kim Kimiti (GK)
- Harry Rylands
- Scott Gilbertson
- Mark Wheddon
- Byron Renckon
