League: Canterbury University 3 – 3 Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ended their league winning streak with a tense 3 – 3 draw against Canterbury Christ Church University (to give them their full name). Promotion up to East Div 1 was long since secured so whilst annoying to have a perfect league record in our opening season in SEMLA, we learnt more about each other in this low scoring draw.
Both teams were actually slightly short of players today so it was agreed that some available players from the Hitchin club could join each team to bolster numbers. As well as low on numbers, the MK squad was missing many of our stronger players, hence only scoring 3 goals. We had numerous chances though. The ball fizzed past the posts time and again, or the clear shooting chance was rushed and the ball bobbled out in the wrong direction. Composure in front of goal comes with repetition. We’ll get that in time for next season with sessions through the off-season.
Canterbury created less chances but as we never established a clear lead, they were only ever 2 goals behind. The half-time score was 1-3 to MK, so yes, we did not score in the entire second half. Earlier Brett finished off a good team goal for our first. Jack grabbed the second and Jonny (from Hitchin) scored our third goal.
Canterbury’s confidence grew as they got more of the possession in the second half. The last 5 minutes of the game was tense. Canterbury equalised and we’re on a high. MK took a time-out to re-group. MK had two good chances to score a late winning goal but came up short.