League: Milton Keynes 15 – 3 Oxford University Iroquois

When Ben Amos scored MK’s 15th goal late in the 4th quarter, the final score of 15-3 slightly flattered the home team who scored 8 goals in the last 20 minutes to put the sword into Oxford and give it a little twist.

The game did not start to plan though with MK making basic handling errors in their first couple of possessions which allowed Oxford to score on the fast break. As we’d beaten Oxford in the cup a few weeks ago maybe players thought this game would be a breeze. Conceding an early very soft goal was the wake-up call many needed. However for most of the opening quarter, MK’s play was very sloppy. Although 3-1 up at the break, coach Gooch had to sort things out during the team talk. Things improved in the second quarter, but only slightly. It was not until the third that MK started playing the way they had over the past few weeks. Faster midfield transitions, shorter, more accurate passing and winning those ground balls were all improved.

Come the final quarter, the larger MK squad was totally dominant over the lesser numbers from Oxford who visibly tired so the goals racked up to give MK their best goals tally this season. Seven players got on the score sheet including three from Leicester University (Frederick, CharlieK and CharlieJ). A small number of Leicester Uni players are joining us this season as MK is their nearest SEMLA club and the Uni team only players BUCS games on a Wednesday. It’s great to have them on board, if probably only for home games this season.

MK welcomed Richard Euerby back in attack in his first game this season, coming back from an ankle injury. Also back for a one-off game was Alex Parker who was an MK regular last season but moved to the Sheffield area over the summer.

Next week it’s back to Reading for the next round of the Flags (cup) competition, then two more leagues games; away vs Epsom then home vs London University, before the mid-season break over the holidays.

Man-of-the-Match: John Horbury, joint top scorer with Richard with 4 goals including one top corner rocket from range and a one-handed with his back to goal worthy of an MLL highlights reel.

D-of-the-Day: Aaron Day, was quietly and effectively neutralising the Oxford attack then decided to smash someone from behind, off the side of the field. Clearly a personal foul so he hit the penalty box but luckily Oxford did not score when man-up.

Game Stats
15:3 (3:1, 4:1, 7:2, 15:3)

MK Goals:
#17 John Horbury (4)
#20 Richard Euerby (4)
#18 Charlie Kruczko (2)
#15 Frederick Larsson (2)
#4 Charlie Joyce
#99 Ollie Baines
#5 Ben Amos

The unofficial league table is below. MK really needed this win today but the bottom half of the table is incredibly close. If Oxford and Brighton both win their game in hand, all four teams from 6th to 9th will be level on 15 points. London University are a little adrift at the bottom but with 4 points for a win in SEMLA much could change during the second half of the season. Two teams get relegated so MK will have eyes on teams both above and below us in the table.

East Division Two (as of 19th November 2016)

League Points: 4 Win, 3 Draw, 2 Loss, 0 Conceded, -1 Conceded within 24 hours of face-off