League: Reading 2’s 5 – 5 Milton Keynes
After four close league games, all ending in narrow defeats, MK turned the corner with a hard fought draw down in Reading against their 2nd team. A win would of been fantastic but we’ll take the draw given our squad was depleated from 14 down to only 11 players (that’s only 1 substitute) during the 24 hours leading up to the game with unforeseen player circumstances.
MK physically dominated the game, held the majority of the possession and controlled the pace, which all allowed our midfield to play hard all game against the 15-man Reading 2’s squad. Just like last week against Spencer 3’s, our shot count was high, some hitting posts, others just wide, and a few way wide but at least we got the shot off!
As you can see from the quarter scores, this was a close game from start to finish. It’s now also Reading’s third draw this season, which is a remarkable stat for lacrosse. This draw keeps MK in mid-table in East Division Two, level on points with Cambridge Eagles, but with Brighton Panthers beating EG ‘A’ by a single goal, it’s just got very tight in the bottom half of the table.
Man-of-the-Match: Ollie Baines, for his best game so far in MK colours. Whilst he did not score, his midfield defensive skills have much improved and delivered some takeaway checks today. In offence, he’s getting more and more confident to run and dodge (even if this did include one effort where he tried, and failed, to run through three Reading defenders).
D-of-the-Day: Ben Amos, for bigging-up his face-off stats after the game when in reality he lost every single face-off but MK did not give up any face-off fast breaks thanks to the wing midfielders doing their job.
Other key mentions have to go to Kyle Pim in goal, Brett Satchell for endless movement in attack. Jonny Prince for two excellent goals, and finally co-captain Andy Kenyon who was MK’s go to man on transition, lead the offence play and scored two goals himself.
Game Stats
5:5 (2:2, 3:3, 4:4, 5:5)
MK Goals:
#47 Andy Kenyon (2)
#27 Jonny Prince (2)
#35 Brett Satchell
East Division Two (as of 14th November 2016)
Pos | Team | P | Pts | Form |
1 | Spencer 3 | 6 | 24 | WWWWWW |
2 | Epsom | 5 | 20 | WWWWW |
3 | Reading 2 | 6 | 17 | WDLLDD |
4 | East Grinstead A | 5 | 16 | WWLWL |
5 | Welwyn 2 | 5 | 16 | LWWWL |
6 | Milton Keynes | 5 | 11 | LLLLD |
7 | Cambridge Eagles | 5 | 11 | CWWCW |
8 | Oxford Iroquois | 4 | 9 | LLDL |
9 | Brighton Panthers | 4 | 7 | CDCW |
10 | London University | 5 | 3 | CLCCL |
League Points: 4 Win, 3 Draw, 2 Loss, 0 Conceded, -1 Conceded within 24 hours of face-off