Whitchurch Men’s 2nds 1

Clwb Hoci Eirias 3rds 1

After the heavy defeat away at Oxton, the men’s seconds were looking to get their promising start to the season back on track with the visit of Eirias thirds to SJT.

The Welsh side themselves had started the season reasonably well and proved to be a tough side to score against, having conceded only twice in their preceding games.

Whitchurch started the game well. Luke Beddow, Joe Coburn, Ethan Gresty and David Brunyard gained some control in midfield and drove the team towards the Welsh goal, but Eirias demonstrated why they’d been so difficult to score against by defending well on the edge of the dee.

Eirias won a series of short corners, but resolute defending by Wyn Morris, Brendan Coburn, Will Snaith and Alex Leigh, plus some excellent stops from stand-in keeper Gareth Teggin kept the Welsh side at bay.

As the game opened out, Whitchurch also found good positions within the dee and eventually opened the scoring from a short corner.

Euan Morris received the ball at the top of the dee, jinked left and swept the ball into the goal on the reverse stick.

The seconds saw out the rest of the half to go into the interval with a slender 1-0 lead and started the second half in the ascendancy.

Pip Jones added power and experience into midfield, and the team were looking after the ball much better.

Familiar mistakes of running the ball into trouble rather than passing the ball quickly handed the initiative to Eirias.

For a spell, the home side seemed be repelling attack after attack. The defending was excellent and Teggin made several more good saves.

The help from the midfield was also vital, with Brunyard making an incredible goal-line clearance while running towards his own goal.

Eventually, however, the Welsh side’s momentum brought them a deserved equaliser.

In the end neither side was able to find the winning goal, with a draw appearing to be a fair result for both sides.