Men's 1st XI open season points account

Winchester 1st XI 3, West Hampstead 1st XI 2

Winchester swept aside the disappointment of their pointless start to the league season with a hard-fought victory over their North London opponents.

The first half was a fairly even affair, although Winchester were hampered by the loss of Will Evans with a suspected broken thumb. Both sides had chances with skipper Kieran Malloy and player/coach Ben Hibberd forcing saves. The home keeper Sammy Laurent, making his Winchester 1st XI league debut was brought into play a number times. Another debutant was Hampshire cricketer Tom Alsop whose powerful running and skill level lifted those around him.

The game really started after the break as West Hampstead went 1-0 up within three minutes, a well worked goal down their right flank. After the bruising defeats of the first three league defeats, Winchester might have rolled over against their experienced visitors, but they showed no sign of that, the lively Hibberd hitting the inside of the post from Olly Lander's through ball. Banging hard on the West Hampstead door, Winchester's equaliser eventually came as Lander again set up Hibberd on his reverse stick and he drove home, a welcome reward for Winchester's most influential player on the day. Three minutes later 15 year-old Joe Jenkinson drove down the right wing and forced a penalty corner. Harry Trussler converted the corner with a rocket into the top right to take a 2-1 lead. 

However, West Hampstead weren't finished and were able to find the net after the initial save at a penalty corner to bring it back to 2-2. With five minutes remaining Winchester failed to convert from a goalmouth melee only inches from the line. West Hampstead scrambled the ball away somehow, but the ball found its way to Trussler on the halfway line whose piercing pass was cleverly diverted into the far corner of the goal by Todd Clark to grab all three points.