Hurricanes Return to Kingston!
Teddington Athletic Stags 2-9 Worplesdon Rangers U17 Hurricanes
Surrey Primary League Premier Division – 8th November Sunday 2015
Flying High: the U17 Hurricanes
On Remembrance Sunday, the U17 Hurricanes travelled to Kingston to tackle The ‘Stags’ from Teddington. The Hawker Centre was the venue, named after Hawker Aviation which had three factories in Kingston. Yes, you may have guessed it: the famous Hurricanes were manufactured here. Worplesdon Rangers name-sake got a reputation for being sturdy, reliable and were actually more successful than their illustrious partner the Spitfire !
It’s been 71 years since the last Hurricane rolled off the production line, a few hundred yards away from the pitch.
Our ever-reliable Team-Rep, Sally, felt the lads needed more pre-match preparation time and took it upon herself to arrange for the team to arrive an hour before kick-off. This was obviously an attempt to counteract the slow starts that Worplesdon are accustomed to. Someone, unbelievably, suggested Sally’s idea was really an admin error!
Around 40 seconds after the impeccably observed one -minute silence, Royle, back from injury, sped into the area and slotted home following a swift move. Perfect start! Sally’s masterplan had worked. This was to be a slight false-dawn!
The Hurricanes sensed another easy victory and the Stags were stunned into action. Teddington looked to have more desire as Worplesdon adopted the casual approach. However casual the Hurricanes looked, with the ball at their feet they were irresistible, carving out chances at will and missing just as easily! In terms of quality, The Stags weren’t in the hunt, but they had passion and that was rewarded, atrocious marking allowed them to equalize from the edge of the area with a low drive.
In truth, Teddington were good adversaries in the physical battle for mid-field dominance but lacked the cutting edge. Hurricanes centre-back Binfield particularly relished the close combat.
Worplesdon responded with two superbly-worked goals from Alderton and Rodrigues …Time to switch off again for the Hurricanes!
More pressure from the Stags ended in an own goal five minutes before half-time. The league leaders were 3-2 up!
Recently, Worplesdon were forced to seek an alternative fresh fruit supplier for half-time, and I’m delighted to announce that Mr & Mrs Habgood have secured the contract to supply the Hurricanes for the rest of the season. I’m sure they would welcome any requests if anyone likes something a little more exotic. In addition, we are about to tie-up a deal with a tape (for socks) supplier………. negotiations with Doug have been difficult as he’s recently struggled to cope with match-day paperwork.
Plenty of top quality oranges and bananas must had an effect as the Hurricanes started the second half looking more purposeful. It may have been the half-time ‘discussion’ that did the trick, either way Worplesdon were swarming all over the ‘Stags’. Wave after wave of Hurricane attacks saw their lead extended.
At 6-2 up, the Hurricanes were well into a victory roll and the Stags’ looked to have had their resolve completely shattered at 9-2. However, there was life in the Stags yet. They mounted a fantastic surge for the last 5 minutes hitting the post, being denied brilliantly, with fine ‘keeping from Horton and some great intervention from Williams in the area.
For the Stags; their huffing and puffing had succumbed to a second half onslaught from the well oiled machine-like Hurricanes.
Rodrigues completed another skilful hat-trick, Alderton and Royle ended with two a-piece – as did Foster, completing his brace with a penalty.
Well done again Hurricanes, not perfect but great to watch.
I’d like to thank Paul for his efforts with the fresh fruit and wish him more success with his shopping efforts in the future!
Next Sunday the Hurricanes visit St. Francis in the Cup………. neck braces will be available for hire!