2006 ASA Club Championships

Senior Men Round 1 – 20^th May - Crystal Palace

2 x 8 minute periods

 Apologies that this report is short but there were no team sheets available:

 Game 1:          Solihul                        v          Dunfermline                          6 - 7

If ever there was a smash and grab this was it. 3-0 down after 2 minutes and 6-2 down at the end of period 1 and quite frankly being outplayed by Solihul we managed to win the 2^nd period 5-0. It was not that we dominated this period but we started to defend better and gradually clawed our way back. A dubious late penalty also helped but well done to Neil Strachan for converting this and the winner with 6 seconds remaining.

Game 2:          Dunfermline              v          Sheffield        6 – 5

Despite the close scoreline this was a game that we were always ahead in and had we taken more of the chances created we would have won more convincingly. Defensively we again played well, but a lack of sharpness and correct pass and shot option in front of goal almost cost us dear.

Game 3:          Dunfermline              v          Tyldesly          5 – 4

Due to the draw order Tyldesly had already qualified for the quarter finals by winning their first 3 games. This was definitely to our advantage because they rested their top scorer Cowburn for most of the first period. That being said the initial stages of this game were our best of the afternoon as we raced into a 3-0 and 4-1 lead by half time. The introduction of Cowburn certainly improved the opposition and despite going 5-2 ahead we were hanging on a bit at the end as they pulled back to 5-4. Again though with smarter pass and shot selection up front we could have made this easier for ourselves.

Game 4:          Leeds             v          Dunfermline              4 - 4

With our victory over Tyldesly we had qualified for the next stage of the competition. We did though want to remain unbeaten but knew it would be hard as we had to play this game back to back in order to catch our flight home. And so it turned out. This was a dogged affair with two tired teams. We again did not help ourselves with some poor shooting but credit to our defence and particularly Bruce Henderson in goal for holding out for the draw and maintaining our unbeaten record.

Final placings:

1^st Dunfermline 10 pts

2^nd Tyldesly        9pts

3^rd Leeds            5 pts

4^th Solihull          4 pts

5^th Sheffield        0pts