Late fightback secures win
2nd December 2008Two goals in the last 12 minutes earned TeamBath Buccaneers men’s firsts three points at home to Cardiff and UWIC on Sunday (30th November).
Lewis Prosser and Scott McArdell came to the rescue for Buccs after Cardiff and UWIC had taken the lead 15 minutes into the Slazenger England Hockey Conference West fixture.
Joe Naughalty opened the scoring for the visitors, who were then content to sit back and try to defend their lead.
Buccs found Cardiff and UWIC difficult to break down, but eventually the pressure told when Prosser levelled the scores on 58 minutes, on his first game back after two weeks out with an Achilles injury.
And McArdell made sure Buccs reached the halfway mark of the season on a high note when he grabbed the winner five minutes from time.
“They scored a lucky goal and then sat back and tried to defend their lead,” said head coach Jody Paul. “We struggled to break them down, but we got the two late goals we deserved.
Buccs are now fourth in the Conference West table going into the festive break.
“It’s been a good first half to the season, I expected us to be third or fourth at this stage,” said coach Paul. “For a young team we’ve done really well, and the senior players have stepped up and pulled their weight.
“We’ve have some tough away games in the first half of the season, and those teams have got to come here in the second half of the season, which is a big deal.”