HOCKEY: WARWICK hosted Barford Tigers in their opening league contest of the 2017/18 season.
The home side came out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller as Barford snatched a late winning goal.
Following relegation to Midlands One Division last season, the visiting side were likely to prove tough opposition.
Barford dominated possession in the opening stages but Warwick held strong in defence and limited Barford’s attempts on goal.
Though Warwick remained solid at the back, they struggled to make an impression up front – and wasted several key chances to take a stronghold on the game.
Subsequently, Barford opened the scoring with a looping reverse stick strike.
Possession in the first half proved even as both sides enjoyed periods of dominance.
Warwick soon equalised when Ollie Hobbs intercepted a transfer and went one-on-one with Barford’s keeper to score.
The home side had the chance to take the lead at the start of the second half when Dave Bryce threw an aerial over the top of the Barford defence which Martyn controlled well before playing it across goal. But Warwick were unable to find the back of the net.
As the half progressed, both teams had opportunities to score.
After a number of short corners, Ben Cooper managed to find the bottom corner from a rebound shot.
But Cooper’s strike was cancelled out by a Barford short corner with a deflection over the keeper just after Dave Bryce had managed to save a drag flick off the line.
Warwick continued to press and had a goal disallowed from another short corner.
With the score level, both teams felt like they had a chance of taking home all three points.
And the breakthrough came when Barford broke down the left, and a tackle from Jack B was judged to be a foul.
The penalty resulted in a goal, and Barford snatched the game out of Warwick’s hands with minutes to go.
