18th October, 2025

Home WIN 3-0 

Sitting on six points from four games, the M6's rolled into our fifth match hoping to bag a third win — an achievement that cruelly evaded us for the entirety of last season’s campaign in London Div 5 East (2 wins, 6 draws, 12 losses).

With availability across the lower men’s sides scratchy at best, a midweek call-up of six of the squad was the first hint that we’d need to dig deep for success against a dynamic Wapping Dockers development side, recently promoted and searching for early-season success.

Admittedly, I (Elliot, Capt.) got us off to a hit-and-miss start — forgetting two of the three key messages I’d planned for the team talk before Wapping pushed back to start us off. 

So, with “play to the whistle” notably absent from our collective memory, a missed Wapping foot left the THD midfield with their hands in the air, letting the youthful Dockers charge into our D within the first thirty seconds to win the game’s opening short corner. 

Not exactly the start I’d scripted.

However, stepping up was Ollie McLeod (GK) — Man of the Match — who produced a string of superb goal-line saves from the five consecutive short corners that followed. 

A nervy opening for sure. All too reminiscent of seasons gone by.

But, with the ball finally back in our possession from the 16, and the shaky start behind us, THD began to play some of the most convincing hockey of the season. Clean transfers across the back from Guy, PK, and Henry set the tempo as we advanced forward. Despite several near-misses in front of the goal, Archie M broke the deadlock with a sharp finish in open play. Sadly for Archie, it wasn’t all glory — just minutes later, three-on-one with the keeper, a wild swing and miss denied us a second and put him firmly in contention for DoD.

Strong performances in the middle from Nick and Steve, paired with sharp movement across the forward line, saw us take control of the half and ultimately double our lead through Andy H, who finished neatly in open play to give us a deserved 2–0 lead at the break.

Now, while most teams would feel confident going into the second half with a 2–0 cushion, past performance suggested otherwise. In a staggering nine games where we led at the break last season, we somehow went on to draw or lose. This was still very much not in the bag…

Not today, though. 

The boys came out firing. 

Whether it was the sugar-coated Percy Pigs (shout-out Alex A. for the premium M&S snacks) or the rousing — if somewhat delayed — “play to win” message at half-time, Wapping didn’t get a look in.

Although notable moments throughout the second half include: 

- Guy Q, getting clattered to the floor by a 12-year-old identical version of himself - rightfully earning him DoD,

- deciding to rescind on a goal awarded to us - because the 6s are nothing if not fair

- and an excellent field goal threaded into the back of the net by Andy H (2nd of the day,4th of season) 

In the end, it was the tenacity, commitment and work-rate of the whole team that delivered us a well-deserved 3rd win of the season. 

It may be too early to say… but is that Div 4 on the horizon?