Mens 1st's vs Upminster 1

Pelicans mens 1st XI 6-3 Upminister 1st XI 

Pelicans made one of their longest journeys of the season to second bottom Upminster, hoping for an upturn in their fortunes in recent game weeks. The first fifteen minutes of the game saw those hopes falter as their hosts started fast and found themselves 2-0 up via two unfortunate deflections from Pelican sticks. A slight tweak to the formation and a bit of a wake up call saw Pelicans grab a foothold in the game, firstly a chance fell to Toby Phillips who placed a lob over the onrushing goalkeeper but also the crossbar. Kirwin Christoffels however, who found himself in the thick of the action as always scored with a fabulous reverse stick finish after being played through by Sam Phillips to half the deficit at half time. 

By this point, it was clear to Pelicans were much the better side and any real attacking threat the home side fizzled out and seemingly pushed the self destruct button. They equalised early in the second half through Toby Phillips whose well struck shot on the turn hammered the backboard. They took the lead through Jack Major, fresh from warm weather training in Australia over Christmas and getting the final touch on another Phillips goal bound effort. Phillips then scored again to make it 4-2 and he owed it to a brilliant run and pass from brother and captain Sam.  

Upminster tried their best to trouble Pelicans but Sam Major, Jason Esser and Iain Page remained solid. They were ably assisted by those in front of them. Chris Page, Christoffels, Ollie Booth and Ian Simmons whose superior skill and fitness was key in the game being turned around. Captain Phillips wasn’t to be denied and added his name to scoresheet from a well worked penalty corner, this was quickly followed by a consolation goal from the home side with a penalty corner of their own to give themselves a bit of hope. The hope was very quickly extinguished as Pelicans scored a sixth and final goal through Major again after a fine driving run from Jacob Craig and a superb reverse stick pass gave Major the chance to deflect into the goal to complete a superb come back and give Pelicans a vital victory as they look to get their season back on track. On Saturday they face another long journey as they make their longest away fixture of the season at Old Southendians. 

Pelicans MOM sponsored by 4Way Toby Phillips