Sidmouth and Ottery Hockey Club (SOHC) men’s 1st XI saw their encounter with the only side to sit above them in the Southern One table, Exeter University, end in a 2-2 draw.
SOHC started brightly playing a simply game with the emphasis on keeping possession. That helped them gain a level of dominance from which they were able to take the lead when Chris Bishop lifted the ball up and over the goalkeeper and into the bottom left corner of the net. That proved to be the only goal of a closely contested first half.
The students started the second half with a much higher tempo to their game and won a brace of early short corners, but both were well saved by SOHC glovesman Simon Baker.
However, the University pressure built and they did eventually restore parity with a clinical finish. Boosted by their equaliser, the students powered forward and scored again to lead 2-1.
To their credit, SOHC refused to conceded and worked their back into the contest and were fully deserving of their share of the spoils, gained when Nick Mansfield applied a slick finish to a sweeping team move. Goalkeeper Simon Baker was named the SOHC Man of the Match.
Tomorrow (Saturday) SOHC travel to third bottom Torbay.
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