The Men’s 3’s went into the second game of the season off the back of a decent performance and a good win from the opening weekend. The same could be said of the opposition for Matchday 2, Stockport Bramhall 3’s, who had put a Timperley team to the sword, winning 9-0.

Bolton’s prep wasn’t helped by the long journey to Bramhall being complicated by outrageously bad traffic, who knew Stockport had fans?

What happened over the next 70 minutes can only be described as a smash and grab.

Stockport played with a very high press, clearly having had great success last weekend they tried the same tactics this week, but came up against a much better side in Bolton. The Men’s 3’s had good energy through the side, but lacked shape. In the first half they played with a diamond in midfield, it would be an experiment ditched by halftime, as players were often too high, too low, or too narrow.

That however did not stop a good ding dong of a first half, it was mainly back and forth. Stockport trying the high press, the Bolton front line trying to break it, and on several occasions pulling off fine saves from their keeper, shots from Hatch and a Penalty corner from Tricky were well saved.

Bolton did finally have their reward, some good work in the midfield by Rob Scarth up to Hatch, a free hit was won and taken quickly, the ball entered the D, bobbled around a bit and in the right place at the right time was Greg Dorsky, on hand to pop it over the line. Against the run of play, mildly, but Bolton didn’t care. Soon it was halftime and a re-shuffle.

Half time: Stockport Bramhall Men’s 3’s 0 – 1 Bolton Men’s 3’s

Stockport would have been keen for a fast start to the second half, so what they wouldn’t have wanted was large spaces for Dan Parsonson to run into, with a perfectly p[laced pass across the D for him to finish first time. Rapid start from Bolton.

Over the next 30 minutes, were heroics and madness in equal form. The defence were epic, they probably faced about 15 short corners in the second half alone. They faced wave after wave of Bramhall pressure, but between the back 4 and Keeper Green, the ball would not cross the line. A particular shiny example was James Sedgley taking a ball out of mid-air before playing it calmly off the side.

They did, however, have a bad habit of inviting pressure on to themselves, as a team, we got deeper and more lethargic which made it easier for Stockport to set up camp and keep Bolton pined in.

There were rare forays into opposition territory, one of which should of end the game as a contest, a third Bolton goal. A great flick through space from James Tague and a first-time finish flashed past the Keeper from Hatch. However, it seems a low-flying Sparrow was endangered, from Tague’s through ball, as there certainly weren’t any Stockport players nearby, so the goal was ruled out. This also was the starting point of some very interesting decisions, especially in the Bolton D.

The defence did hold strong from the onslaught of Penalty Corners and attacks. With minutes remaining, Bolton made one last adventure into the other half, Tricky moving the ball around nicely at the top of the D. He slipped a nice ball inside to Grey Dorsky, who will tell you he meant what happened next. A scoop under the ball, aiming for back post, it went over defence and keeper, and at approx. 0.08mph hit the inside of the post and crossed the line. Bolton had 3. Bramhall were out of time.

Full Time: Stockport Bramhall Men’s 3’s 0 – 3 Bolton Men’s 3’s
Goals: Greg Dorsky x2, Dan Parsonson

Man of the Match: Umar Darsot – Excelled as part of a brilliant back 4, passed sensibly and made calm decisions. Special mention to the rest of the back 5.

Next week: Home at 14:30 vs Timperley Men’s 7s