There were mixed emotions for City of Peterborough at the final whistle of their National East Conference clash with Wimbledon at Bretton Gate today (November 25).
They picked up a shock point from an absorbing contest against the team in second place, but sadly draws are not much use in their battle to avoid relegation back into regional hockey.
City have certainly upped their game in recent matches. Last weekend they were denied a deserved win against Richmond by a goal 46 seconds from full-time and they twice came from behind here against top-class opposition with player-coach Gareth Andrew scrambling in an equaliser seven minutes from the end.
Unfortunately City’s good form has been ill-timed as they now face a two-month winter break from competitive action, but if they can repeat this standard of play from February onwards they could yet clamber out of trouble, especially if they receive an efficient short corner routine for Christmas.
City won six penalty corners in this game and didn’t look like converting any of them. Wimbledon scored twice from the three they earned.
Wimbledon thrashed City 6-0 on the opening day of the season, but there was never a danger of a repeat here. City were the better side in the opening period and deserved the lead given to them by skipper Ross Booth following a defensive error.
A short corner saw Wimbledon level by half-time and another had the visitors in front soon after the break. Teenager Marcus Howard finished off some excellent work by Cameron Heald and Booth for 2-2 before a stunning first-time finish looked to have won the game for Wimbledon with 10 minutes to go.
But back came City and a superb run and pass from youngster Heald gave Andrew the chance to bobble the ball past the visiting ‘keeper and rescue a potentially precious point.
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