M1s preseason kicks off

On Monday evening, Cheam M1s kicked off their preseason training with an evening game against London Eds. You could tell that everyone had taken the summer off - people were keen and an unprecedented 14 man squad turned out for this game (with two, Rob Gopinath and David Hand, rocking up uninvited). It would have been 15, but it turns out Matthew Laidman can't drive a car.

We got underway and it was immediately apparent that we should have done a bit more stretching. London Eds were intense, playing at pace and the level was perhaps a bit higher than some people still in summer mode were expecting. Still, that's what preseason is all about, right?! In the opening exchanges, it's fair to say Eds pushed hard and Krishantha Gunatunga made a string of strong saves.

The squad welcomed in a host of new and returning players - Duncan Edwards after Uni; William Gunn joining this season; Alex Beattie returning from saving the world. And all performed with credit. Alex Beattie even used his time away last season to perfect his 'game face' as you can see from the photo.

Also reassuring was to see that Koen Overeynder had got his 'unnecessaerial' throwing mojo back, with chuck after chuck finding its way 3/4 of the pitch. And Chris Harvey managed to play a game without pulling a hammy, always an achievement.

In a hard fought contest, Cheam came back into the game strongly, upped our play and started to take control, after a strong Eds start. It's fair to say Eds had the better possession initially with Cheam looking dangerous on the break. Cheam had a number of penalty corners but couldn't convert. Then on the stroke of half-time, strong play from Will Gault forced an Eds defender to save on the line with his body, resulting in a stroke to Cheam. Seb Jennings cooly stepped up and converted, just before the half-time whistle.

In the second half, Cheam looked strong, and pushed Eds hard. Good team play resulted in a quality finish on the reverse stick by Seb Jennings from open play.

They say that some things become finer as they mature. A quality wine perhaps, or a vintage car. Some would say the same about Omar Shibli, who again showed why captain Simon Higgins continues to refer to him as "the greatest player, and human being, that I have ever known". Following fine team play again, with Will Gault hitting the post, Omar Shibli had the foresight to follow-up and finished with aplomb for the 3-0. I appreciate Omar Shibli scoring goals isn't really news, more the standard expectation these days, but in the interests of objective and impartial reporting, it is necessary to mention his glorious diving top corner reverse stick finish here.

A high intensity run out, good quality opposition, a good natured but hard fought game - this is just what the M1s needed to get their preseason started. Preseason fitness continues this week on Wednesday at the clubhouse.

Many thanks to Alex Chitty and Jacques Pagels for umpiring.