Match Report by Nick Hodgson

A CHRIS Fell hat-trick helped the Flagons overcome a young and spritely St Albans 3s in a friendly post-lockdown fixture.Clinical finishing and some sublime passing saw the Flagons dominate the visitors in the third quarter of the match, netting five goals in 17 minutes. The purple patch came after a fairly-even initial exchange, with a goal from Flagons debutant Will Cottam – returning to hockey after a three-year break – being the only difference between the sides at half-time.

At the interval the Southgate outfit decided it was to time to up the ante and press the opposition hard in the third quarter. It yielded rich dividends, with a flurry of goals seeing them race into a 6-0 lead.

Andy Fell danced into the St Albans 23 before fizzing a lifted pass to his brother Chris at the far post who deftly deflected the ball into the goal.Another Flagons debutant, Dave “ST” Richardson, wreaked havoc down the right wing, including combining with Greg Wildisen for Jackson Trathen to finish.Jackson’s father Duncan grabbed his share of the glory, an outrageous first-timed in-the-air cover drive-style shot finding the back of the net.Beautiful early passing saw Chris Fell claim two more before the three-quarter mark break.

Basking in the glorious sunshine, the Flagons tried to maintain the pressure in the fourth quarter but St Albans clawed two goals back. It was left to James Pinney to deliver the final blow, which he did with a raking, trademark shot which left the opposition’s keeper no chance. In the closing minutes Chris Fell tried to lob the keeper from the top of the circle but his effort landed on the roof of the net. Their 15-man squad, organised by goalkeeper Mike “The Cat” Hadden, enabled the Flagons to rotate players to great effect with every player playing is part. Alessandro Onaro’s ramping runs down the right flank do, however, also deserve special mention.

Man of the match: Prince Philip