By Ben Smart
USW men’s hockey captain Matt Pinney said his team lost their heads for a period in a 6-0 defeat to Cardiff University.
A hat–trick from away captain Finley Craigen, as well as efforts from Alfio Boccaccini, Jonny Wilkinson and Ed Cooper sealed a comfortable win for the visitors.
But the scoreline doesn’t tell the full story – the game was tightly contested up to half-time, when USW – who faced a step up in quality after promotion to Western Tier 2B last season – trailed 0-2.
Pinney said: “It was a tough game with us being 2–0 down at half time but we felt the game was still competitive.
“We still thought it was a game which we could get back and win. Then I think we lost our heads, and Cardiff showed their strength and extended their lead.”
Cardiff capitalised on several counter attacks – ultimately what turned the competitive affair into a one–sided result.
Despite the scoreline, Pinney found positives.
He added: “We had a really good press and defensively played pretty well.
“While we conceded a fair few goals in the end down to those unfortunate counter–attacks.
“We have to take the positives into the next game and keep building on these performances.”