Ryley Wealth Management, Man of the match, Mo Gandhi. Photo c/o Phil Kielthy
The FHP Bees made the short trip up the motorway, as Doncaster HC welcomed them to their haunted home in the EH Cup Round 2. The Bees were left with a skeleton crew with many players missing to injury and international duty, so the pressure was on in the life or death cup clash.
There was to be no Halloween massacre for the Bees as Doncaster defended well in a soulless opening quarter, making the game difficult for the Bees.
The Bees managed to steal a goal in the 24th minute through the deadly Great Britain international, Mark Gleghorne. However, Doncaster reacted quickly to the Bees lead and scored a shock equaliser in the 25th minute with a frightening strike from Daniel Legg.
At half-time the scores were level and the Doncaster crowd could sense Beeston blood. The Bees brushed off the cobwebs during the break and youngster Matt Steventon showed no fear, carving through the defence to score a thriller 3 minutes in to the second half.
Gleghorne took advantage of some gruesome defending to extend the Bees lead in the 46th minute, proving to be the goal that would kill the game, as they began to creep towards the winning line.
But the Bees were in for a fright as Doncaster pulled one back. James Gunthorpe hunted down a loose ball, pulled the trigger and fired the ball past Simon Hujwan in to the Bees net after 65 minutes.
There was still time for another scare as Doncaster had a goal disallowed at the death, eventually coming up just short in their search for a shock win against the cup holders.
The Ryley Wealth Management Man of the Match was awarded to Mo Gandhi, whose tricks were too much for Doncaster to handle, but provided a real treat for the spooked crowd.
The Bees progress to Round 3 of the England Hockey Cup on the 13th November with a home draw against Holcombe.
Next week there’s sure to be fireworks as the Bees are back in league action against Hampstead and Westminster on Sunday 6th November at Nottingham Hockey Centre at 2pm.
