Loughts were up against it in this local derby and top of the table clash against high flying Southgate in the first half. They were 1-0 down in the 10th minute following a Kwan Browne penalty stroke for a foot on the line. They also lost key defender George Lilley who was struck full on the knee from the preceding penalty corner and had to be helped off the pitch.

The team went 2 down in the 27th minute when another Southgate short corner was flicked powerfully by Teague Marcano into the left side of the goal off the pad of the Loughts' keeper former CIA man Jack Tranter.

This was billed as a special day for Southgate who had big plans to break the attendance record for a domestic league match in England and 'improve their spectator experience and generally up their game'. This happened in the first half and at half time the large and vocal Southgate crowd were baying from the balcony for more goals. Southgate had played well and arguably could have secured an even greater margin. Loughts had failed to find their rhythm in the face of some fierce Southgate tackling. Kwan Browne was repeatedly sending a deft aerial bombardment to all corners of the pitch.

The message to our team at half time from coach Ible was very clear. Play our own game; pass the ball at speed and be much more robust in the tackle. Loughts came out in the third quarter and dominated the play. In 7 electric minutes they scored 3 goals to take the lead. Euan Gilmore began to punch holes in the Southgate defence with his clever trickery and scored twice followed by a well executed diving goal by Andy McGregor. The balcony had become much quieter and the Loughts faithful sitting near the dug outs were finding their voice.

At 2-3 Loughts knew the last quarter was going to be combative. The desire and commitment to the cause from the whole team was palpable. The game was being played at a very high tempo as both sides strove to take all the points. Max Sydenham settled our nerves in the 65th minute to take us into a 2 goal lead.
Not to be outdone Southgate took off their keeper in the dying minutes. They already had a numerical advantage after Loughts were down to 9 after cards for Will Godfrey and Sydenham. However not to be outdone Loughts scored yet another goal from a breakaway in the dying minutes through Harvey Edwards who latched on to a long aerial from Ed Fleet to make the victory complete.

At the final whistle Loughts were jubilant. They had come from 2 goals down to close the gap on the league leaders in this high quality hard fought encounter and deserve great credit. They played their part in the Southgate Super Saturday but not perhaps in accordance with the script! The balcony was silent.

The whole team showed its true mettle today and this victory should remain with them for some time. Special mention to our 2 younger players Nathan Gladman and Harvey Edwards, who never stopped running and showed such maturity in adversity today and also of course to the irrepressible Euan Gilmour who was the scourge of Southgate all afternoon. Thanks to our spectators for making the journey and helping us over the line.

Thank you also to the commentary team and film crew for such excellent coverage.

You can watch the whole match here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=nRNNjlHifHw