If there was ever a hockey match that epitomized the equivalent of a rainy away day in Stoke, it was exactly what faced the Old Loughts Men's 4s this week as they travelled to Saffron Walden for a 5pm pushback amidst the wind and rain of Storm Bert. On the back of maintaining our perfect start to the season last week against Crostyx 3s, we faced perhaps our toughest challenge so far, away to second place. We all knew the importance of winning this match for how we approach the rest of the season, and we were not going to let the conditions distract us from our goal.

"Commitment" was Captain Rob's chosen word this week, and this was the perfect choice for the conditions and opposition we were about to face. The team had already shown "commitment" to play on this evening, and now it was time to replicate that on the pitch too. After a "ruthless" second half last week, the hope this week was to start fast and really take our game to the hosts.

As the wind picked up and the rain continued to pour down, our toughest challenge yet got under way, and we were immediately on the ball, looking to move quickly up the pitch and apply pressure on the Saffron Walden backline. Moving the ball best we could under the conditions, the team was able to get into some great positions and began to enter the 'D' with some lovely quick moves and skill. As reward for our great start, we soon took the lead just after 10 minutes gone, as we won our first short corner of the match. Feeding the ball from Fonz to JP, the ball was slid to Richard who flew another quality strike past the home keeper and as the backboard let out a loud cry, we were 1-0 up. A very positive start by the team.

So far this season we have not been able to back up taking the lead with another goal on too many occasions, however that was exactly what happened 2 minutes later. After more good passing and running off and on the ball, we managed to enter the 'D' and the ball found itself with Fonz who was challenged (apparently illegally) by a Walden defender. Despite this, he managed to get an all-important touch into space. By this point, I had somehow found myself at the top of the 'D' and as soon as the ball became free, I raced in to force the ball under the oncoming defender and keeper to get my first of the season. Though I had a got a bit dis-orientated from being so high up the pitch, we now led 2-0 and that is all that mattered in that moment. Lead now consolidated.

With our tails up, it was important to continue with the hard work that gave us our first goals of the match, and not let Saffron Walden have any joy going forward. Though the home team had done nothing but defend for the first 20 minutes, they began to get on the ball more and more and make better use of some of the spaces that began to open up. Without taking any of the short corners they won, it soon became clear that we needed to re-organise before they could cut our lead. Unfortunately, that is precisely what happened just before the half-hour mark through a quick reaction by a Walden attacker in the 'D'. 2-1. Work to do.

The home team continued to trouble us in defence for the rest of the half and as half time arrived, the team needed to re-group and remember the success we got in the early stages of the match, in order to go on and win this match. Captain Rob was particularly keen for us to play our game and replicate our second half performance of last week to convert the chances we were creating.

In line with our recent post-halftime re-starts, we re-established our two-goal lead 3 minutes into the half. This time we moved the ball quickly through midfield and when it reached Josh, he found himself in a two-on-one. After perfectly timing a through ball to our other attacker, Sam drove forward further still, entering the 'D'. As the home keeper came rushing out to halt him, Sam then rounded the helpless keeper and hit a peach of a strike off the reverse and across goal, much too fast for the chasing defender on the line. 3-1. Perfect re-start for us.

Throughout the second half, as with the first, Walden did get some joy on the counter and when spaces would appear, so we definitely needed the protection of our defence, and especially keeper Will who made some great saves at important moments of the match. With the conditions getting slightly better as time passed, we tried to pick up the pace when in possession in order to get the next goal, and as the clock turned 60, we did. The final goal of the match came as a result of a sweeping passing team move from midfield. Starting with Mike, he picked out Richard, who then swept the ball left to find Connor. After seeing Sam on the other side of the goal in some space, Connor picked him out and Sam did the rest from a few yards out. 4-1. Game won.

Though we could, and probably should, have had a few more goals, we entered the last few minutes of the match with some breathing space yet again, and as the full-time whistle went, another tricky match had been very successfully navigated.

MoM this week went to Sam for his goals and all-round attacking play, and especially his rocket off the reverse for his second. He now moves onto 5 for the season and joint-third with Connor. DoD this time went to Dev for his exaggerated reaction and footballer-esque collapse to the ground following a strong challenge by a Walden attacker. He now finally becomes the first in the team with two victories, after threatening for the last few weeks. Well done Dev. Special mention must first, on a personal level, go to Fran for her loud cheer of joy when I slammed home to make it 2-0. Thank you very much Fran. Secondly, to Oli who spent all match keeping not only the opposition on their toes, but also the rest of the team and even himself, with his highly, highly disguised passes. And finally, to Richard who now moves on to 8 for the season and only 1 behind in the club-wide goalscoring charts.

Nine wins from nine, thirty-four goals scored, and twenty-seven points secured. The team pass their toughest challenge yet with flying colours and stay top of the league with some space to spare. Our final test before the Christmas break is a fairly local away trip to Waltham Forest, to play a side that have also had a very decent season so far, as we look to complete a perfect first half of the campaign. A massive well done all, and as always, let's keep rolling.

Old Loughts Men's 4s Key Stats so far this Season

Goals scored: 34
Goals against: 6
Goal scorers: Richard 8, Luke 7, Connor and Sam 5, JP and Dan and Andrew 2, Jordan and Josh and Ryan 1
Assists (incomplete): Connor 5, Fonz 4, Richard 3, JP and Dan 2, Mike and Captain Rob and Mathuran and Ryan and Josh 1
Clean sheets: 4 (9)
Short corner conversion rate: 14/48 roughly (29%)
MoM: Connor and Luke 2, Josh and Ryan and Will and Oli and Richard
DoD: Devan 2, Dan and JP and Will and Captain Rob and Sean and Mathuran (Virtue)