RYE – Field Hockey New York

Rye FHC moved to 4-0 on the season after another comfortable victory on Sunday, this time over GFHC II. Playing for the second consecutive week at Columbia Universitys’ Baker Field, Rye immediately put GFHC under intense pressure with Greenwich repeatedly struggling to clear their lines. By the time the breakthrough came, Rye could have been a couple of goals up had it not been for some poor execution in the Greenwich ‘D’. As it was, following a fine move down the right flank involving Sandhu and Nerincx, Akhlaq, ever the opportunist, converted from close range. Sanhdu quickly doubled the lead with a back hand strike of his own after beating a couple of Greenwich defenders. Rye, feeling they had Greenwich on the ropes continued to surge forward and it wasn’t long before Achlaq added his second. It was another right side move that opened up the Greenwich defense and and Achlaqs’ deflection left the ‘keeper with no chance.

Despite racing out to a 3-0 lead, the remainder of the second half proved to be frustrating for Rye. Looking assured at the back with Cheetham, Hogben and Cherifi starting to form a formidable partnership, Rye failed to convert their dominance into scoring chances. Greenwich defended well and were quick to get numbers behind the ball but Rye’s lack of patience hurt them on numerous occasions. Rye continually tried to force low percentage passes and wasted far too many opportunities in the final third of the pitch. The second half saw more of the same. Despite playing significant periods of the game deep in Greenwich territory, Rye could only muster four penalty corners and a handful of half chances that were comfortably dealt with by the Greenwich ‘keeper. Rye eventually added a fourth. Stutz, lively as ever, made a quick break down the left after a quickly taken free hit before threading a through ball to Achlaq who duly completed his hat-trick. Greenwich added a consolation goal in the final minute, a deserved reward for their hard work but by then the game was decided.

Rye will move on to game five of the fall half of the season with mixed feelings. While results have been good, the quality of play has not been of the standard Rye has come to expect. With both New York Islanders and GFHC I still on the schedule in the coming weeks, Rye know they will need to step up their level of play if the intend to remain unbeaten.