Bath 9:16 Hampstead By: Mike Brand (they've let the literary genius shine once again!)

Although marred by an unfortunate display of aggression from both sides, the match was very well played. The Bath side had to do some personnel rearranging which saw a defenceman and midfielder up on the attack side. With that in mind prior to the opening face, the defence and midfielder's picked up the slack to keep Bath still in the match. Fortunately the sun cooperated and stuck around for the whole match, although not to the delight of the goalies. The first quarter saw six goals as Bath trailed 4-2 at the end. The defence bossed the game and Dan Weil kept Bath in the match early with aggressive play that would set the tempo of the entire match. Matt Wellings and Doug MacKay paced Bath with the 2 goals of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter also showcased the defence, as Hampstead was only allowed 3 goals to make the halftime score 4 to 7. The 3rd quarter is when the Bath side showed their resilliance and battled back to tie the game. The lone regular attackman Simon Griffith's registered his first goal of the season off a botched clearing attempt by Hampstead, literally batting the ball into the cage. After a Hampstead penalty, usual long pole Mike Brand gave a no-look cross crease feed to Doug MacKay for another goal. The score was then tied 7-7 with Hampstead taking a time out. Unfortunately the break in action seemed to cool off Bath's momentum. After two lost draws Mark Jeffery's temper got the best of him and took his frustrations out on his opposing face partner. After a delayed retaliation attempt by Hampstead, cool heads prevailed and the game was brought back to order. Hampstead then added 2 goals to bring the end of the 3rd quarter score to 9-7. As has been the story all season, Bath's small and rearranged lineup ran out of gas. Hampstead pumped in seven goals in the 4th to bring the final score to 16-9. Bath has a length break in action until they host Reading on the 7th of January, whom they lost by one to earlier in the season.Quote of the day:'Moving Pick' by a referee. mmm really, on Mike Brand!!!!