5th-8th playoffs: Hampstead & Westminster – Grange HC

Match report

For a second day running, Hampstead & Westminster scored in the closing seconds as, this time, the grabbed a win after trailing for so long against Scotland’s Grane.

Hampstead had all the possession at the start of the second half but an innocuous turnover on the half way line and against the run of play saw Grange being the first on the scoresheet in the 19th minute. And what a finish it was from Grange’s Fraser Heigh who scored high into the back of the net!

The London club continued to try and find a breakthrough against the steady Grange defence but they found David Forrester in inspired form.

Perhaps a turning point in the game as Hampstead’s Rupert Shipperley was awarded a 10-minute yellow, which put them under pressure for most of the third quarter. They continued to press and earned a pc in the 33rd minute, but another solid save from Forrester kept Grange in the lead.

A feisty affair with another card, this time to Grange’s captain, Alan Johnston. Hampstead continued to apply pressure and again was rewarded with a corner in the 35th minute but were again denied by Forrester.

Grange, meanwhile, also had a corner chance go by to keep it at 1-1 into the final quarter.

An incredibly tight 4th quarter, with a few more cards shown as passion and tension ran high. Hampstead continued to press hard and earned another corner in the 61st minute but it was denied again by Forrester.

Hampstead, knowing that only a win would do, went for a powerplay, and removed their keeper with eight minutes to go.

They forced an error from the Grange defence and won a corner; this time they found the width of the ball and slotted the home to go back on terms with 1-1 via Matt Guise-Brown in the 55th minute.

An unbelievable end as Hampstead scored as Matthew Ramshaw slamm the ball into the net in the last second from a blistering run down the right to take the win and a place in the 5th/6th playoff on Monday v Three Rock Rovers. Grange will face Post in the 7th/8th game.

Our unofficial MVP David Forrester spoke about how proud he was of his team: “Totally gutted about the last-minute goal, but also proud of the performance, this was the best performance that Grange has ever put in at EHL.”

He went on to praise Hampstead “I would just like to add a ‘well-played’ to Hampstead, they kept going until the end, but we just couldn’t keep it out.”

Speaking to Matthew Ramshaw on that goal: “We left it a little bit late, but we have the reputation for going until the very end.”

In preparation for their game on Monday, he added “We’ll have lots of rest and recovery ahead for the next day or so to make sure we are in top form for our final game.”