Having been invited to join St Albans for the main event on their club day, the match was played in front of a large crowd on a late afternoon push back in Hertfordshire.

MK travelled down in the afternoon after supporting a successful Club day at Woughton on the Green. Due to the late push back they had a reduced squad, with only 12 players able to make the trip.

The away team started the game well, and we're able to put St Albans under pressure early on. This led to a penalty corner being awarded which was clinically despatched by James Dodd in his first appearance of the season.

This spurred a reaction from St Albans ('the tangerine army') who quickly got themselves back in the game with 2 goals in the space of 5 minutes.

Milton Keynes did not lie down though, and some excellent work by experienced defender Andrew Pettefer created another penalty corner. This time it was Tom Murtagh's chance to duly despatch a breathtaking drag flick into the back of the net.

Some brilliant work from the Watkins brothers, Gareth and Eric, and Mark Sibson up front created more chances for MK, and were unlucky not to take the lead. St Albans did manage to finish an attack though, and entered half time up 3 goals to 2.

The second half began with Milton Keynes heeding some words of wisdom from captain Nick Anderson during the half time break. They started the half well, showing good tactical awareness to keep St Albans at bay.

Ian Cooper and Toby King worked tirelessly to keep the chances given to St Albans to a minimum.

Goalkeeper Sam Spencer was called upon mid way through the half when St Albans broke towards the circle. He was adjudged to have used his foot outside his area and as such a penalty corner was awarded to the home side, something that left Gareth Watkins fuming. The umpire duly dismissed him, to a round of applause from the home crowd.

St Albans were able to convert two further attacks in the second half, and with fatigue kicking in for Milton Keynes the game played out to a 5-2 defeat for MK. A decent performance with a small squad, and encouraging signs continue for the season ahead.

Next weekend they travel to Old Loughtonians for another pre season friendly and will be looking to get back to winning ways.

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