04/05 Season
Haughton vs Milton Keynes
Date: 18-Sep-04
Score: 2-3 (20-25 25-23 25-20 22-25 9-15)

A New Hope…

The start of a new season has seen a new impetus to Milton Keynes National League Men's Volleyball team. New players to the squad and a new outlook have brought new life into a team disheartened from lack of commitment shown last year. The first game of the season saw out of touch players who have not quite gelled as a team battle hard for a great victory.

The long journey from Milton Keynes to Darlington could have proved to be a bad start, but MKVC shook off the 3-hour journey to come out fighting and take the first set 20-25. Debutant Tim Daun came straight into the starting six and fit in very well, combining well with setter Scott Robson.

Haughton woke up in the next two sets, dominating the middle attack, to take a 2-1 lead against a flagging MKVC. Second debutant Simon Barton entered the fray, and showed his solid backcourt passing would be a positive for the team.

Being 2-1 down and looking tired, MKVC needed to pick their game up. Old timers Matt Almond and Dave Goddard showed their metal, and rallied the troops leading by example. Kevin Smith began to dominate the backcourt, making pinpoint passes and some great pick-ups. Despite the fight back, MKVC found themselves 20-18 down towards the end of the 4th set. Knowing that losing the set meant a defeat, the team made a final push to win the set 22-25 and force a deciding 5th set.

MKVC carried this momentum forward into the final set, taking an early lead. At the change of ends MKVC were 5-8 up - it was Haughton that now looked tired and MKVC had their tails well and truly up! There was no stopping MKVC from this point, as they fought right to the end to take the set 9-15, winning the 105-minute marathon 2-3.

Team: Matt Almond, Simon Barton, Tim Daun, Dave Goddard, Andreas Whitley, Ant Moffat, Scott Robson, Kevin Smith

Kofax, sponsors of MKVC, are the world's leading provider of information capture solutions (www.kofax.com).

MKVC not only supports National and Local League volleyball, but also offers training and recreational volleyball to all levels of players from beginners to veterans.