This post is sponsored by arnica*!

Bruise central on my left leg as for three games in a row my opponents deemed the best way to get the hockey ball out of defence was to try and smash a trajectory through my shin bone.....

Shin pads - worse than useless, still I should have known better than to purchase them for £2 from ebay :) - but in fairness when you are 3 yards away from a rapidly accelerating hockey ball, no shin pad is really going to save you.

And oh, the injustice in each case! A raised ball into a player is a free for the pummelled player - but I won 0/3 frees, despite offering to display my bruises in each case...

...and they say a forward's life is all glamour and goal scoring


*Arnica - magnificent herbal cream or tablet for treating bruises