Friday 29 March 2013

Remembering Nick Brothers

And not in any random, morbid or weird sounding way. It's that time of year and the Euro Hockey League KO16 is upon us. Even though Reading have James Bailey stepping in in his place and 'stepping up to the plate' with his shot stopping abilities, it could be easy not to reflect on what Brothers brought to the 'blue army', stepping up his game against the best in Europe. Brothers was a stalwart for Reading for quite some time and it was a shame to see him retire from hockey after putting on such great goalkeeping performances in recent years. Brothers arguably excelled at Euro Hockey action, being a rock in Reading's defence as the English side became the first English team in third place in the reformed European club tournament set-up. Notably, some great goalie showcases against Barcelona were the most memorable, with some great double saves on short corners against the Spanish side and their deadly drag flickers (can't remember the name, but he's in their national squad!), along with battles with Belgium's KHC Dragons who have also done well in the tournament. Reading triumphed over Oranje Zwart in the 2010/11 season, with the help of Brothers's goalkeeping talents, securing the first highest place finish for an English team in the Euro Hockey League since its inception in the 2007/8 calendar season.

For an example, the following clips demonstrate this. Thanks for the memories I think Reading (and the Goalies Union) should say!


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