Match Reports 2003/04

Since 2003/04 the club has produced a weekly newsletter, during the season, containing match reports from each of the games played that weekend.

Fri 23-Jan-04

Issue 14

Too much work, too much wine, scanty editing. Apologies xx.

reports by: Aidan Brock, James Terrett, Will Morgan, Simon Riley, Ian Cooper, Richard Taylor, Kath Sowter, Kate Blumer, Jules O'Hara, Marie Smith, Kathryn Farthing and more from Jules on the Vets.

Men's 1s vs. Staines: lost 3-5

Report to follow next week?

Men's 2s vs. Bromley: Abandoned

Arriving at DC 15 mins before push back after hot footing it from the 4A's match at Crystal Palace (roof down, sunnies on - it's relevant to the story OK, read on!), you can imagine my surprise at being told the oppo didn't want to play because the pitch was "too dangerous". Apparently a couple of them had slipped over whilst warming up in the shadow of the PE Centre and 2 or 3 of their old timers had decided that the pitch was frozen and unplayable, even though everyone else had no problems at all with it. Maybe they felt uncomfortable wearing surrender white instead of their customary "chase me" pink, maybe they were intimidated by our 'smoking at the side of the pitch' warm up, who knows??. Quite frankly as excuses go "I've played a lot of hockey in my time" doesn't cut the mustard with me. Thanks for nothing guys, for the second time this season we are now faced with two weeks without a match and a group of VERY ANGRY hockey players. Bromley beware, you can run but you can't hide, lookin' forward to the replay at the end of March.....

Next Match: 31st January vs. Beckenham (2:30 @ DC).

Mens 3's vs. Bromley 3's: lost 3-9

After back-to-back wins, we got stuffed in Bromley. Unfortunately, we had to start this game with 10 men due to the non-appearance of a new player, and then Rob Levine tore his knee ligaments after 90 seconds. With 9 players we then outplayed Bromley for 10 minutes and were winning 2-1 with a short corner from Lee Snowden and a penalty stroke from Phil Hines. We then started to mark sloppily and conceded goals regularly whilst every so often we managed the odd break, mainly coming from the effort of Phil on his own as solo striker. In the end it was rather depressing (for me anyway), because I know if we'd have had our usual team we would have had a very good chance of winning the match. The one beacon of light in the otherwise darkness that was our predicament was Simon Wilshire who was magnificent at the back. Hopefully with a weeks rest, we can pull together for an improved performance in two weeks time. I felt that although with 9 we were never likely to win, we should have still leaked fewer goals and marked our players more tightly. The match left me feeling depressed until the bar afterwards where Wilsh entertained us with valuable insights into the world of Barristering, and Lee showed us his voice activated cigarette lighter.

Team: Gavin Lawson, Henry Postlethwaite, Simon Wilshire, Adrian Barnardo, JT, Lee Snowden, Warren Holme, Ryan Hubbard, Phil Hines, Rob Levine, No-one else especially not a Spanish mate of Ryan's.

Umpire: A bloke they kindly provided who was a nice guy who didn't make any mistakes.

Scorers: Phil Hines (2), Lee Snowden

Men's 4As vs. Bromley: WON 1-0 !!!

Yes, that's right folks. Your eyes are not deceiving you. We have finally proved to ourselves that we want to beat some of these teams, particularly on our home patch. With a new year comes a renewed spirit that demonstrates that the new look 4As are capable of beating the same people they gave such a torrid time last season. So, like a phoenix from the flames a strong and hungry line up defended like lions and ran rings around them in attack. Buoyed by a new addition to our front line resplendent in John Barnesesque footwear we tore at them from the word go with a never seen before zeal in defence which saw our oppo passing into touch on numerous occasions. Goal scoring chances fell for our front line on a couple of occasions but last ditch defending stopped us from converting and so our best hope came from the short corners won as a result. Bizarrely we didn't screw up one short and opened them up a couple of times only to have the ball blocked near the line and hacked away. When the bell went at the end of the first round our keeps at the back hadn't had to make one save which was testament to our defensive workrate. A volley of abusive language from the frustrated cap'n hopefully had some effect in terms of stirring our will to beat these muppets and in the second half we started retaining possession like we should have been all season, this resulted in some brilliant chances from open play which our forwards were so surprised by that they failed to take advantage of. However, we never gave up and despite further chances from short corners the winner came from a neat passing move between Norm & Clifford that saw their goalie claw it out from the air only for Clifford to follow up (as all goal hungry forwards should) and grab the winner. Bromley were decidedly gutted and tried to fight back in the remaining minutes but victory was ours to savour at last! Well done to everyone that played, bring on top of the league!

Team: Aidan Brock, Vishal Phakey, Stuart Craig, Tim Parker, Paul Kirkland, Dave Eacott, Grant Spencer, Adrian Meredith, Will Morgan, Norm Doyle, Clifford Brown, Ed Standring.

Umpire: Pully.

Scorer: Clifford Next Match - 31st Jan vs. Hampstead & Westminster @ DC Astro

Tornados (Men's 4Bs) vs. Teddington: lost 1-2

We all know and love the traffic to Kingston on a Saturday lunchtime. What joy it is to crawl past all those happy shoppers at a speed even I would be embarrassed to run at on a hockey pitch. Suffice to say, one of our intrepid band slightly misjudged the severity of the congestion and didn't arrive until approximately 25 minutes to go. Up until that point (and beyond to be honest) the mighty Trnadoss were truly awesome, especially considering we were playing the side 2nd in the table and with only 10 men on the park. Solid defence and inspired midfield play meant the men from TH&D took a well-deserved lead halfway through the first period thanks to an excellent individual effort from Loz, skinning 2 defenders to slam the ball into the roof of the net over the advancing keeper. An extremely rare (i.e. 1 a season) mistake from Lee in goal led to their equaliser and from then on it was a tough midfield battle, with chances few and far between for either side. As the lack of numbers finally took its toll, the oppo scraped an opening and the backboard was breached again, a hit-and-hope strike that somehow managed to elude everyone and sneak in at the near post. Sadly, the Tornados couldn't quite engineer an equaliser, even when resorting to a 4 man front line. Honours even would have been a more than fair result, but it was not to be. Credit must go to everyone in the side for an awesome performance, especially considering it was our first game back after the Christmas break. Here's hoping for similar performances for the rest of the season, in which case a play-off spot should surely be the result.

Team: Lee Tearle, Nick Thomson, Tom Alexander, Mark Jones, Angus Barnard, Neil Gallagher, Conor Macklin, Dougal Davis, Loz Mockery, Geoff Pritchard, Paul Burrows.

Umpire: Simon Riley.

Scorer: Loz Mockery

Mens 5s vs. Hampstead VI: lost 0-6

Minus 2 degrees, 09:45, Paddington Rec. Both pitches frozen and white from the frost and the game looking more than a little in doubt. Undeterred, Hampstead looked for opportunities to convince us the game should go ahead (with the benefit of hindsight possibly something to do with an abundance of ringers on their side). It took the Hampstead Ladies V team to sportingly swap the pitch for their friendly game (most likely to thaw in an hour or so) for ours. On the premise that we acquired some of their fund-raising 'Hampstead Ladies V team' 2004 calendars. Those Hampstead boys and girls really know how to set you up for a fall. Well covered at the back and between the sticks, nifty in the middle, and showing some brilliant touches up front. Sadly that was just the two Miss January's (Hannah and Tania apparently). As to the game...well, as the season goes, we either squeeze a narrow victory, or we get spanked. Saturday, being a road game, was always destined to be the latter. Had our on-pitch skipper and today's roving reporter been a) mind on the game b) not as crap as he sometimes can be, then he might have converted some of the not so difficult six chances that the boys put his way in the first half. Something for the chaps to bowl at in the second half maybe. Sadly the barn door was anything but in evidence and The Hampstead Mens somewhere-between-II-and-VI team took a 2-0 half time lead courtesy of two shorts. A rousing half time team talk ('crikey it's cold today') added some steel for the early part of the second half but failed to tip the balance as goals three to six went in roughly between minutes twenty five and thirty. With plenty of running to do the chaps were able to keep themselves warm and acquitted themselves well given the circumstances. 4-3 early season win, 0-6 second half loss. Mmmm. Spot the difference. Quote of the day from the off-pitch captain "If that geezer that played centre forward that I had to mark today is a normal VI team player, then I 'm Miss July''. I did check. He's definitely not a VI team player.

Team: Paul Reid, Bill Dowie, Rich Batty, John Collier, Matt Ruane, Graeme Evans, Ben Lones, Tim Musgrave, Rich Fenton, Rupert Grass, Ian Cooper.

Umpire: Theirs

Men's 6s vs. O.L Loppers: lost 3-5

With a slightly different structure to the side this week we played well and the defence held well for the whole match. Our failing was to give away unnecessary penalty corners. 4 of their goals were scored from the penalty corner. We on the other hand failed to score from our penalty corners (mainly because of me being crap in front of goal) which were ironically some of the best worked corners we have done all season. The game started fairly evenly with O.L having the better scoring opportunities but it was us who made the most of our procession. A well worked move quickly out of the backs put Mehraab free on the right wing, who went screaming down the wing to put in a cross from wide. One touch from RT put it under the advancing keeper and behind the defender for Tommy to score in an open goal. A thoroughly well executed move straight from the train ground - where ever that is! What was not so good was that we aloud O.L straight back into the match. We continued to play well and put them under pressure yet the final touch was missing. O.L continued to pressure us but only looked dangerous once in open play. They did however get the short corners and score from them. Half time score 3 -1. After the break we came out fighting. We were first to the ball, strong in the tackle and aggressive in attack. This took O.L back some what and we got our rewards. Two good passages of play saw us attack through the mid field allowing Tommy and Mehraab to run at their defenders resulting in two goals being scored, one apiece for Tommy and Mehraab. With score now level it was real fight to who wanted it more. With legs tiring on both sides the game began to take the more usual shape of end to end stuff. This put more pressure on the defenders as the whole side attacked. Unfortunately O.L got the break after one of our attacks. It left their forward just to beat our last man and Peter in goal. This he did. 4-3. With last few minutes of the game remaining O.L put the pressure on us and got two more penalty corners. One they scored from the other was brilliantly save by Richard M on the line. It was great game to play in. I think we all played very well and showed real determination to get back in to the game once we had gone down by two goals.

Scorers: Tommy Caines 2, Mehraab Nazir 1.

Team: Peter Adams, Richard Mead, Andy Bond, Mike McKinnon, R T, Al Fraser, Nick Phipps, Tim Smith, Gin Lee, Adam Greaves, Colin Leeman, Tommy Caines, Mehraab Nazir

Next Match: v Hounslow & Ealing - Home 3.00pm push back on Crystal Palace Bar Astro.

Women's Indoor vs. Various: lost 5-3, 5-2, 11-2 and drew 1-1

We had the week to put our bodies back together for the final weekend of Indoor, needing at least one win to see us stay in the National League. Rach didn't make it due to injury but Hils deputised admirably at right defence. Pipes had a pulled quad, but Wardy was over her migraine and Lou Morgan just had the usual Saturday morning hangover to cope with. Our first game against Hounslow & Ealing was one we could have won, but we ended up losing 5-3, with 2 goals from open play and Kath scoring from a penalty flick. Wimbledon were our next opposition and Sleapy scored to put us ahead in the first half. Wimbledon fought back to 2-2, before their class showed and they ran out 5-2 winners. Sunday saw perhaps our last chance of getting 3 points go begging. Old Loughtonians may be National League Div 1 outdoors, but we took the game to them and Wardy scored to see us 1-0 up at half time. We had numerous chances to score again, as did Old Loughts, but our defence held firm. Unfortunately, we conceded a goal from open play with 6 minutes to go and despite every effort, we could not get that vital goal and ended up drawing 1-1. In that game we successfully defended 21 short corners, which doesn't say much for our tackling, but indicates how well Pipes played in goal. The last game we would do best to forget. Playing against the winners of the Division, Harlesden Magpies, they routinely made us look stupid as they dribbled around us at will. We were 5-0 down at half time, and just went out to play for a bit of pride in the second half. A strike from Boggie in open play and Kath from a corner saw us bring the score line to a more respectable 7-2 (or as we like to see it, we were drawing the second half 2-2 for about 10 minutes), before Magpies put the nail in our coffin and sent us home with a resounding 11-2 defeat. So we finished bottom of the League, just 2 points below Bracknell and are relegated. It is worth mentioning that our goal difference was -19 against Bracknell's -27 - and they stayed up. If only we had managed just one more goal against Old Loughts, we would still be there. Still, we competed well in every game, save the eventual winners, Magpies, who were simply in a league of their own. We may make it to training this week if any of us can walk, but the indoor season is at an end for another year. We had been in the National League for 4 years, but rest assured we will be back. We have been relegated twice previously and each year have bounced straight back again. Many thanks to Will for coaching us, and maybe if he could just teach us to flick at even 10% of his power and accuracy.....?!

Team: Jo Malkin, Kath Sowter, Hilary Collins, Emma Ward, Amy Gardener, Lou Morgan, Sleapy, Boggie

Scorers: Kath, Wards, Sleapy, Boggie, Lou

Women's 2s vs. Cheam: lost 1-2

Goodness, we should have at least got a draw, but again it was not to be. Cheam had not arrived in the first half, we dominated, Alex C scored off a short corner, this was disallowed. Soon after an interception in their half, allowed me to feed a ball to EJ who deftly defied 3 defenders found herself with rather an acute angle in which to send the ball home but managed with consummate ease, 1-0. What a great feeling. We continued to dominate until half time but failed to score. Second half, someone put a highly illegal substance in their water bottles. They came out firing. Sarah got steamrollered several times as we watched in amazement they attacked through the middle, 4 sets of burning thighs could not catch the run away train, she scored. Then after 4 short corners on the trot they scored, a copycat of our disallowed goal, "continuity?" Alex H asked the umpire (no comment), while the rest of us thought it. We did not give up, Kate S made a supreme run and did all but score, the ball she pulled back to be slotted away some how slipped away, there were loud gasps and some interesting language. We lost they won, much discussion could not change that. But I do think umpire vetting: eye test and certificate of qualification should be displayed before games commence. Bit harsh, but so were some decisions! Crunch game next week, bottom of the table clash: Reigate vs. THD 2s - Dulwich College 2pm. All supporters most welcome.

Team: George Sykes, Kate Blumer, Emma Matebalavu, Alex Hardy, Alex Crawford, Sarah Longair, Strings, Josie Sanders, EJ, Liz Young, Kate Selway (MOTM)

Womens 3s vs. Purley Walcountians 2s: lost 0-3

Forget the result, THD should have an automatic win for having to play at Old Walcountians (OW's) - no prizes for the best facilities in the South. The pitch is like cement (and was still defrosting); the changing room was colder inside than out; the changing room door was hanging off and the toilet a smelly urinal. Needless to say, I didn't even bother to check the showers! Neither did the result, really reflect the match. I know you've heard it said before. but its true! THD had the better of the first half, and should have been up - but for a soft goal handed to OW's - which lead to them having the better of the second half. So, what of the match..On arrival, we knew it would be a hard match - with TH propping up the bottom of the league, and OW's near the top. A few new OW players were spotted too, which everybody thought, would strengthen their team from the previous engagement. That said, TH started really well, and had the better of the first 25 minutes, having had most possession. The defence and midfield were linking well, and there were a lot of good passes in the first two thirds of the pitch, unfortunately, TH did not penetrate the final third enough, despite some good runs and hard work by Ruth, Jules and Erica, and too few chances created. Charlotte then held high, and gave some good options, but was too isolated and left with too much to do on her own, to be able to do too much. Then, sods law, a mistake in the TH 'd', gave OW's an opportunity at the top of the 'd', which was converted well. 1-0 down! Half time. The second half was very different. TH now seemed more tentative (tired maybe), and OW's took more control. Rather than keeping possession and building up play, the ball was then being 'hit' forward a lot more. This meant that the ball was by passing midfield all the time, and was often being intercepted by OW's. We then started to see big gaps opening up between the TH defence, midfield, and forwards, which gave OW's a lot more space to play in. With the 'long, killer ball' not working, the team then started to keep their heads down, and dribble out of trouble.but this didn't work either. A few things to work on then...But he.lets not be gloomy - it was a great first half (and exciting match), maybe just need to have more confidence to stick with what is working. Certainly, if the team play like this every week, we MUST be able to avoid relegation. Special thanks to the following: Janine for playing in goal; Jonathon for umpiring; Karen for captaining.

Team: Janine Nicholls; Karen Dodds; Frances Bowen; Roz Hornsby; Joanna Reynolds; Lizzie G; Jules Ingham; Julie O'Hara; Anna Barrett; Ruth Pratt; Charlotte Rayner; Erica Goldsmith.

Umpire: Jonathon Roberts

Ladies 4's vs. Woking 2A - Drew 1-1

After various catastrophe's we limped the thousand miles to Woking with only 10 players and no umpire, but this seemed to spur us on to a simply brilliant game in which we were all over them like a cheap suit! Everyone played brilliantly, the defence was solid as a rock with Man of the Match Catherine Garvey making some excellent runs down the left and Mel R's hit outs baffling the oppo every time. The midfield ran around like blue a**ed flies especially Esther who despite forgetting her astros flung herself into every tackle; and the forwards (both of them!) soldiered on despite having to up the work rate. We used the space available, made the ball do the work, passed brilliantly, did plenty of calling and practically marked them out of the game - amazing considering there was one more of them than us. We discovered that they went to pieces when we ran at them and were most dangerous from open play which was illustrated when a brilliantly timed pass from Claire W enabled Marie to cheekily nutmeg the goalie. Despite having lots of short corners we couldn't capitalise and they pulled one back against the run of play. A couple of excellent saves (as per usual) from Mel meant we bagged the draw but if we had had 11 players (and maybe even a sub - gasp!) we would have buried them. Deep.

Team: Mel B, Mel R, Anna Stuttard, Catherine Garvey, Lindsey McLaren, Esther Lin, Emily Halliday, Andrea Vicari, Claire Whitehead, Marie Smith.

Scorer: Marie

Women's 5s vs. London Edwardians 2s: lost 0-4

Determination not to allow a repeat of the 7 goal defeat suffered during our previous encounter paid off in the first half. We were only 1-0 down at half-time, having had enough good breaks to feel that we had a chance on this one. Unfortunately, London Edwardians came back strongly in the second half - winning 4-0. But still a clear improvement by the THD team. Many thanks to Paul Goldsmith for umpiring.

Team: Alice, Jean Sutton, Nicole Yost, Katherine Dixon, Kathryn Farthing, Rosie Le Voir, Rachael Fallows, Frances Baker, Emma Gilchrist, Tash Riordan Eva, Steph Kee, Mel Clark, Andrea Beattie.

December 6th 2003 - Women's Vets vs. Barnes: won 2/3-0 !!

Firstly, sorry, I can't remember the exact result! Having eventually found the pitch, THD vets commenced their usual, through warm up. Frances fed Charlie and the rest had a quick jog around the pitch, minimum stretch, good gossip, and quickly see who is ready to start and then kindly ask people to play in positions. I had forgotten just how pleasurable the vets were! This was the first appearance in over a year for Frances and Julie O, who were returning as new mothers. Gossip over, on with the match! Barnes always provide a good, competitive match, but THD were just too strong on this occasion. THD were very strong defensively, with Frances, Claire and Paula keeping the Barnes forwards clear of Janine in goal. At the other end, Jules scored a fabulous individual goal, it started with a classy pass from Julie O(according to Claire), with Jules then making a long run up the pitch, before eventually slipping it past the Barnes keeper. Even Barnes applauded! THD had a few chances, with Charlotte creating a lot of space up front, Helen holding the long balls up well, waiting for Erica and Jules to support. It was a really sound team performance. Despite being her first game for a long time, Frances could not resist her usual runs forward from sweeper position, linking up well with some short passes from Julie - though it has to be said, that Frances would agree, that the forward momentum made it a little harder than usual, to get back quickly! So, a good performance all round - with Jules scoring at least 2 goals I am sure, and being voted man of the match (maybe it was 3!?). True to form, the vets found a pub afterwards in which to discuss and relive this momentous victory, though sadly ordering cups of tea.that's vets for you! Thanks to Paul G who umpired, Erica only told him off once, so maybe he did get dinner after all!!!

Team: Janine Nicholls; Paula Barry; Frances Bowen; Erica Goldsmith; Lou Curry; Little Lou; Helen Singleton; Jules Ingham; Julie O'Hara; Charlotte Rayner; Anna Barrett; Claire Paterson (Capt.).

Umpire: Paul Goldsmith

December 13th 2003 - Women's Vets vs. Woking - won 3-0

The vets march on..Another win, with plenty of goals. Woking have a very strong vets team, so there was an air of trepidation prior to the match - especially as we watched them warm up, and realised that, despite a few very old people, there were also an awful lot of very fit looking youngsters. However, you cant beat the experience of THD, and after the usual warm up (see above), the team settled quickly. Once again, the team looked strong defensively, with George keeping a clean sheet in goal, and Frances, Joanna and Anna, helping to prevent Woking getting into the THD 'd' hardly at all. The first half was 'ok', though we were a little guilty of getting 'bogged' down on the left, and not switching the ball enough. The second half was a lot better. The team were more confident in switching the ball via Frances around the back (courtesy of Joanna) and across the middle through Julie. This enabled Karen to make some penetrating runs down the right from RH position and put in some very good crosses. This caused Woking all sorts of trouble, and they started to panic and give away short corners. This enabled Frances to step up, and strike some great corners, which culminated in a couple of goals. Then, just as Joanna told Erica off for something (Joanna is allowed as captain!! ha), Erica responded with a cracking goal - one that she can be proud of for some while - it nearly took the backboard off! Wallowing in glory, the vets then did a one lap warm down/lap of honour, before retiring to the clubhouse for a jug of cider. It was great to see so many return to the club, and special thanks to Roz for supporting, and providing the most detailed update of her knee!

Team: George; Frances; Joanna; Helen; Charlotte; Julie O; Erica; Janine; Karen; Lou C; Anna; Claire Paterson;

Umpire: Marilyn - thanks!

January 10th 2004 - THD Vets vs. Reigate: won 1-0

Is there no stopping the vets! Another win.The vets had been discussing meeting stronger opposition, and Reigate provided it! Once again, barely a 'vet' insight, but a lot of healthy, fit looking youngsters. Despite, once again, trying to psych ourselves out by overanalysing the opposition, and giving them too much respect at first, THD vets soon settled. The first half was very even, with both sides having good spells of possession. Again, TH can get a bit bogged down on the sides and must have a little more confidence to transfer the ball, and back again if need be, before making the 'killer pass'. So, with the game evenly balanced, Joanna made a good tactical changed with about ten minutes to go. Jo De Silva moved into the middle and the change distracted Reigate and this enabled Jo to link up well with Helen to create a number of great chances very quickly - one of which, was converted well by Helen. Unfortunately, their umpire was not too impressed by THD scoring, and tried her utmost to help Reigate equalise with some DREADFUL decisions - with Karen and Julie being on the wrong end of the whistle - one having been hacked, and the other obstructed - but even this didn't help Reigate. THD vets are too experienced to be put off by such tactics, and calmly got on with the job in hand - and the result stood! A few of us then ventured back to Reigate club house - and though looking awful from outside, was nice enough inside to encourage a small group to savour another cider!

Team: George Sykes; Frances Bowen; Claire Paterson; Julie O'Hara; Joanna Reynolds; Helen Singleton; Erica Goldsmith; Jo de Silva; Little Lou; Charlotte Rayner; Karen Dodds; Anna Barrett.

Umpire: Andy Singleton - big, big thank you, game wouldn't have happened otherwise!

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