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 27-Feb-04

Issue 19

So the Men's 1s prove me wrong - they can last the distance and glide into pole position in the THD team charts with a 4-2 win over Henley. While last season's favoured teams slide the wrong way down the table, the 4as are also made a move last Saturday, pulling off the shock of the week in their defeat of top of the league Teddington. If that's not enough to motivate the 4bs, Jonesy, nothing will. With most of the women's sides taking an extended break it was left to the Vets once again to prove that our girls age better than anyone else's, while the 1s did well not to rise to the punches thrown at them and hold on to a point at Witney. Enough fighting and more loving, I say. Which reminds me, have you bought your tickets for the club dinner yet?

reports by: Justin Collins, Will Morgan, Mark Jones, Ian Cooper, Richard Taylor, Kath Sowter, Jo Hillyer and Joanna Reynolds.

Men's 1s vs. Henley: won 4-2

Our first victory over the ever lovely Henley side was a long time coming and thoroughly well deserved. Fuelled by a desire to (a) beat 'em, (b) beat 'em, (c) compensate for last week's poor result, (d) absinthe - you know who you are - and (e) beat 'em, we achieved everything we set out to do. Felix Nurse scored his first goal for the 1st team, a beauty from half a yard, and Andy followed suit with a miss-hit reverse stick shot, to put us into a 2-0 lead in the 1st half. As per last week they got one back before half time. In the second period, Andy struck again, from a broken down short corner, before they came back again to 3-2. They then had a lot of short corners, and looked like they may get back into it, but by this stage their main threat was on a yellow card. We made the game safe with another goal from Andy in the last 2 minutes.

Scorers: Felix Nurse, Andy Balchin 3

Next match: Saturday 28 February vs. Ashford - away

Men's 2s vs. Richmond: cancelled

Next match: Saturday 28th February vs. Maidenhead (H)

Men's 3s vs. Teddington: postponed

Next match: Saturday 28th February vs. Maidenhead - away

Men's 4As vs. Teddington 4s: won 2-1 !

There was definitely something strange in the air this weekend with Portsmouth beating Liverpool in the 5th round of the Cup, Charlton beating Blackburn in stoppage time after Blackburn's goalie scored a goal to level it in the 90th minute, and as for the Spurs v Leicester game! Meanwhile, back in the glamorous world of the London Hockey League the lowly Mens 4As with a points haul a quarter of that held by their top of the league oppo rocked up to the well equipped Teddington Astro having thankfully found a 12th man after drunken chat at about 10 o'clock the night before. The teddies had found a 2nd umpire which meant we had our supersub Cliff (more of that later) but also meant that just one or two decisions went in their favour ! So it's safe to say that the odds were stacked against us. We had a fairly rushed warm up, no short corner practice and I was still telling everyone their position when the umpires wanted to get going, however, the tactics were to mark close, defend and keep it simple in possession as we couldn't afford to open ourselves up. So it was very satisfying that that's exactly what we did and we limited them to two chances on goal, one didn't get a touch and went for a long corner, the other ended up being a simple tap in (ignoring the fact that the guy who knocked it into the D had practically taken Vish's head off with the first swipe). 1-0 down and our response was to move up a gear which we promptly found and as I took a breather and watched from the sidelines we had at least two efforts cleared off the line plus 'supersub' made a typically powerful run into the D only to slice wide. So I make that more decent chances for us going into half time. Again the emotional chat came from the captain while our ever able Aido mentioned a few things about hockey and we went into the 2nd half determined to maintain the level of game we had just ended with. That's exactly what we did. Our defenders marked their forwards out the game, we closed 'em down on hits and then attacked in unison, 5 minutes in and a very sweet move down the right no doubt involving Warren (on loan from 3s) and Ed resulted in a cracking ball into the D that yours truly managed to sweep past defender and keeper. Cue much celebration and some speechless teddies. After that all I wanted to do was protect the back four but a few of the other lads had a better idea and not much more than 10 minutes later another attacking play led by Neil, Warren and a sweet ball to Clifford saw the net bulge (top left corner) and utter disbelief from both teams. After that all we wanted to do was hear the whistle and despite some hairy moments including a wonderful clearance off the line by Tim we defended our lead and even had a couple of goes at a third. The teddies had only lost once all season, didn't take the 2nd time very well but who cares, we liked it!

Team: Aidan Brock (GK), Tim Parker, Vishal Phakey, Neil Happs, Barny Day, Grant Spencer, Will Morgan, Warren Holme, Bruce Haines, Rich Fenton, Ed Standring, Clifford Brown.

Scorers: Will Morgan, Clifford Brown

Next match: Saturday 28 February vs. Maidenhead - 13.30 @ Crystal Palace Bar

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

Total and utter crap. Possibly the worst ever performance by the 4s. Like a 15yr old boy wetting the bed... everyone concerned should be embarrassed and disappointed. Enough said.

Team: Lee Tearle(GK), Mark Jones, Simon Wilshire, Tom Alexander, Nick Thomson, Conor Macklin, Loz Mockery, Neil Gallagher, Dougal Davis, Paul Burrows, Simon Riley & Geoff Pritchard.

Umpire: Simon Newell

Scorer(s): Loz Mockery

Next match: Saturday 28 February vs. Bromley - away

Men's 5s vs. Teddington: lost 3-5

Another must win, coulda won kinda game...where once again the result flattered to deceive. Everyone knew that this was the game we would have to put up a fight, and it being Teddington, the betting money would have been on us getting one...or two, or three. Boxing gloves on we started off much as we have most games this season...giving the opposition their obligatory two goals head start. Boxing gloves off and we finally got to play some good hockey. Pully scored from a short, before they scored again, against the run of play. Second half Aido short 2-3, followed almost immediately by a lazy, mazy run from Rupes being crashed into the net with the teeniest of deflections off the varnish on Ian's stick (goal credited to Rupes after Ian told to stop acting like a child by his missus). Everyone upped their games in search of the needed next goal and even Si got his innermost desires fulfilled (well one of them anyway) by being able to dispatch the oppo skipper for ten. Unfortunately Teddington scored from two ropey old shorts at the death, whereas their defenders conspired (somehow) to keep out about six or seven of ours. We're all off to join the Magic Circle as we seem to be able to conjure up losses when victories seem more likely with consummate ease. Next week, Graham gets sawn in half and Reedy pulls a rabbit from his trousers.

Team: Paul Reid, Bill Dowie, Stuart Craig, Mark Jones, Thom Ruane, Aidan Brock, Mark Pulford, Lee Snowden, Mark Smith, Matt Ruane, Rupert Grass, Ian Cooper.

Umpire: Simon Riley

Scorers: Rupert Grass, Aidan Brock, Mark Pulford.

Next match: Saturday 28th February vs. Reading - away

Men's 6s vs. Surbiton: lost 1-5

The match got off to a bad start when from push-back they knocked a speculative ball up field which their centre-forward chased got in behind our defence and scored from a very tight angle. Surbiton got a second goal after we failed to clear our lines. We got a goal back in the middle of the first half with one of our few attacking breaks, the ball went out wide, was knocked into the goal-mouth and Colin put away the loose ball. We then conceded to a penalty flick which Peter saved to keep us in the match, this provided the spark for some sustained attacking from us with Ben, Nick and Al linking up well in the middle. We went in at half-time 2-1 down but confident that we could pull things back. However, the youth and fitness of the opposition ran us ragged in the second half, we completely lost our shape in midfield and our defence was continually bombarded and we leaked 3 more goals in the second half eventually loosing 5-1. Our main problem besides fitness was a lack of stick control and an inability to pass the ball to our own team, this needs to be worked on otherwise we are going to suffer more bad results like this against teams we should be competing against on an equal basis. Thanks to Si for umpiring and to Ben and Harry for helping us out.

Team: Peter Adams, Andy Bond, Keith Howick, Matt Crane, Mike McKinnon, Mike Clyne, Nick Phipps, Tim Smith, Ben, Harry, Al Fraser, Gin Lee, Colin Leeman.

Umpire: Si Riley

Scorer: Colin Leeman

Next match: Saturday 28 February vs. St. Albans - away

Women's 1s vs. West Witney: drew 1-1

The Cotswold's def: 1. A quaint and tranquil area of England bounded by Oxford, Stratford, Cheltenham and Bath. 2. An area characterised by buildings of Cotswold Stone. Well, we complemented the tranquility of the area by playing some lovely hockey during the first half. We out passed our opposition and within 5 minutes had scored a rather beautiful goal after Rach's shot rebounded off the keepers pads and the lovely Martha showed skill and composure to slot home. We could have, and should have, scored many more, such was the degree of our dominance. The second half was a different story. Cotswold Stone may be pretty to look (not that I should necessarily use that analogy here), but it is also very hard. They pressed us, we lost the plot and they forced (or did we concede?) short corner after short corner. We kept them out, and as time went on they became more and more frustrated to the point where clearly violence was the only option. Poor Ali - and what a shame the umpires chose not to punish a few of their players with more than a green card. Still, aggression counts and if you are allowed to play like that and still have 11 players on the pitch, you will always have a chance of scoring. Unfortunately, they did - from a deflected short corner. Pipes made an awesome save towards the end, and when the whistle went, I think many of us were glad to hear it for more reasons than one. More goals from our dominance in the first half would have probably won us the game, but at least we secured a point and kept our cool.

Team: Jo Malkin, Malkin, Emma Ward, Alex Crawford, Kath Sowter, Hilary Collins, Clare Spencer, Rachel Lander, Ali Rendu, Charley Williams, Martha Harvey-Jones, Dani Every, EJ Barry, Bettina Wolff.

Scorer: Martha Harvey-Jones

Next match: Saturday 28th February vs. Woking - 12.00 away (Goldsworth Park)

Women's 6s vs. Richmond (friendly): lost 0-5

And so the rollercoaster ride of the Women's 6s fortunes continues. Having enjoyed a resounding victory on our last outing, this week we fell victim to the "feast or famine" phenomenon which seems to affect availability of players and goalies. So we started (and ended) with 10 players, playing a rather defensive game and with Jo in goal - oh dear. At half time we were 3 - 0 down, so Jo passed the keeper's kit to Emma, who made some brilliant, if rather unconventional saves during the second half. Our defense improved greatly, but despite some good clearances and valiant runs at goal by Hilary, we never quite managed to put any away. So we ended on 0 - 5, but hey, at least it was a friendly and good-natured game, and one of the opposing team was dressed as a fairy...surreal.

Team: Jo Hillyer (easy one), Julie Ferrett, Claudine Ratnayake, Emma Gilchrist, Hilary Fielding, Fee Mullender, Kate Straker, Claire, Avril.

Next match: Saturday 28 February vs. Thames Valley - 12.00 @ Crystal Palace Bar

Women's Vets vs. Barnes: won 6-1

Well, we are getting old but Barnes are getting older! There was a time when they would beat us. But not this day. We were mainly there for the start of the game - only 2 short and then Joanna Close decided to leave and change her shirt and Joanna R left to find a new ball. But after 1O mins or so there were 11 - and how well we played. Great passing - the crowd oohed and aahed - and Wendy's' first goal was the goal of the season. And the direct build up also fab. We ran, we played first time passes, Rosie and Clare gamely played on the left, Joanna C was her usual excellent self, encouraging us on to greater things, Frances looking svelte, hustled and bustled and as always played exquisite long, early balls, Helen played a pass to remember in her quiet moments, Charlotte and Erica switched and appeared in fine positions, Paula rushed all over the place and everybody had an excellent day - until the last minute when Joanna C received a rather nasty knock so hope she is ok. We were umpired by Paul goldsmith and somebody whose name escapes me.

Scorers: Wendy Johnson 3, Frances Bowen, Rosie, Erica Goldsmith

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