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 02-Apr-04

Issue 23

Some extraordinary results preceded a rather extraordinary night out as THD celebrated the season in truly inimitable style on March 20th. There were big wins for the Men's 2s, 6s and the Women's 5s to erase all memories of tougher times, whilst the Women's 1s and 6s played themselves back into form at the dinner after conceding goals in a way only the Men's Vets have before them. Team of the day was so nearly the Women's 3s who came close to doubling their season's tally with 5 goals in 70 minutes of spellbinding hockey only to let the oppo in for a draw. But the big game was always going to be the interclub encounter, and once again we got our As and Bs mixed up - and that was even before the drinks started flowing. Which they did - leading I hear to a number of indecent proposals, but enough of that. It was good to see so many of you at the dinner; so many indeed and yet an important few still missing that we're considering showing off our "dancing/eating/speech-making" skills in an even bigger venue next year. 141 is an excellent head count - many thanks to all for supporting the event, and particular thanks to Mel Rees and Mike Clyne without whom we'd have never got going. You did great.

But this season is not yet quite done - final match reports will come out next week after the Women's 1s lead us into the close season with a game they must win to have a chance of beating the drop. 2.30 pushback at Alleyn's this Saturday. Ready to cheer them on? It's a big ask.....

reports by: Justin Collins, Aidan Brock, Will Morgan, Simon Riley, Richard Taylor, Charley Williams, Kate Blumer, Karen Dodds, Frances Baker and Jo Hillyer.

Mens 1's vs. Brighton: lost 1-2

Although defeated we came out of this game with heads held high, as Brighton are 2nd in the league. Our pre match preparation was not ideal, losing an entire midfield quartet through illness, delayed flights, and consumption (of Guinness). However, we defended extremely well, under sustained pressure, with both Olly and Bill working hard up front. Despite conceding 2 first half goals, our attitude and commitment were commendable and this continued into the second period. Mark Pulford, minding his own business on the sidelines came on midway through in place of the hamstrung Gregg, and Olly scored for us in the last 5 minutes from the p flick spot, unfortunately just a little too late for us to mount a comeback.

Scorer: Oliver Morgan

Men's 2s vs. Bromley: won 4-0

Truly brilliant. Faced with a vociferous opposition composed of skilful youngsters and even more skilful wily old tricksters, we settled down immediately to play fluid, attacking hockey. We pressurised Bromley when not in possession and created a lot of chances going forward. Warren converted one with a deft deflection following his inspired introduction into the game after 15 minutes (there's your mention Chris R). We deserved to be 1-0 up at half time but the game was by no means over. Bromley continued to create chances, but their short corner routine lacked penetration and (for once) Keeps was up to everything that was thrown/hit/flicked/kicked at him. The second goal came from a pre-arranged short corner routine, Pully hitting the ball wide of the goal for Clifford to swoop and deflect in at the right hand post - clinical. A manic period of shouting, swearing, appealing and general lack of focus followed from both teams. Although we regularly got the ball into the danger area nothing was converted and we were uncharacteristically sloppy at the back. Nevertheless our pressure finally told and Nick J slotted one home on 60 minutes to calm things down. The icing on the cake came from a short corner at the full time whistle which Pully slotted with the last touch of the match and his last touch of the season for the 2's - sweet. Last game against Richmond this w/e and we will finish the season 7th whatever happens so let's enjoy it and keep playing 'sexy hockey'...... A Big thanks to Si Riley and Jonesy for umpiring.

Team: Aidan Brock, Neil Happs, Fergus Jagger, Mark Pulford, Chris Coleman, Mark Williams, Lee Snowden, Clifford Brown, Nick Harris, Nick Jacob, Andy Potapa, Warren Holme.

Umpires: Si Riley, Mark Jones Scorers: Warren, Clifford, Nick J, Pully.

Men's 4As vs. THD 4Bs: lost 2-4

Call it sour grapes or hurt pride depending on which side of the fence you fall on, but the majority of our team felt robbed by some decidedly one-sided decisions including a disallowed short. It's impossible to say how games will turnout if a decision goes the other way but the 4as could have been 2-0 up by half time and cruising. Would the 4bs have come back from that I wonder...? As it turned out they put in a brave performance in the 2nd half turning a 1-0 deficit into a 4-1 lead aided by 2 own goals off shorts and a very bizarre headed own goal from our keeper! So, it was a hard fought but disappointing game where we deserved better and I'd much rather rave about the club dinner which seemed a qualified success...

Team: Gavin Lawson, Aidan Brock, Vishal Phakey, Tim Parker, Barny Day, Rich Fenton, Paul Kirkland, Will Morgan, Dave Eacott, Mark Pulford, Norm Doyle, Clifford Brown, Matt.

Scorer: Clifford (2)

Men's 4bs vs. THD 4as: won 4-2

The day of the dinner: always one to inspire a team to greatness. After all, who wants to celebrate losing if they've a chance to bask in the glory of beating a fellow THD side? DC was doing its best impression of a windswept beach, sand whipping around the assembled 2nd XI, watching, jeering and cheering as the 1s were robbed by some bunch from the South Coast. Not for the 4bs this frivolity - it was off to the back pitch for a warm up. The 2s skipper, guest starring for the 4as sent us on our way with some choice words - never mind Aido, at least the 2s won this week. The warm up was slicker than a Brylcreem'd hairdo, short corners crashing in, crisp passing routines and the odd strike on goal accidentally flying into the neighbouring trees. Sweet. Who needs to watch the 1s with such sublime skills on display? And so to the game. We shot out of the blocks like a sprinter on THG (can't begin to spell the full name). Rapier-like attacks down the flanks, dazzling stick-work and almost choreographed passing routines. No goals though, but just a matter of time, surely? And the odd scare for the otherwise solid defence, a Pully rocket from a short corner disallowed for it being outside the D. Half time, a few choice words from the skipper and we were back where we left off. And before we knew it, a goal down. Who'd spiked their half-time drinks then??? Come on, someone must have? I think you did something similar at the dinner to all my drinks, 'cos my memory of that splendid do has gone walkabout. But I digress. Our super-slick shorts just weren't firing on all cylinders, but Neil stepped up to slap a deflected shot past Gavin and we were back on level terms (great timing for his first ever THD goal). The steamroller that is the 4bs was up to super-sonic speed and there was no stopping us now. Neil, realising he had used up his quota of short-corner good fortune then cunningly delegated the push-out to Richard Taylor. One push-out later, one stop, one exocet from Tom and 2-1 to the boys in red. Exactly the same routine again 5 minutes later, 3-1. Not content with setting them up, Richard then decides to get on the score sheet himself, a cheeky flick over Gavin who could do nothing but deflect it goalwards off his helmet, just crossing the goal-line before the poacher Lee Snowden could tap it home. A consolation second for the 4as just before the end brought an end to the scoring and bragging rights were once again bestowed upon the 4bs. Superb team performance and a great send-off for Jonesy, returning to finish off building his sandcastles in Egypt.

The superstars: Lee Tearle, Tom Alexander, Nick Thomson, Angus Barnard (MOTM by a mile), Sharm el-Sheikh Jones, Dougal Davis, JT, Lee Snowden, Paul Burrows, Potty Potapa, Fat-boy-not-so-slim, Richard Taylor, Neil Gallagher.

Umpire: the ever impressive Si Newell

Scorers: Tom Alexander 2, Neil Gallagher, Richard Taylor

Men's 6s vs. Maidenhead 4s: won 3-0

On yet another wet and windy day on the outskirts of nowhere, the 6s went out to improve on the past weekend's performance. And they did with style. A comprehensive win ensures that we shall not finish bottom of the league but a respectable 10th (provisionally). From the push back we had the better of them. We attacked well using the width of the pitch to get behind the aging defence and then crossed the ball into the D. However the final touch was missing as balls pinged from one side to another without making contact with any sticks. As the game progressed and we spent more time in their half, the goal finally came with good interplay between Ian and Tommy, leaving Tommy an easy flick over the keeper to score. Maidenhead created a couple opportunities on our goal but were thwarted by our back four of Richard M, Andy, Mike and Peter, all of whom had great games and kept a well deserved clean sheet. The second half began where we'd left off. All the play came from us and it was not long before Ian and Tommy had both scored. A fine performance from the mid field and forwards meant that every time we had the ball we were in control of the game and attacking their goal. Keep playing like this and we shall win our last match. As this was my last match as captain of the 6s, I would like to thank all the players for their commitment and hard work on the pitch. It has been a pleasure to captain you all in a difficult and demanding season. I would also like to thank Aido for all his help throughout the season, to everybody else who has helped us out either playing or umpiring and lastly to Charley for chasing me every week for our match report - without you I would have never written one! Thanks to Ian for coming out of retirement to play and Richard M for umpiring.

Team: Peter Adams, Richard Mead, Mike McKinnon, Andy Bond, RT, Al Fraser, Ben Lones, Nick Phipps, Tim Smith, Ian Cooper, Tommy Cairns, Colin Leeman, Adam Greaves, Simon Williams.

Scorers: Tommy 2, Ian Cooper

Women's 1s vs. Wimbledon: lost 7 (no, really) - 0

Great first 20 minutes. Then we did it again. Ouch. Team: Jo Malkin, Emma Ward, Kath Sowter, Hilary Collins, Alex Crawford, Rachel Lander, Ali Rendu, Charley Williams, Dani Every, EJ Barry, Martha Harvey-Jones, Amy Gardiner, Louise Morgan Women's 2s vs. Woking: lost 0-1 Win and stay up, lose and be relegated, it is that time of the season. And Spence is leaving us so we had to let her go on a high. Talking of highs; high winds and high hopes prevailed from the whistle. It was a blustery game much like the wind - not much style, and a little desperation entered our game leading to a loss of basic skills. Hence the first 20 minutes saw us on the back foot. We had a good few short corners to defend, but kept them out. By the second 20, we started to dominate, but couldn't convert any of our own short corners or good attacking play - we should have done better, especially with the short on the stroke of half time. At the break, Will told us what we needed to do and so did Alex, we went out and did it. The key being 'win 50/50s. "Some" of us took this brief more seriously that others - me, for starters. One of the Woking ladies didn't know what had hit her, but I did win that ball. Anyway, on with the game. After about 20 minutes they scored off a rubbish short corner, none of us quite knew how it happened, but it did. We then dominated again and missed some golden opportunities - it's been the story of our season. Groundhog day. We had a final short corner on the final whistle as we surrounded the opposition on the edge of their D - we looked menacing, but not menacing enough, and we were denied again. All very upset, but we're going to beat Barnes next week to end the season on a high and we'll work our way back up next season. I fail to mention any specific individuals, because we all gave 100%, there was an outstanding but unconventional WOTM, but she is barely worth a mention!

Team: George Sykes, Emma Matebalavu, Alex Hardy, Clare Spencer, Kate Blumer, Jo De Silva, Kate Selway, Amy Gardiner, Lou Morgan, Strings, Zoey Handforth, Liz Young, Mary.

Women's 3s vs. Phoenix: drew 5-5

Theoretically, if we had scored about 110 goals we may have stayed up, but a draw wasn't enough and we now officially have an R next to us in the league table - very sad. The next most probable team to be relegated is Phoenix as they too needed to win. It was a surprise to find ourselves one down after their first attack as we had dominated the opening period. But we fought back with Harriet picking up a rebound and striking in cleanly from the left. We continued to look strong and so it was again surprising to be 2-1 down at half time. I've completely lost track of how the scoring went but we were 5-3 up with about ten minutes left - it seemed that every time we moved forward it was just perfection. The best goal was a long pass from Frances out to Jules on the right wing, quick running down to the line, sharp pass to Rosie on the left who banged it home. You'd have thought we had practised it! Phoenix were effective with strong running through the middle which caused us some difficulties, and they continued aggressively (if a little too much so for Ferrett who waved the yellow card). Sadly, we conceded a penalty flick which Claire almost saved but it trickled over, and then their next attack brought another goal which I have blotted from my mind. Time went with them playing out a short ... very tense but it was scrambled away. Phew.

Team: Claire Leung; Anna Barrett; Charlotte Rayner; Erica Goldsmith; Joanna Reynolds; Karen Dodds; Rosanna Carter; Jules Ingham; Julie O'Hara; Frances Bowen; Harriet Gallagher Powell; Liz Young.

Umpires: Ferrett

Scorers: Harriet Gallagher-Power, Liz, Jules Ingham, Rosie Carter.

Ladies 5s vs. Thames Valley 2s: won 3-1

To borrow a phrase often used in the men's match reports, the 10.30 match at Crystal Palace was a virtuoso display of 'Champagne Hockey'. We started as the underdogs, battling a team 5 places above us in the league, who have scored more than double the number of goals we have over the course of the season. And we only had nine players. And we didn't have a goalie. The casual bystander might have been forgiven for thinking the result was a forgone conclusion. But then 10 minutes after pushback, Dippy Dixon pedalled up. Her punishment for late arrival was obvious - she would wear the goalie's kit in the second half. From then on, the 5s regained hope - with a little help from our friends (Esther, Catherine and Emily - who did a fantastic Roadrunner impression on the left half/wing). We passed, we shot, we tackled - all those things that make up your usual hockey game - but we did them well. Thames Valley never even looked like winning, and they were mighty p***ed off. They even got a green card. Our last-minute goalies - Rachel and Dippy Dixon - were fantastic, but if we are still goalie-less next weekend, a democratic vote has decided (in her absence) that Captain Ash will be back in the pads, for abandoning us for 2 weeks in a row. Bring on the last game of the season, the girls are finally on a winning streak.

Women's 6s vs. Old Georgians 2s: lost 0-8

Having watched OG Men's first team whup Indian Gym 6-1, we went on to the pitch against Old Georgians 2nd team feeling inspired. It didn't last long. Once again we found ourselves at the mercy of player non-availability and could only field 10, although at times it felt like there were many less of us and many more of them. Despite Clare's valiant efforts in goal (she stopped at least as many as went in), our usually strong defence couldn't stop OG's from going 5 - 0 up at half time. The second half saw us wake up a bit, and Kate A and Wendy had some good runs, even managing to get the ball over the halfway line once or twice (yes, it was that bad), but OG's still managed to put another 3 past us. Shame to end an otherwise great season on a downer, but at least we made up for it later at the dinner...

Team: Clare Bell, Jo Hillyer, Hilary Fielding, Laura, Kate Straker, Gemma Cloke, Wendy Tang, Claire Shirley, Vicky Wright, Kate Anderton.

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