Match Reports 2004/05

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

Mon 25-Oct-04

Issue 03

The 16th October saw THD climb another rung up the ladder to hockey supremacy in South London with three wins for the men against Wayfarers. The sweetest of these was a 6-5 victory for the Men's 4s after being 4-1 down early on for the second week in succession. Elsewhere Andy Balchin's two goals helped the Men's 1s grab the points against Chiswick and the Women's 1s beat a very physical Maidenhead side to record their fifth win on the bounce. Martha "I'm always scary and very aggressive" Harvey-Jones takes the card of the week for her part in the kicking affair. The Women's 6s won too, as did the Women's 5s who have started early in their quest for team of the year - check out the team stats page on www.thehockeyclub.co.uk to see where your team are placed.

Awards for last season will be given out at the Club Dinner on October 30th. Tickets are going fast, but there's still a few available and WE WANT MORE MEN. Currently there's 4 girls to every guy so come on boys - surely you can't let JT get away with that. Get in touch with captains or Mel Rees ASAP for your ticket.

Match reports by: Olly Morgan, Aidan Brock, James Terrett, Mark Jones, Graeme Evans, Chris Richman, EJ Barry, Kate Blumer, Joanna Reynolds, Marie Smith, Katherine Dixon and Emma Gilchrist.

Men's 1s vs. Chiswick 1s: won 3-2

Chiswick brought a physical element to this mid-table clash but were met by THD's own resilient and combative brand of hockey. THD were awarded a stroke early on which Andy Balchin converted; the keeper moved early and gloved the ball but only upwards into the roof of the net. At the other end veteran goalkeeper Justin Collins produced a fine initial save, but the hapless shot-stopper looked on in disbelief as the opposition centre forward pounced on the rebound to level the score at 1-1. Chiswick went ahead shortly before the interval after an opportunistic deflection from a right sided cross. Early in the second half Chiswick's Aussie playmaker was dismissed for incessant chirping; THD suffered their own yellow card as Tom Cross offered a Chiswick player outside and was duly dispatched behind the goal for a ten minute breather. Olly Morgan was then cynically cut down after a typically aggressive aim towards the circle and penalty corner marksman Balchin dragged low and hard to the keeper's left to bring us back into the game at 2 apiece. In search of the winner, THD won another corner; midfield pass machine Joel Burrows called the slip right and Jim Ireson thundered in on the angle, diving goalwards and deflecting the ball in at the far post to the delight of the home crowd. Now leading 3-2 with 10 minutes on the clock, THD vice-captain Gaz Weir ordered the half court press and the midfield and back line combined to create an impenetrable defensive wall, denying the visitors any chance of a late equaliser. Ex Durham University player Will Brown produced an exemplary performance in the left of midfield and was a worthy recipient of the MOTM award for the second week running. (OM)

Team: Andrew Eames (c), Gareth Weir (vc), Justin Collins (gk), Oliver Morgan, Andy Balchin, Tom Curry, Jim Ireson, Joel Burrows, Will Brown, Will Brownsden, Pete Ellis, Gregg McAlister, Clive Colloff, Felix Nurse, David Weir, Tom Cross.

Scorers: Balchin (2), Ireson.

Man of the Match: Will Brown

Men's 2s vs. London Wayfarers 2s: lost: 0-2

Another frustrating game, and one which we singularly failed to get a grip of. We certainly have a skilled enough bunch of players, however Saturday proved that without teamwork and structural discipline this alone is not necessarily a guarantee of success. Against a well-organised but not spectacular Wayfarers side we defended resolutely and efficiently and could consider ourselves unlucky to be 1-0 down at half time, their goal coming from a scrappy broken-down short corner. Nevertheless we looked overrun in midfield with the result that the half backs felt they had to play towards the middle of the field, therefore denying us the requisite width to release our three attackers. With the exception of one or two players we did not show any grit or commitment and once again there was too much running with the ball and not enough quick passing. This was aptly demonstrated when we failed to get a single shot on goal for the entire time Wayfarers were down to 10 men. There was a fair bit of swapping on and off with substitutions, and (as I have now found out) people playing out of position but everyone has played enough hockey to be able to adapt so this is not an excuse in my book. Before everyone labels me a dour Scotsman (Moi? Ce n'est pas possible!) I must just say that the team has great potential, and therein lies the source of my frustration. I will shoulder my portion of the blame (especially for not properly organising the short-corner routines). Nevertheless all are playing to keep their places in the team so the standard and intensity has to rise for the next match. (AB)

Team: Jeremy Porter (GK), Aido Brock, Ed Stevenson, Matt Groom, Ben Wright, Tim Davies, Felix Nurse, Ferg Jagger, Graeme Fotheringham, Smudge, Potty, Pete Howland, Fez (Dave Casement), Banners.

Men's 3s vs. Wayfarers 3s: won 2-1

Although it took us half the game to properly settle, we totally dominated the second half and it would have been a travesty for us not to win it. Excellent performances all over the pitch, in particular Chris (Rab) Robertson in goal and Mark Pulford's organisation of the back kept us solid and meant it was a matter of "when" we'd score rather than "if". In true THD style we preferred to miss three ridiculously easy open goals (two from three yards) and instead relied upon a Mark Pulford short corner strike to equalise the match after we'd conceded an unfortunate opener in the first half. The winner, when it came, was probably our most difficult chance. It started from a brilliant tackle at one end by Thom Ruane that led to a swift transfer through the middle and down the left. Nick Jacob took the ball into the D and was half tackled at least 14 times before the human weeble smashed his shot knee-high into the corner with five minutes to go. We all went "Chicken Oriental". Thanks also to the birds 2s for their support in the second half. The cauldron of emotion that they cooked up kept us going right to the end. (JT)

Team: Chris Robertson, Mike Tyrell, Thom Ruane, Nick Harris, James Terrett, Mark Pulford, Chris Coleman, Wesley Cole, Phil Hines, Lee Snowden, Mike Killen, Neil Happs, Nick Jacob, Will Atkinson.

Scorers: Mark Pulford, Nick Jacob.

Umpire: Aidan Brock.

Men's 4s (Tornados) vs. Wayfarers 4s: won 6-5

Like a John Le Carre ITV mini-series, the Tornados 20 goal fortnight comes to a close. Having lost to Wayfarers 5-4 last week we proceeded to beat the better version of the same club this weekend by 6-5. However, this time it took 15 minutes instead of 10 to go 4-1 down... but this week was gonna be different. A superb performance from every single player ensured the Wayfarers went home weeping and broken... they may never recover. Such was the glory of the Tornados that the team was even asked to do a lap of honour on television after the match (seriously, I jest you not!). This is the team to watch this season with 9 or 11 goal thrillers weekly... if only the BBC could make dramas like this! (MJ)

Team: Lee Tearle (GK), Mark Jones, Nick Thomson, Tom Alexander, Neil Gallagher, Nick Jones, Dougal Davis, Duncan McCulloch, Clifford Brown, Loz Mockery, Adrian Meredith & Simon Riley.

Scorer(s): Nick Thomson (2), Simon Riley, Tom Alexander, Clifford Brown & Loz Mockery.

Umpire: Aidan Brock

Men's 5s v London Wayfarers: won 1-0

With a team almost entirely made up of defenders, this was never going to be a goal-fest. Only one goal in it, but in truth Wayfarers were rarely a threat as keeper Paul Reid was heard but rarely seen. Wayfarers did have their fair share of possession but came up against a five-man midfield bolstered by the long-overdue return of Mark Oakley and the first outing of the campaign for Richard Batty - fresh from a typical 5th team pre-season that saw him hoof up Mount Kilimanjaro and a handful of UK peaks for good measure. Unfortunately for him, he was last to arrive so was volunteered for duties in the heart of midfield, a role few have seen him play but many will now clamour for him to fill again. The presence of so many defenders meant plenty of neat passing and composure on the ball, but there was a certain amount of toil in front of goal until Rob Thomas scampered up the right wing and crossed for Paul Burrows to score with aplomb from the top of the circle. As if back-to-back away wins were not enough, the 5s also picked up a new captain along the way with Stuart Craig volunteering for the hot seat. Thanks to Mark Jones for umpiring. (GE)

Team: Paul Reid, Billy Dowie, Paul Miller, Stuart Craig, Vish Phakey, Graeme Evans, Mark Oakley, Richard Batty, Rob Thomas, Paul Burrows, Dom Peyton.

Scorer: Paul Burrows.

Umpire: Mark Jones.

Men's 6s vs. Hampstead and Westminster Spaniards: lost 0-3

In truth we were beaten comfortably by a very good Spaniards side. We emerged from the game like a rosy-cheeked Eton boy after his first night of boarding. That the score was only three nil was a testament to some heroic defending for the second week in succession and a whole lot of effort by the team as a whole. We played some of the best passing hockey so far this season in patches, but still need to learn some composure on the ball. What I am finding in this league is that every team has two players in the centre of midfield that have obviously played a much higher level and so control the game from the midfield with good distribution and positional sense thus giving the whole of the team shape. This is what we lack. No disrespect to those who have played there so far this season but we have no shape in the midfield and this is causing us no end of problems. (CR)

Team: Tao McCloud, Nick Phipps, Keith Howick, Richard Mead, Andy Bond, Will Pendrill, Kim Keats, Ed Allen, Ben Lones, Adam Greaves, Tim Smith, Colin Leeman and me!

Women's 1s vs. Maidenhead 1s: won 5-2

This week we were hoping for an unprecedented 5th win on the trot against an opposition languishing in the lower regions of the league. We started strongly, quickly going 1 up as Rachel skinned 3 defenders to score from the middle of the D. There then followed a period of sustained pressure during which it felt as if we were scoring lots of goals but were actually missing hatfuls. The work rate dropped and we allowed them to equalise through lack of concentration. This seemed to be the wake up call we needed and at last our endless penalty corner practice bore fruit with a well-executed number 2 from Rachel. Lovely, but we still needed to do more to clinch it. We came out in the second half guns blazing and determined to take the fight to the opposition. Not literally, you understand, though they did their best to disrupt us and riled Martha to the first card of her life for telling the umpire just what she thought of being kicked on the ground. Dirty tactics probably didn't help them in the end though, as we were awarded a penalty flick soon after for a tackle on Gemma, which EJ converted to put last week's debacle behind her. Two further goals came very quickly due to great play from the midfield and defence, who were combining beautifully. Both Rachael and Gemma got into great scoring positions at the top the D but instead of shooting placed the ball on the right post where EJ had taken up residence. Two lovely deflections killed the game off and it was back to the clubhouse to enjoy a lovely couple of jugs from the hat trick chick. Oh that's right they did score another due to the entire team enjoying attacking too much and nobody defending or marking in our 25 - Kath you had every reason to be fuming! (EJ)

Team: Jo Milking, Clare Byrne, Hils Collins, Kath Sowter, Nicky Prior, Gemma Baker, Rachel Lander, Charley Williams, EJ Barry, Emma Kitley, Martha Harvey Jones.

Strop of the Match: Martha Harvey-Jones.

Players of the Match: EJ and Hils.

Scorers: Rachael (2) and EJ (3)

Next game: Saturday 30th October vs. Purley Ws (away) 11.30am. (Have your broomsticks at the ready girls)

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

Paracetomol all round, no contact lenses, lost car keys - altogether not the best way to win a match. The 2s started badly which I'm sure William will vouch for. Our ball speed was poor, we were playing passing games with the opposition (up to our old tricks) and looked confused at the back. All this culminated in a 2-0 deficit at half time, with two weak short corners converted easily by the opposition. Shame, as we all know we are better than that. What a difference in the second half - we actually woke up and looked like we could play some hockey. Nikki was tackling with perfect timing, Claudy worked hard at right back, I had a battle on my hands on the left (maybe created by my own volition, but I enjoyed it!). As soon as we started playing our game we got them riled, so much so, they were tripping us and tackling from behind like novices. Cries from Longhair of "that was just awful" fell on the referees' deaf ears. Sticks were flying and we wanted a goal. But the highlight of the match came first from their short corner, and it involved George. They struck once she saved, twice, she saved, third time, she saved, fourth time at point blank range she saved, the crowd (well a few people on the side line, whooped for joy). I think this gave us the inspiration to put together a string of those simple passes that create effective hockey. From the top/back Ferret, to Serra, to Liz, to Harriet, to Jules...................GOAL. Fantastic! Thought we may get another but time beat us. We needed that goal to go onwards and upwards. And that we will do. Well done team, we have the spirit, now we just need to pass to one another. (KB)

Team: George Sykes, Nikki Smithies, Kate Blumer, Claudy Sellers, Nat Shur, Serra Tezisler, Kate Selway, Sarah Longair, Sarah Conibear, Ferrett, Harriet Gallagher-Powell, Liz Young, Jules Ingham.

Next match: Saturday 30th October vs. Wimbledon - away

Women's 3s vs. London University: lost 0-4

A lively end to end game. All very even for the first 20 minutes then LU scored a scrappy goal following up with a miraculous, how-could-you-score-from-there, second just before half time. But we were playing well and at half time really thought we could find our way back in to the game. We played much better in the second half, keeping a much tighter formation and being far more disciplined. But nonetheless, another 2 goals snuck in. It's strange, even when we lose, and lose badly, we play well. And Saturday was no exception - although less shots on goal from THD than usual and their keeper played very well. Vicky made an excellent save towards the end, Lizzie was full of running, Erica transferred from RW to CB with good grace and Lou was my player of the match with the best game I have seen her play this season. (JR)

Team: Vicky Adkin, Joanna Reynolds, Catherine Robinson, Jo de Silva, Catherine Garvey, Adele Harrison, Sonya Kwok, Lou Curry, Ruth Pratt, Erica Goldsmith, Rona Francis, Lizzie Gillett.

Umpires: Lucy Partington and some older man who spend half the second half on his mobile despite my requests for him to finish his call!

Next match: Saturday 30th October vs. Woking Vets - 11.30 @ Alleyn's

Women's 4s vs. Richmond 3s: lost 0-1

It was another typical 4s game where the scoreline doesn't reflect the play. It was really nice to have some support on the sidelines and that definitely gave us the kick up the backside we needed to knuckle down. Despite another couple of no shows (this is becoming a theme methinks) we played really well after taking the first 10 or 15 minutes to get into it. We had 80% of the possession and 90% of decisions went our way. We kept up a relentless pressure on their defence, but despite plenty of chances from Claire W, Lindsey, Marie and pretty much everyone else in the team we just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. Their goal was totally against the run of play and came from a lucky break. We was robbed. A warm welcome back to the side to Mrs Emily Tearle; special mention to Rosie for soldiering on against her namesake marker and also to Isabel who, despite her opinion, had a great hard working game - in fact everyone did. We should have won and we will at least once this season we promise! We shall not be relegated! (MS)

Team: Mel 'cheeky' Bastin, Mel 'lip butter' Rees, Curly Scottish Lindsey, Left post Stuttard; Rosie Posie Le Voir, Mrs Emily Tearle, Other Scottish Lyndsey (Bilsland), Emma 'I thought we were meeting at 11' Billsdon, Isabel Drewe, Claire Whitehead, Marie Smith (player of the match), Andrea Vicari.

Umpire: Steven Powell

Next match: Saturday 30th October vs. Wimbledon - away

Women's 5s vs. Addiscombe: won 1-0

Refusing to allow an opportunity for good karma to slip through our fingers, Team Five warmed up for Saturday's clash in excellent style, drawing crowds at Crystal Palace's charity relay event. Feeling virtuous and braced for triumph the team cut an imposing impression as they entered the pitch - hungry for victory. Domination of the pitch was absolute and, with strong support on the sidelines from some benevolent 4s, success was inevitable. A highly commendable performance in midfield combined with a stunning goal and assist from Sarah and Ash and supported by a sparkling guest appearance from Steph resulted in a compelling win. Team Five have now set the season's trend of success. (KD)

Team: Alice Smith, Bridget Morley, Sarah Smith, Amy, Katherine Dixon. Andrea Beattie, Penny Gasner, Ashley McDonald, Lucy, Stephanie Kee, Faith Gerachty.

Scorer: Sarah Smith.

Umpire: Claire Whitehead

Next match: Saturday 23rd October vs. Richmond 4 - 11.00 home

Women's 6's vs. Reigate Priory: won 3-2

Having watched the 1's confidently wipe out their opposition just before us on Saturday, we thought we'd have a tough act to follow, but it seemed to serve as an inspiration. Reigate arrived in the nick of time and thanks to an enthusiastic turnout we were able to field a strong and confident team, despite the rain. Hazel was first to score for THD, followed not long after by a cracker from Pippa, then Reigate woke up and scored not long before half time. The second half was much tougher, with Reigate keen to recover. There were a few hairy moments when they broke away at the front but were held off valiantly by Krystyna, Jackie, Kate S and Laura. Most of our attacking play seemed to flow up the right side, with Gigi and Kate Anderson alternately making some great runs, ultimately paid off by another great goal, this time from Sam. Reigate sneaked another past us, and played with much greater determination towards the end of the game. The last 5 minutes were particularly nail-biting, but we managed to hold them off for a well-deserved 3-2 win. (EG)

Team: Krystyna, Jo Hillyer, Kate Straker, Laura Matthews, Jackie, Michelle Terry, Claire Shirley, Hazel Dawson, Kate Anderson, Gigi Ho, Sam Ratnayake, Marissa, Vicky Wright, Isla, Pippa Haworth. Scorers: Hazel Dawson, Pippa Haworth, Sam Ratnayake.

Umpire: Tim

THD Dragons vs. Real Battersea: lost 2-3

Gutted... for only the 5th time in three years the Dragons were beaten. Like having your heart carved out with rusty trowel... it hurts too much to talk about. (MJ)

Team: Aidan Brock (GK), Mark Jones, Simon Riley, Neil Happs, JT, Simon Williams, Will Innes, Jules Ingham, Louise Curry, Lindsey McLaren, EJ, Martina Van-Der-Leij, Marie Smith & Clare Spencer.

Scorer: JT (2).

Umpire: Lucy Partington

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