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.

Fri 03-Dec-04

Issue 08

Forget pop mobility, bouncebackability is this week's buzz word as the Men's 2s recovered from 3 goals down to grab the points in the last five minutes of their match on Saturday. The battle to be Christmas Number 1 remains fierce, though, as Nick Jacob got a last minute winner for the 3s and put the standard up for the single men in the club (see report below). Elsewhere, there was a glorious eight goal romp for Richman's boys and a spectacular but enjoyable defeat for the Women's 6s. The result of the week, however, came on the road in the Nike 10K on Sunday night, as Jo Malkin left the rest of her team-mates for dust (not to mention JT who found himself squeezed in amongst the Women's 1s - just by chance of course). Clearly keepers don't take enough exercise on Saturdays, or maybe they just don't enjoy the company of others - don't you wonder why they hang out down one end of the pitch on their own?

match reports by: Andy Balchin, Aidan Brock, James Terrett, Mark Jones, Chris Richman, EJ Barry, Kate Selway, Kate Blumer, Joanna Reynolds, Marie Smith, Katherine Dixon and Emma Gilchrist.

Men's 1s vs. Chichester: drew 2-2

Chichester had the majority of the possession in the early stages, but didn't really create any clear cut chances. We played on the counter attack and took the lead with a goal that is likely to be a contender for Goal of the Season. We went in at half time level, following Chichester's equaliser. During the half time team talk there was an altercation in one of the goals. Nobody saw exactly what happened, but certainly some Evian was spilt and a few toys were thrown out of the pram. In the second half, Chichester took the lead with a fairly reasonable strike after applying a lot of pressure. We soaked up some further pressure, but again caught them on the counter with some great link play before Cuzza buried the shot. The last 10 minutes was an open affair, both teams could have got the winner, but the points were shared. Not the best match we've played, but we showed a lot of grit and determination to keep Chichester at bay and get the draw. (Andy)

Team: Andrew Eames, Gareth Weir, Felix Nurse, Chris Roberts, Oliver Morgan, Gregg McAllister, Will Brownsden, Joel Burrows, Will Brown, James Ireson, Andy Balchin, David Weir, Tom Curry.

Scorers: Andy Balchin, Tom Curry

Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. Maidenhead - away

Men's 2s vs. Richmond: won 4-3

Not to put too fine a cliché on it, it was a game of two halves. The first consisted of a seemingly large proportion of the team concentrating too much on surviving their hangovers and not enough on their hockey. Yours truly was no exception and wisely gave himself a 'breather' after ten, fearing for his safety (the boys were reaching for their voodoo dolls and pins ). 3-1 down at half time and the Alex Ferguson/Tom Alexander style team talk was shelved in favour of a more 'vegetarian' gee-up. This seemed to work and we woke after the break, Pete scoring the winner 5 mins before the end. Three soft goals conceded, four quality goals scored, bouncebackability proven. We are third in the league, only 3 points off the leaders, so let's get two further wins and go into Christmas top...Huge thanks once more to the Men's 1's for their vociferous support and to Riley and Jonesy for umpiring. (Aido)

Team: Wiggy, Aido, Pully, Ed Stevenson, Matt Groom, Simon Glasson, Banners, Smudge, Bungle, Potty, Snowy, Fez, the Howler (Pete Howland ), Tim Howarth.

Scorers: Pully x 2, Bungle, Howler.

Umpires: Si Riley, Mark Jones

Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. Wimbledon (12:00 away)

Men's 3s vs. Guildford 3s: won 3-2

The mark of winners has always been that you still grind out three points without playing well. We are winners. The first half we were half asleep, with shoddy passing and little energy being spent for the cause. Despite this, we managed to hold Guildford at 2-2, with a well fought scrambled goal from Mike Tyrell and Chris Coleman following up a saved shot from Julian Taylor. After a chat at half-time we started to put the work in and it resulted in a very tight affair. The defence played extremely well in denying Guildford any clear cut chances and in the final 15 minutes with a third consecutive draw looming, our winning mentality shone through and Nick Jacob slotted in the winner minutes from time to secure the points and the glory. A really well fought game, with the balance coming down in our favour mainly due to the unwavering support of Mrs Coleman, Chris's mum with some excellent shouting. Unbeaten in eight, second in the League, with form like this ladies, you had better snap up the singles amongst us - we are hot property. (JT)

Team: Jeremy Porter, Thom Ruane, Neil Happs, Guy Hodgson, James Terrett, Nick Jacob, Nick Harris, David Fogden, Chris Coleman, Mike Tyrell, Wes Cole, Julian Taylor, Ben Lewis.

Scorers: Mike Tyrell, Chris Coleman (MOTM), Nick Jacob.

Umpire: Bruce Haines.

Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. Teddington 3s - 12:30 @ Dulwich College

Tornados vs. Guildford: lost 0-3

A bad performance against a better-than-expected Guildford team that were still there for the taking. Perhaps we were inspired by Paula Radcliffe, Natalie Appleton or the bloke who sailed round the world with his wife only to bail out half-way through and leave her to finish it alone. Another three points given away that leaves the 4s emulating Neil Armstrong by free-falling down the league table. Any chances of getting something from the league this year are sipping away quicker than a Lambeth pensioner on black ice hopefully Santa might bring a kick up the a*se - god knows we need it. (MJ)

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

Umpire: Aidan Brock

Men's 5s: no game

Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. St Albans Tribunes - 14.00 @ Dulwich College

Men's 6s vs. Richmond: won 8 (Eight)(Yes that is Eight) - 0

So the first match report in a few weeks. What can I say about this game other than we won scored lots of goals and kept a clean sheet so pretty much a perfect week. Having said this Richmond turned up with 9 and played with nine through to half time when MJ relinquished his umpiring duties, which were taken up by Aidan, then played for them in the second half making ten, then one of their second XI played for them so the teams were even for the majority of the second half. Needless to say we did find a lot of space in the first half and capitalised to the tune of 4 - 0 by half time playing some very good passing hockey. Another four goal salvo in the second half gave us the win. The only problem with all this was the fact that in line with team policy of everyone taking a break when there were too many people available it was my week off so I watched from the side as we thrashed the oppo. Do you think they are trying to tell me something? Thanks to MJ and AB for umpiring. (CR)

Team: Tao McCloud, Mike McKinnon, Keith Howick, Andy Bond, Fergus Johnson, Doug Heard, James Kingdom, Mike Wright, Adam Greaves, Ben Lones, Kim Keats, Richard Mead, Colin Leeman.

Scorers: Kim Keats, James Kingdom 2, Ben Lones 2, Mike Wright, Adam Greaves and one other sorry I forget who it was!

Women's 1s vs. Hampstead and Westminster: drew 0-0

Never before has the Women's 1st XI put so much adrenaline and commitment into a game as we did last Saturday - there was definitely no sign of anyone "saving themselves" for the 10k the following evening. Unfortunately the umpires were less interested in the game than we were, arriving late and proceeding to umpire using New Age Hockey Rules we had never heard of. You are probably feeling that you have read this match report before and this is because the overall pattern of the game is rather familiar. We had all the possession and couldn't take our chances, and they hardly got into our 25. Yet again everyone played very well and even the lovely Hils was spotted trying to score goals. Some of the defending was truly magnificent and the midfield won their battles, but we really need to make those 15 penalty corners that we win in the second half count. (Please feel sorry for me because I am writing this before going to training and I know it is what I am going to be practising penalty corners for the next two hours - and that is Northern Irish Hours and they are worse than anyone else's). (EJ)

Team: Pipes, Emma Ward, Kath Sowter, Hilary Collins (MOTM), Nicky Prior, Gemma Baker, Rachael Lander, Charley Williams, EJ Barry, Lou Morgan, Martha Harvey Jones.

Next Match: Saturday 4th December vs. Oxford Hawks - 11.15 @ Alleyn's

Women's 2s vs. Richmond 2s: lost 0-2

Luckily we were spared the water and got the sand. More familiar territory, but you would not have thought so the way we started the game. Sloppy passing and poor possession saw us stuck in our own half of the pitch for almost 15 minutes - boring, would rather not talk about it! They scored by slipping a well worked ball between George's legs, shame as she had made some heroic saves, but if you fire enough bullets one will hit the target (what a fine analogy!). Second half of the first half saw us spreading the ball around and creating some space to play hockey in. Our first touch improved and we played our game. We penetrated their half and actually got some short corners and kept possession. They were strong on the break, but we managed to contain them. Second half, a lot of defending had to be done due to loss of possession. Although some great running from Zoey and the others culminated in some good attacks, we could not convert from open play. The highlight was a short corner: Alex received, had a strike, ball hits foot and then the backboard. Whistle blows for goal scored, then it was disallowed - Alex protests (quite rightly) to no avail. When the umpire was quizzed on a dodgy decision in the first half (by Alex) he admitted 'he had eyes' (strange admission). We forgot, however, to enquire whether had forgotten his contact lenses or glasses for his myopic disposition. They retaliated within minutes with a quick goal on the break, game over, a real shame. We'll get them next time. (KB)

Team: George Sykes, Lucy Muldoon, Kate Blumer, Alex Crawford, Jules Ingham, Claudey Sellers, Serra Tezisler, Liz Young, Rosie Carter, Sarah Conibear, Zoey Handforth.

20/11/04: Women's 2s vs. Thames Valley: won 1-0

The week's preparations started off wonderfully with a huge squad available. But by Friday there were extensive casualties: Blumes felled by a near-gangrenous toe (or was it Lloyd's suggestion to do some grouting that pole-axed our giant on Saturday?), Sarah C hauled in by the MOD to a Saturday meeting (ugh!), Rosie and Ferrett tormented by new and old back injuries, and Alex Crawford in Tenerife (no she wasn't injured!). But with some nifty blindfold pinning of the tail on the donkey the night before, the eventual line-up produced some exciting positional manoeuvres (not always to Alex Hardy's liking - especially in the last quarter of the game!). Geronimo Wolff went hunting for scalps in centre-mid to excellent effect, producing a number of goal scoring opportunities for some younger braves - who unfortunately just missed the mark. Geronimo's unselfishness was rewarded when she was able to slot a reverse stick flick away with some aplomb. George and Alex H kept us in the game with some tireless work and great saves at the back when the need arose and we squeezed out the victory, with a huge sigh of relief. The last 15 minutes was complete pants however - schoolgirl hockey as Alex put it and she wasn't far wrong. Let's not do that again! (KS)

Team: George Sykes, Jules Ingham, Nat Shur, Alex Hardy, Lucy Muldoon, Serra Tezisler, Geronimo Wolff, Claudie Sellers, Zoey Handforth, Sarah Longair, Emma Kitley.

Scorer: Bettina.

Umpire: Ferrett

Women's 3s vs. Reigate 2s: drew 2-2

We clearly are Kevin Keegan's Newcastle - such high scoring games and end to end stuff and all a bit frenetic - with an interesting mix of old and young players. This week, very young as we welcomed Dulcie who played in goal - and played excellently. But to the match. Evenly matched teams but think we ended up feeling we had lost it - and they will have felt they had won (if you see what I mean!). The game was moving along well - we were passing the ball well and had many chances - wonder how many times we can hit the post and have goal line scrambles without scoring! - but they had a breakaway and scored. I think a red mist must have descended as I can remember almost nothing about it other than it was slotted in from the right had post. It meant we went into half time 0-1 which did not reflect the balance of the game. However, in the second half we came out revitalised. There then followed another goal line scramble and we did score - with Erica (told you you would score this week) getting it across the line. And we played really well: Lizzie all over the place, hassling and chasing, Beth continuing to produce so splendid crosses which still deserve to be put in, Lou working hard in defence and everybody else working hard for each other. This all culminated in our second goal which was another Sophie special. Right place at the right time and in it went. We then held on - but not quite enough. They got a corner, miscontrolled the ball but nobody watching, and scored. But we would have been delighted with a draw at half time and don't think we should feel deflated now. Player of the match? Difficult again. Beth and Lou definitely in with a shout, but this week has to be Lizzie. I thought she was outstanding and worked so hard closing down the oppo and making it hard for them to settle in to a rhythm, as well as using the ball intelligently throughout. And finally I would like to send all our good wishes with Sonya as this is the last match report she will read. It has been great to have you and hope all goes well. We'll look after Lizzie till she goes too! (JR)

Team: Dulcie Davies, Joanna Reynolds, Lou Curry, Karen Dodds, Catherine Garvey, Sonya Kwok, Jo de Silva, Beth Little, Erica Goldsmith, Lizzie Gillett, Sophie Carter.

Scorers: Erica and Sophie

Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. Old Kingstonians - 15.30 @ Dulwich College

Women's 4s vs. Byfleet Ramblers: lost 1-3

It was tragic. They weren't even any good at hockey but a combination of not caring enough for some of us and not being awake for others meant we were beaten by possibly the biggest bunch of numpties this side of the hemisphere. We scored first from a short corner - well done Linds McL - and then we let them run away with it. We had hundreds of chances but couldn't capitalise because, quite frankly, the majority of us had our heads in the clouds. Man of the match went to Lynsey B as she was one of the few who actually clicked into gear and showed some grunt. If you think this report sounds angry, you should be glad you didn't come across me on Saturday! 9 losses from 9 - it's getting depressing now. (MS)

Team: Vix Streatfield, Yorkie Soquar, Anna Stuttard, Rosie Le Voir, Lindsey McLaren, Isabelle Drewe, Marie Smith, Lynsey Bilsland (MotM), Tash Riordan Eva, Claire Whitehead, Emma Billsdon.

Scorer: Lindsey McL. Umpire: Steven Powell Next match: Saturday 4th December vs. Epsom - 11.00 @ Dulwich College.

Women's 5s vs. Cranleigh 2s: won 3-0

Traveling several hours to Cranleigh allowed many of the team to grab a power nap en route, resulting in a bright and chirpy Team 5 ready to take action from their first step on the pitch. Two goals in the first four minutes took the sleepy locals by surprise. Their defence crumbled in the face of our onslaught, as our secret tactic of systematically hitting each of the opposition on one or more limbs proved effective. Special thanks to Faith and Ash who umpired and our most devoted team member Wendy, in goal. (KD)

Team: Ash McDonald, Jean Sutton, Bridget, Nicole Yost, Kathryn O, Kathryn Farthing, Katherine Dixon, Sarah Smith, Wendy Tang, Faith Geraghty, Penny, Andrea Beattie, Mae, Rachael Fallows.

Goals: Penny, Wendy, Faith.

Umpires: Ash and Faith

Women's 6s vs. Walton and Weybridge Hawks: lost 2-10

The team turned up in fine spirits on Saturday and raring to go, despite being up against the third best team in our league. With more than 50 goals under their belt in 8 games, Walton Hawks thought they were in for an easy match. However THD 6's dug deep and played well as a team, making the Hawks chase the ball around and tire them out. Our tactics worked, to an extent ! 5 goals down at half time, the second half saw more breaks for the forwards (thanks Fee) through the defence line and numerous attempts at goal. Hazel pirouetted at the top of the D and swung her stick with style to score our first goal. Our second goal was the result of a break away at the centre line by Pippa, who flew up the middle of the pitch and hit the ball straight at the goalie, bouncing off her foot to score THD's second goal of the game. Special thanks to Jo and Michelle for taking turns in goal, especially given the head high goals scored ! Great team work, well played. (EG)

Team: Jo Hillyer/Michelle Terry (goalie), Laura Matthews, Michelle Morgan, Hazel Dawson, Gigi Ho, Fi Mullender, Samantha Ratnayake, Marissa Allan, Kate Anderson, Emma Gilchrist, Pippa Haworth.

Scorers: Hazel Dawson, Pippa Haworth.

Umpire: Tim

Next match: Saturday 4th December - University of London - Crystal Palace Bar Pitch, 10.30am

Dragons vs. Daiquiris: lost 4-5

The Dragons have never ever lost two games in a row. This is no longer true. In a freak case of what can only be called Arsenalitus, the undisputed heavyweights of Sunday Hockey turned in a glass-chin-Bruno of a performance... it pleased the crowd but resulted in a beating. Next week we are all getting drunk before, during and after the game... bet we win! (MJ)

Team: George Sykes (GK), Aidan Brock, Mark Jones, Mike Wright, Matt Groom, Nick Jacobs, Gareth Norris, Michelle Morgan, Louise Curry, Tomi Isaacs & Lindsey McLaren.

Scorers: MJ, Gareth Norris & Nick Jacob (2).

Umpire: Simon Riley.

Back to top <<<