Fri 03-Mar-06
Issue 20
This week's match reports come with some very sad news.
NICK CHALK
Nick Chalk, known as "Chalky" to many of his
contemporaries died on 1st March 2006.
Nick first played with Dulwich Hockey Club while still at school and remained an active member of Dulwich and later Tulse Hill & Dulwich for the rest of his life.
Nick was among the first of the Dulwich members to help with junior hockey at Tulse Hill when the juniors were started in the mid-1980s. At that time he lived at Grove House, which was next door to the Tulse Hill ground. From the mid-1990s Nick's involvement with junior hockey increased considerably, not only with Tulse Hill but with the Southwark Park coaching group and Dulwich College . Indeed he was able to promote a close relationship between the College and Tulse Hill that resulted in many of the boys playing for Tulse Hill and now Tulse Hill & Dulwich.
Following the formation of Tulse Hill & Dulwich, Nick took on most of the organisation and administration of the junior hockey. He had decided that he should retire from organising the juniors at the end of the 2005-6 season. Unfortunately, we will never have the opportunity to persuade him to come out of retirement.
Nick was thoroughly reliable, loyal and above all, kind and generous. He will be greatly missed by all who had the privilege to know him.
Details of the funeral arrangements will be published as soon as they are available.
It is intended that a full obituary will be published on the Tulse Hill & Dulwich website in due course. |
reports by: James Ireson, Justin Collins, Wes Cole, Mark Jones, Graeme Evans, Chris Richman, Gemma Baker, Sarah Longair, Karen Dodds, Penny Ganser and Jo Hillyer.
Men's 1s vs. PHC Chiswick (away): Lost 2-3
THD found themselves in the shadow of Wormwood Scrubs playing bottom-of-the-league Chiswick, who were without a win all season. Short of players due to injury and holiday, the men in red put in a criminal performance on a slow, sandy pitch and let the opposition get away with the swag. Chiswick were able to score first from a short corner, only for THD to draw level almost immediately with Gareth Weir pickpocketing a tip-in from one of our short corners. Chiswick hit back with a fortuitous goal, aided and abetted by a compliant defence. As if stirred by the injustice, THD once more equalised from a short corner with James Ireson a key witness for the prosecution.
A tense second half saw Chiswick edge ahead again to set the alarm bells ringing in the THD ranks. The red and greens continued to case the Chiswick joint without finding an open window as the home side locked down their defence. Lacking confidence and luck, THD found themselves without an alibi as the game came to a close. An embarassing defeat? Guilty as charged. The relegation battle is adjourned until next Saturday. (JI)
Team: Chris Roberts, Rob Bennett, Tim Howarth, Chris Smith, Tom Hughes, Gareth Weir, Andres Labourt, James Ireson, Nick Jacob, Dave Casement & John Craven.
Scorers: Gareth Weir and James Ireson
MOTM: Gareth Weir
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Blackheath - 13.00 @ Dulwich College
Men's 2s vs. London Wayfarer's 2s: Won 2-1
There were two ways to get to this game, the right way, and the wrong way. We subsequently discovered that there was a third way, but not one for the faint hearted.
Route 1. Read emails. Look up directions, consult A-Z/tube map and arrive in good time.
Route 2. Don't read emails. Recall dimly (or in this case dimly recall), that you once played against Wayfarers at Kennington, and thus conclude that this game must be at Battersea. With no one else, but your younger brother being present 20 minutes before push back, ring skipper to find that game is at Westway Sports Centre. Proceed, but leave brain in car park at Battersea.
The Third Way. There is and advert on TV at the moment for the Marines, with a tag line that 99.99% need not apply. I now see why. Obviously skilled in map reading you work out the correct tube station, but on walk from tube decide that the underpass beneath the A40 (aka the safe pedestrian route) is too easy, and leaves all sorts of opportunities for being ambushed by a gang of tooled up hooded youths. Using your training, scale A40, and using cover of fast moving traffic slip across, exiting by north bound slipway, thus maintaining element of surprise.
On this note, and somewhat nostalgically, this same person once introduced a game to the club called "Ed vert". The clue to his identity is in the title. The game involves watching telly post match, with the winner being the first person to guess the advert. It also involved drinking. It had a popularity which outstripped its simple premise. Bring it back.
We won the game. It was played on a rubber based astro, which had a camber! There was a bit of aggro. We are becoming very unpopular. Matt threw a punch (well a slap really), and left the game. Garth lived up to his burgeoning reputation by failing to score again. Aidan graced us with his presence. Ferg, Alex and Paul controlled the back. Joe and Felix scored. If we hadn't lost the first five games of the season, and one other half way through we would be unbeaten. (JC)
Team: Wiggy (GK), Aido, Ferg, Jagger, Alex Brown, Chris Coleman, Ed Stevenson, Matt Groom, Joe Griffiths, Paul Harvey, John Nurse, Felix Nurse, Snowy, Garth Foote
Scorers: Joe, Felix
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Southgate - away
Men's 3s vs. Wayfarers 3s: Won 4-2
Needing two wins from our last two games going into this one, the pressure was on. As news came through that we were missing 5 key players including our great leader, the pressure mounted further and we knew it would take a performance of Olympic proportions to defeat a gutsy Wayfarers team.
With many players called up from the ranks below and starting early Saturday am in freezing winds, those with hangovers vastly out numbered those without. It showed as we went 1-0 down inside a few minutes through a piercing midfield ball deflected into the roof of the net. Minutes later Wayfarers struck again through a soft short corner that wasn't cleared off the line and suddenly we found ourselves 2-0 down and out, unable to keep the ball or put consecutive passes together.
However, it's moments like these when the mighty 3s produce their best. With true character and style, we bounced back into life with Tim Sylvester picking up on a loose pass across the back to score a great reverse stick shot into the bottom corner. After half time a rejuvenated team stormed out of the gates dominating the possession and territory but still unable to capitalise on several short corner opportunities. With 15 minutes to go a beautifully made move around the back sparked Foggy into a blistering run down the left with a great pull back from Doug leaving Tim to net his 2nd goal from 4 yards. Back in the game we were and on a roll we felt a win was inevitable. This came soon after with a great goal from Doug after intense pressure on their 'D' sealing the 3 points for THD.
A performance of great determination and courage was polished off by a last minute goal from Tim once more on the reverse stick into the bottom corner off a short corner bringing him a hat trick and a well deserved win for all. Thanks to everyone for a great game , especially all those who played out of position from other teams. The blood and tears were worth it.
Remember: wounds heal, chicks dig scars and glory lasts forever.
Team: Jeremy Porter, Wes Cole, Will Atkinson, Thom Ruane, Robby Layton, Alex McDonald, James Nurse, David Fogden, Tim Sylvester, Irfan Begg, Nick Wickremesinghe, Doug Heard.
Scorers: Tim Sylvester (3), Doug Heard
Umpire: Billy Dowie
Next Match: Saturday 4 March vs. Bromley & Beckenham 3As (friendly) - 11.00 @ JAGS
THD Tornados vs. London Wayfarers 4s: Won 5-1
Another win makes it closer than a Mexican jungle... the end of the season is becoming more nail biting than a dentist convention in B&Q. A five goal whopping of Wayfarers means that there are only two games left, three points in it and an all or nothing final game against Hampstead & Westminster to decide it! The countdown has begun... as my old mate Martin Luthor King used to say, "I have a dream."
Team: Lee Tearle (GK), MJ, Nick Thomson, Rolly Ferneaux, James Perrott, Dougal Davis, Simon Wilshire, Nick Harris, Nick Jones, Tom Alexander, Rich Fenton, Loz Mockery, Dan Hopkins.
Scorers: Loz Mockery (2), Dan Hopkins, Tom Alexander, Rich Fenton
Man of the Match: Simon Wilshire
Umpire: Si Riley
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Teddington 4s - 1345 @ Teddington School
THD Diamonds vs. London Wayfarers: Won 2-0
The Diamonds set up an exciting conclusion to the season after a workman-like performance saw off lowly opposition in London Wayfarers. The campaign may well now boil down to a final day promotion shoot-out with Hampstead Thirsts....... but in the meantime, we have to beat Southgate this weekend to ensure second place is maintained going into that final game. Captain Billy Dowie will doubtless be taking it "one game at a time" and using other sporting clichés to ensure his forwards fill their boots this weekend.
Newly-crowned Player of the Season Warren Holme chipped in with a short-corner against Wayfarers and Paul Burrows eased nerves with a late second, but the scoreline yet again failed to reflect Diamonds' domination of the contest. (GE)
Team: Paul Reid, Stuart Craig, Billy Dowie, Richard Batty, Graeme Evans, Oliver Walton, Warren Holme, Simon Canter, Dominic Peyton, Tim Harris, Paul Burrows, Arthur Mitchell, Mark Lay
Scorers: Warren, Paul B
Next Match: Saturday 4th February vs. Southgate Goblets - 15:00 @ Dulwich College
THD Royals vs. Old Loughtonians Academy: lost 1-7 (Saturday 18 February)
A home match against the league leaders was always going to be a hard game but the stomping score line flatters Old Lought's and is no way representative of the game itself.
The game started with the Academy exerting the sort of pressure you would expect from a team In their position and this paid off when the got an early goal. They then seemed to step back a bit maybe thinking that their job was done and that we would buckle. But to everyone's credit we didn't and gained more of a foothold in the game which led to us scoring mid way through the half. As we continued to press we squandered several guilt edged chances and hit the frame of the goal twice. Just before half time we were made to pay for profligacy in front of goal when the Academy forced home after a scramble in the goal mouth.
So with the half time team talk going along the lines of we should be wining we lined up in the second half in a grimly determined frame of mind. This lasted for about 5 minutes as we proceded to have the sort of 15 minutes that the Laurel and Hardy of Newcastle (Mr Bramble & Mr Boumsong) seem to have to have each week to the delight of the opposition. Five goals and fifteen minutes later and the game was over although we still had time to miss a further three open goals and hit the post twice before B blew the final whistled
Team: Alex, Mike McKinnon, James Kingdom, Mark Annear, Andy Bond, Chris DeSouza, Keith Howick, Mike Wright, Ed Allen, Mehraab Nazir, Kim Keats, Oliver De La Fosse, Chris Richman
Scorer: Ed Allen
Umpire: Bettina Woolf
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. HAS Sutlers - 10.30 @ Crystal Palace Bar Pitch
Women's 1s vs. West Witney: Drew 2-2
When we travelled to the Oxfordshire countryside back in October, we played atrociously and came away sorry losers, letting in one all-important goal. So, we set out to make amends this time round and play some good hockey, showing the opposition that the team they beat last year was long gone. What's that saying about 'best laid plans'?!
Once again, we were (not quite atrocious but) pretty bad. Well almost - the first half anyway. There was a slight improvement on last year, but we still gave them too much time, were generally second to the ball and let them pass the ball around us. That and the fact that we couldn't actually string a number of passes together. So, when half time arrived and it was still 0-0, there was slight optimism amongst us. But it was just as well that Will was there to give us a boot up the proverbial backside as it was what was needed if we were to make any impact on the game.
The second half was a vast improvement, although it was Witney that took the lead a mere two minutes into the half, leaping onto the end of a rebounded short corner strike. I think Pipes got a touch, but it wasn't enough to stop it going in. But with renewed enthusiasm, we refused to let them get the better of us once again. A great move from right to left found Charley in acres of space, her shot at the top of the circle thwarted by an oppo stick coming in from behind that was never going to make contact with the ball - penalty stoke. Up stepped 'The Rock' who flung the ball into the top left corner. B-E-A-utiful.
Ten minutes later we were 2-1 up, Gemma having gone for a little run from the 25, finding herself in the circle, hitting an oppo foot and waiting for the whistle, before remembering that whole 'advantage' thing and smacking the ball into the net. Our elation was short lived though, as Witney equalised 2 minutes later. Despite not losing we were all a little disappointed about not winning - we've set ourselves a bit of a benchmark in recent weeks and haven't been back there for a while. Bring on Maidenhead.
Team: Pipes, Alex Crawford, Kath Sowter, Clare Byrne, Jenni Martin, Nicky Prior, Faye Billing, Gemma Baker, Charley Williams, Bettina Wolff, Martha Harvey-Jones, Lou Morgan and EJ Barry
Scorers: Kath, Gemma
MOTM: Nicky (almost unanimously)
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Maidenhead - 12.00 away
Women's 2s - double helping
Saturday vs. Thames Valley: Won 4 - 1
Sunday vs. Old Cranleighans: Lost 2-4
I'm resisting the very strong temptation to write the entire double match report in a grandiloquent tone solely about the joyous scenes at Murrayfield, but only Lucy P and I would savour that so I'll try to keep quiet about that inspirational victory of tenacity over mediocrity. Back to East Dulwich Grove, where accusations were flying about certain members of the team's match preparation, something to do with a bit of overindulgence the night before and the lack of vital pieces of kit, but then people often do mock the afflicted.
The match was appropriately described by Shorty, our current supporter, critic and soon to be player again, as like watching the young farmers. In the first half we weren't too rural, playing fairly decently, inspired by some superb running and play by the forwards, Rosie (having a blinding game) and Oz working really well together to create two goals fairly early on. The second of these was a particularly special touch from Rosie off Oz's pass which dumbfounded the goalie. Muldoon had to come off for the novel injury of 'nauseous finger'. Biba then scored after ever so gently grazing the ball with her foot much to the ire of the opposition. I must also say how delighted we were that Hils had jumped off the plane from her world wide touring extravaganza and played for us. After so long away from the game you can forgive her for forgetting that passing to the opposition centre forward on a sixteen is not an ideal tactic but strewth, the ensuing goal was of little significance as we were well ahead and dreaming of half time. Oz scored again, another one set up by Rosie and we were laughing.
To say that we had a lot of fun in the second half was apparently not good enough for our Captain and supporter, and in hockey terms we were complete villagers. But we were keeping each other amused, Kate Blumer not scoring her first ever goal (she had the audacity to blame Harriet), Lucy failing to stay standing any time the ball was near her and so on. General muppetry from all and sundry but made us all snigger a fair bit.
Sunday was in stark contrast, freezing cold, a gritty tough opposition who were very strong and keen, compared to our weary efforts. They scored quite a few semi-decent goals to get 3-0 up, which was depressing but Kate's short corner goal just before half time gave us a glimmer of hope for the second half. They responded by scoring again early on then it was a war of attrition, where they tried to grind us down. Much respect to Lucy M and Kate B who were tireless in centre. Never to be completely dispirited, we scored with about 8 minutes to go (Rosie again) and allowed the implausible victory from the jaws of defeat to be considered. But it didn't happen.
So, 3 points from the weekend which was half of what we hoped, but there were no holes in faces or black ankles, and fun was had by all, even perhaps our stoic umpires, Will and Simon, who persevered amidst hockey of a fairly variable quality.
Team: George Sykes, Blumes, Kate Selway, Hils Collins (Sat only), Lucy Muldoon, Biba Tunnicliffe, Alex Hardy (Sat only), Liz Young, Oz, Emma Kitley (Sun only), Sarah Longair, Rosie Carter, Harriet Gallagher-Powell
MOTM: Rosie on Saturday and Lucy M/Kate B on Sunday
Umpires: Will Atkinson and Simon Riley
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Purley (no comment) - away
Women's 3s vs. Guildford: Lost 1-3
The scene: bright blue skies, howling Siberian gale whipping across Crystal Palace; raw red goose bumped flesh - not an attractive look. Having seen the Tornados getting some classy goals in the game before and the promise of glossy photos courtesy of Mark Jones, we were set to shine. At this point I'd like a quick interlude - do any of the men actually read this far down or does the strain of all that mumbling get too much after the dizzy heights of the Women's first team? I suspect not but if there are some Men's 1s still reading, by some strange bizarre quirk that isn't connected with your girlfriend playing in this team please prove me wrong - email karen.dodds@tiscali.co.uk.
Anyway - the game. We lost.
Goals. Ours: From Ros following a strong strike from a short corner wickedly deflected into the top corner. Our second was cruelly disallowed by the umpire who had played advantage mercilessly up to that point suddenly getting quick with the whistle as the ball was struck neatly into the goal by one of our players (observation isn't one of my strong points). Theirs: can't recall the first, second from a free hit on the edge of the circle that they should never have had (although we did have opportunities to clear), and the third from a wicked deflection off one of their sticks into the top corner.
Clubhouse highlights: a crowd of teenage girls hanging about that turned out to be the 1s opposition from West Witney. Other highlights: Nens sprinting after balls into space, and picking them up every time.
Team: Dulcie; Karen Dodds; Lizzy Frost, Fatima; Kate Vicary; Lou Curry; Beth Little; Julie; Erica Goldsmith; Nens Corran; Ros Hornsby
Scorer: Ros Hornsby
Player of the match: Dulcie - many fine saves especially those 1 on 1s
Umpire: Ferret (not quite on crutches but they were at the side of the pitch).
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Old Georgians 1s - 11.00 @ Reeds School
Women's 4s vs. South Godstone 1s: Lost 0-1
No volunteers for reporting duties.
Next match: Saturday 11 March vs. Barnes, Hounslow and Ealing 3s - home
Women's 5s vs. Wanderers: Drew 0-0
We didn't lose........
I can't remember the last time I saw T5 smiling after a match. The 9:45am start in what must have been the coldest morning this winter must have shocked us awake. 'Just take another layer off, you actually feel warmer' was Bridget's theory. Well it must have worked because we kicked ........
We ran Wanderers off their feet, our defence was superb, the midfield stable as always and the forwards had some excellent chances but were unable to finish. But hey WE DIDN'T LOSE. Vix was unstoppable in the first half and brave as hell in the second. Special thanks to Paul who turned out in the cold with a bad back.
Team: Penny Ganser, Bridget Morley, Helen Fermor, Kathryn Oliver, Jean Sutton, Zoe Negus, Martina Vanderleij, Rachael Fallows, Nicole Yost, Vix Streatfeild, Kate Wheeler
MOTM: Vix Streatfeild
Umpire: Paul Goldsmith
Next match: Saturday 11 March vs. Reigate - 11.00 @ JAGS
Women's 6s vs Reigate Priory 4s: Won 2-0
After last week's soggy and crushing defeat at Reigate, expectations were understandably low for the return match (our target was to let no more than 5 in - there's optimism). Conditions would have had a brass monkey reaching for his longjohns, not improved by a 30 minute delay in starting, Reigate having chosen the most scenic route to Dulwich College. The cold seemed to have got to them as well, as, during the first half, they didn't give us too many scares in defence, although Jess was relieved not to see their speedy right-wing this week! It wasn't long before the play transferred to the other end, thanks to some lovely runs by Katie Stone, and culminated in a cracking goal from Penny about 10 minutes in, which she followed up with another not long after. 2-0 up at half time - we couldn't believe our luck!
Reigate were understandably more aggressive in the second half, and we had to work hard in defence, with Michelle making some great blocks and Alice making at least 2 spectacular aerial saves with her hands (as opposed to her head)! There were more good drives up our right wing, and some great crosses from Gigi, but we didn't quite manage to put any more away. Still, no complaints, as this was a great result from a much more positive THD 6s, only marred by Penny's bag disappearing at the end of the game. If anyone has picked it up accidentally (blue Dita bag), please contact Penny or me. (JH)
Team: Alice Smith, Clare Montagu, Gigi Ho, Kate Straker, Jo Hillyer (c), Michelle Terry, Jess Beach, Isla McGregor, Penny Ganser, Katie Stone, Mae Lynne MacDougall
Umpire: Ian Wright
Scorer and MOTM: Penny Ganser (2)
Next match: Saturday 4 March vs. Old Georgian 2s - 12.30 @ JAGS
Dragons: No game
Next Match: Sunday 5 March vs. Spencer - 14.00 @ Battersea Park
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