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Newsletter 2005/06
Since 2003/04 the club has produced weekly match reports. From the start of the 2005/06 season this became a weekly newsletter, distributed during the season, containing match reports from each of the games played that weekend as well as other key information and a selection of adverts and offers.
Fri 24-Mar-06Issue 23
You'll find this week's main pickings in the overview of an excellent end of season dinner, put together by THD's favourite hostesses, Lucy P and JT. Many thanks to both for putting on a splendid night and for going light on the detail of Andy Balchin's evening performance. As the Men's 1s player of the season, is it safe to assume he lasts longer on the pitch? A full list of each team's heroes decorates the Tribune, amidst the usual trimmings of the previous weekend's match reports. A win for the Men's 1s eased their relegation concerns (but surely can't have been the sole cause of Dave Casement's bonhomie) and the women continued a proud THD tradition by spurning any serious quest for points until the evening. Theme of the week is guess the number of fractures in Kath Sowter's thumb - could be 5, could be 7, could be more. And team of the week award goes to a ten (wo)man Dragons side who took their hangovers to East Grinstead on Sunday morning and narrowly lost out to Phoenix in a 12 goal HA Trophy thriller. Respect.
In other news, congratulations to Hazel Dawson of the Women's 6s on the recent birth of her daughter, Caitlin. Another one for the future, which of course, is very red and green.
reports by: Lucy Partington and James Terrett, James Ireson, Mark Jones, Gemma Baker, Kate Selway, Claire Whitehead and Penny Ganser.
THD End of Season Dinner
Another year, another annual club dinner. Moving onwards and northwards, over the river to EC2, the sister restaurant of Bankside SE1, last year's venue. Fortunately the staff were well used to the ways of hockey clubs - both the bar manager and DJ could clearly recall the collective performance from the club the year before and needless to say, were expecting similar (well done Andy B for not disappointing them). But we're getting ahead of ourselves.....
The champagne reception provided a refined start to proceedings. The Men's 1s and 2s were even seen standing up vertically and conducting comprehensible conversations, a record on previous years' performances. Proceedings smoothly moved (assisted by a few parrot squawks) over to the dinner tables, decked out in red and green, where Gordon Nurse kicked off proceedings by asking members to drink a toast to Nick Chalk, in memory of the huge contribution he made to THD and our founder clubs. Then it was back to normal service - starter and main were rapidly consumed, along with significant quantities of wine. The Men's 2s were on fine vocal form, although a carefully-sited pillar dulled most of the sound.....and those that could hear were making enough noise themselves (well done team). The restaurant had been warned that extra shot glasses would be necessary, and they were. Several trays were seen heading in the direction of..... well, every team, actually.
Then came the moment we'd been waiting for - the awards and raffle. Mentions for team achievements - promotion for the Diamonds, the Women's 1s still in the running for the Cup and (until early the next day) the Dragons still in the hunt in the HA mixed cup. JT read out the awards for most improved player and player of the season in each team, and those winners in attendance came up to receive medals from the club president - the full list is printed below. In true THD style the awards were dished out to the din of squeals for the women's winners and well directed gags about many of the ever-increasing waistlines of the Mens winners. This was followed by thank yous to all those who give up time and make such efforts to help the club run - those who give up their weekends to the sometimes thankless task of umpiring, the captains who put so much effort into organisation week in and week out and the Committee (in particular Joanna Reynolds, as chair) for their unsung efforts. Last but by no means least, getting the biggest cheer of the evening, Jackie Howard, for her excellent hot teas, demonstrating that the way to a club's heart is clearly through its stomach.
Thanks to all for supporting the raffle once again so well especially those who donated such generous prizes - although could the person who won the two crates of beer please contact JT to confirm, and return to the restaurant to collect their prize? A big surprise to me that it wasn't consumed on the night, but I guess it might have been overlooked in a sambuca-induced haze. Comedy winner of the £50 Sanctuary voucher donated by the alcoholic nutcases that are T5 was a very "grateful" Simon Riley. I can see him in his white bathrobe now. Apologies to the Women's 4s and 6s who couldn't hear JT over the reverie - I suspect you would have fallen over anyway trying to get your prizes a la the human weeble - Balchin.
From that point on, although the excellent sticky toffee pudding did distract temporarily, it was straight to the dancefloor to boogie the night away. Special dance floor guests included the sweeping brush and the mop, which seemed to have a lot more co-ordination than their partners. Special mentions for memorable dinner performances include:
Tom Alexander - second year running first up on the dancefloor. Awesome. Andy Balchin - first man down in the toilets (otherwise known as the Tim Howarth Early Doors Kipping award) and joint award with Wiggy for longest sleep of the evening.....(otherwise known as the Will Nurse All Night Sleep award) JT - slow dancing with The Wardrobe Faye Billing - for forgetting the essentials in life....... Nick Jacobs and JC - for not being able to stop themselves from tearing each others clothes off..... although with that jacket, JC mate, you really had it coming.....
For the remainder.... check out the website and keep the pictures coming in to Mark.....
A big thank you to all for making it such a fun night - a great demonstration of why we are South London's friendliest club! An impressive turnout from all the teams with particular thanks to the Women's 3s, with a table of no fewer than 18, and the Men's 5s, whose turnout of 3 was 3 more than last year! Great to see you all - have a good end of season and summer and look forward to seeing you all in September if not on tour. (LP and JT)
Note from JT: I must say that the evening was an incredible success - all down to Lucy. We had fabulous food, loads of wine and despite some dodgy tracks early on some great tunes to get down to - A Great Evening. A massive thanks to Lucy.
Men's 1s vs. Slough: Won 6-3
We got the map out, we drove, we saw, we came, we warmed up, we warmed up again, we scored 6, we let them score 3, we conquered, we stayed up, we scoffed bhajis, we raced home, we embraced the lash, we tried to dance, we tried harder to talk to honeys, we fell over, we somehow made it home, we (didn't) pull, we (didn't) come again. Job done. (JI)
Team: Justin Collins, Gareth Weir, Andrew Eames, Tim Howarth, Will Nurse, Chris Smith,Andy Balchin, Andres Ignacio Labourt, James Ireson, Richard Banwell, John Craven, Dave Casement, John Drury.
Support: Clive Colloff.
Scorers: Will Nurse (2), James Ireson (2), John Craven, Andres Ignacio Labourt.
MOTM: Justin Collins
TFC: Gareth Weir (confused)
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. Trojans @ Dulwich College
THD Tornados vs. THD Select XI All-Stars: Drew 4-4
The day of the dinner and an intra-club friendly used to be the sort of thing that made the casualty department more popular than the restaurant. but no longer. This game was a joy to play and a joy to watch. even ending honours even was the right result for the day. The Tornados went 2-0 up and then 4-2 down only to equalize in the final minutes by a goal worthy of a 1st team striker - go Harrow. The uglier of the two Jones' got a hat-trick (that explains which one it was if nothing else does!) - so fines for jug avoidance avoidance were forthcoming. On paper the Select XI (2s, 3s & Diamonds) had the advantage but the Tornados ooze both teamwork & class, on & off the pitch. The Tornados are like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (powerful warriors drawn from the spirit of dinosaurs) and the big transforming Zord (robot-thing that fits together from all their vehicles). undefeatable. Sadly though this summer sees the departure of Nick 'Pink Ranger' Thomson to convictland. As my old mate 'random Scooby-doo baddie' used to say "we would have done it, if it wasn't for those meddling kids". (MJ)
Team: Lee Tearle (GK), MJ, Nick Thomson, Robby Layton, Si Wilshire, Rich Fenton, Nick Harris, James Perrott, Nick Jones, Dan Hopkins, Loz Mockery & Irfan Begg.
Hamstrung support: Tom Alexander & friends.
Scorers: Nick Jones (3), Nick Harris
Umpire: Si Riley
London League Divisional Cup Semi-Final: Saturday 1 April vs. Hampstead & Westminster 7s - 10.30 @ Paddington Rec.
THD Diamonds: No game
London League Divisional Cup Semi-Final: Saturday 1 April vs. Hampstead & Westminster Thirsts - 13.00 @ Dulwich College
THD Royals vs. Reading Royals: Lost 0-3
No report until next week!
Women's 1s vs. Sunbury: Lost 0-3
A scary tradition is emerging whereby we play away to Sunbury on the day of the end of season dinner and end up losing. And it seems to be becoming a regular problem that a player gets badly injured when we take only 11 players to a game. I'd like to say that that would be last time we do that, but unfortunately, due to injury, we're down to 11 this week as well :-) fingers crossed we all come out unscathed.
But back to the game.....which was strange. We seemed to have loads of space but insisted on passing the ball to the opposition rather than each other. It was fairly even for a while, until Sunbury had an overload in the circle and slotted away a loose ball. Still, 1-0 down, we had our chances to equalise. Two rather major events occured that changed the face of the game. Firstly, Kath stopped a visciously rising shot on goal with her thumb...blood everywhere, down to 10 players. Then they scored a second from a penalty corner that Pipes saved, deflected the ball onto the crossbar, which came down, hit Alex on the head (still not gone in the goal). Charley meanwhile has had her stick knocked from her hands and was trying to figure out how to get the ball off the back line without using her hands or feet. Needless to say, Sunbury slammed the ball in the back of the net.
Brave Kath came back on, all strapped up, only to find that hitting the ball requires some input from your right-hand thumb, and as hers was pretty ineffectual a quick positional change put a rather jetlagged B at the back and Kath at left wing. We battled on, the forwards and midfield winning a few corners, but we couldn't convert them (must have used them all up at Wisbech). Their third goal, almost as farcical as the second, was deflected in off Clare's heel when Sunbury took a shot from the top of the circle. Certainly, It wasn't to be our day....
Postcript: It's now transpired that Kath's thumb was fractured in 7 places. There's dedication for you. (GB)
Team: Pipes, Alex Crawford, Kath Sowter, Clare Byrne, Nicky Prior, Faye Billing, Gemma Baker, Charley Williams, EJ Barry, Lou Morgan and Bettina Wolff
Motm: Forgot to do it...
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. Barnes, Hounslow & Ealing - 12.00 @ Dulwich College
Women's 2s vs. Wimbledon: Drew 1-1
This was due to be crafted by our literary whizz and demi-personality of the year La Longair, but she got stuck in a groove doing John Denver impersonations in Geneva singing Leaving On A Jet Plane over and over again and never made it to JAGS. Not our favourite pitch this one. Bit too bouncy and always locked. Fortunately Oz got us in with her long arms and her "Hey, no problem I did Harry Houdini's personal training" attitude.
The match saw a welcome return from Shorty - ankle ligaments intact and eager for action - and Harriet's last appearance of the season before her departure for a pre-uni round the world trip. Good to see she had her priorities right and favoured hockey over packing. It was a spirited and at times skilled performance from the team. Up 1-0 mid way through the first half with Emma just managing to get on the end of a ball that had found its way through to the right post. Their goal came fairly late in the game: one of their few short corners spun off a THD stick (possibly mine but not confessing outright) and made a looping arc just under the crossbar. We must have had a dozen short corners, and despite some near misses never quite mastered the pitch surface sufficiently to convert our chances.
Notable performances from POTM Biba in her last game of the season and also from Lucy M, whose love of hockey and unquenchable joie de vivre secured her the demi-personailty award of the year alongside Longbeard. (Aaaah! Our very own Eric and Ern!) We're still 5th in the league; but coming 4th is a reality, even if 3rd place is probably out of our reach now. 2 games to go, and some heavyweight sideline management is beckoning for both of them. Watch this space.
Cheers to Si Riley and MJ for umpiring, especially, if I may say so, for only blowing the raised ball when absolutely necessary. Quality umpiring. (KS)
Team: George Sykes, Kate Selway, Hannah Cooke, Shorty, Lucy Muldoon, Lucy Partington, Liz Young, Harriet Gallagher-Powell, Biba Tunnicliffe, Oz, Emma Kitley, Alex Hardy.
Scorer: Emma Kitley
POTM: Biba
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. Croydon MO 1s - away
Women's 3s vs. Raynes Park 1s: Lost 0-7
Match report removed in cyber-space, but hopefully to emerge in the next issue.
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. Old Kingstonians 1s - JAGS
Women's 4s vs. Wimbledon 3s: Lost 1-3
Not much to report really - Wimbledon are currently sitting in 2nd place, we are struggling to avoid relegation. A 4pm fixture the day of the dinner did not help matters. In all honesty they were not that amazing, and on a good day we could possibly have done better, but we were not feeling lucky. We had some good opportunities, and defended really well, but they just wanted it that bit more. A consolation goal came too late (off Anna's knees I think...but we'll take it anyway!) to make much difference. Onto next week - Richmond are in 1st place.........lets go and see why. (CW)
Team: Jess Sellman, Nikki Smithies, Helen Clark, Lindsey McLaren, Anna Stuttard, Janine Nicholls, Jena Kitley, Emma Billsdon, Sophie Carter, Claire Whitehead, Marie Smith, Lynne Ruddick
Scorer: Anna Stuttard
Umpire: Steve Powell
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. Richmond - 12.00 @ Crystal Palace Bar Pitch
T5 vs. Addiscombe: Won 3-0 (Walkover)
We did try to convince them to play, offering our subs to make up their team but to no avail. Desperate to show off our winning style we searched far and wide for a friendly. Wanderers couldn't muster a team and neither could our men's 6's or so they say, we came to the conclusion that the entire hockey fraternity have heard of T5's new dynamic winning form and are running scared. Having no game was actually a godsend as to win 'Best Looking Team' at the EoS Dinner again, (is that 3 or 4 years on the trot?), we had ample time to do the girlie things. (PG)
Next Match: Saturday 25th March vs. Shirley Ladies 1s @ 12:30 JAGS
Women's 6s: No game
No match report this week. But, Hazel Dawson had a baby girl 6llb 6oz - Caitlin on Sunday 12 March - mum and baby doing well. Hazel hopes to be back playing in September. Many congratulations to Hazel and Shaun.
Next match: Saturday 25 March vs. UCL Academicals @ Crystal Palace Bar Pitch
Dragons vs. Phoenix (HA Trophy Round 3): Lost 4-8
As my old mate Johnny Ball used to say "think of a number."
10 - The amount of THD Heroes on the pitch at any one time.
On a serious note (what?): The team was awesome. everybody played a huge part and everybody played superbly. The match was a helluva lot closer than the score line suggests. Thanks to everyone who has played mixed this year - you were all brilliant. in your own ways! (MJ)
Team: Jeremy Porter (GK), MJ, Will Nurse, Chris Coleman, Aido, Ratty, Nick Jacob, Gemma Baker, Hannah Cooke, Lou Curry & Rebecca Ridgeway.
Scorers: Rebecca Ridgeway (2), Nick Jacob & Will Nurse
Umpire: Simon Riley
Photographer: Lee Snowden |
