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News > Newsletter 2006/07
Newsletter 2006/07
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.
Sat 14-Oct-06Issue 03
First of all, an erratum from last week as some misinformation was disseminated - it is Arthur Mitchell who is Under 16 Surrey Captain, well done to him. But from the erroneous to the euphoric, this was an exceptionally successful weekend for THD - a triple trouncing of the orange and black army from Battersea Park by the Men's 2s, 3s and 4s, and the Ladies' 1s, 2s and 3s all victorious.
A swift glance at the leagues suggest quite a few table-topping teams with a cracking start to the season, worthy of a collective pat on the back and plenty to celebrate at the awards dinner. For those don't read the reports throughout in detail, a quick highlight of the men's 2s - Aido, men's captain, erstwhile defender, scored.again. Remarkable. Gives hope for all of us of diminutive stature.
Sarah Longair - Editor
Reports by: Chris Smith, Chris Coleman, Wes Cole, Mark Jones, Graeme Evans, Gemma Baker, Sarah Longair, Bridget Morley, Kate Straker & Karen Dodds
Men’s 1s vs. West Hampstead: Lost 1-2
Another sunny Saturday, a great day for hockey against a team we labelled 'should win', we needed a win, we talked about the win, we prepared to win. Then when the game started we played as though we lost the will to win. We forgot the game plan, we forgot to pass to each other, and more importantly forgot to score. Miraculously we got to half time 0-0 including two goal-line saves from our under pressure defence. At which point we re-introduced each other to each other with a handshake and a smile, we were no longer strangers. Second half started with much hype. But yet disaster struck, our newly pumped-up bubble had burst. We gifted them two goals (gifting goals was supposed to be soooo last season). A Chris Smith sending off didn’t help despite training specifically as 10 men in preparation for such as disaster. Back to 11 and we managed to pull one back through Rob Heath, however no grand comeback despite Will Nurse hitting the post. Very disappointing result but now forgotten and regrouped, long trip to league new boys Winchester this week will try and remember how to win. (CS)
Team: Duncan Holmes, Andrew Eames, Richard Banwell, Gary Boucher, Gareth Weir, Chris Smith, Simon Glasson, Andrew Balchin, Greame Fotheringham, James Vicary, David Casement, Robert Heath, Jack Davidson, Laurent Ferron
Scorer: Robert Heath
Next Game: Saturday 14 October - Winchester AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Men's 2s vs. London Wayfarers: Won 3-2
Well, let’s just say if Chelsea and Manchester United played top of the table clashes like this the Premiership would be worth millions. The newly revamped Dulwich style of attacking hockey has taken the league by storm this season and Wayfarers look nothing short of shell shocked as Sam Hiley bullet drag flick dribbled in the bottom corner from the first short corner of the game. Having the vast majority of the possession and pressure in the first half we then conceded an equaliser followed by John Nurse showing Mr. Hiley how it is done and grunting the ball into the top corner.
Now the second half didn’t go entirely according to plan and mostly involved us defending deep and giving the ball away at any opportunity. From this they had all the pressure and it has to be said they took their time equalising. Now…..here comes the good bit……… Set the scene, last minute of the match 2-2 top of the table battle and fatty passes to thinny, thinny passes back, fatty takes a flying shot and bang 3-2 top of the league. Have it! Ooohhhhhhh Yes! (CC) Team: Will Pigden (GK), Chris Coleman, Dan Ellis, Ed Stevenson, Aidan Brock, Tom Cross, Alex Brown, John Nurse, Matt Groom, Nick Jacob, Paul Harvey, Ed Marland, Potts, Sam Hiley
Umpire: Lucy Muldoon (still owe you a beer!), Chris Coleman/Alex Brown Scorer: Sam Hiley, John Nurse, Aidan Brock Next match: Saturday 14th October vs. Reading 2As - 14.00 DC
Men's 3s vs. Wayfarers 3s: Won 4-1
How hard can it possibly be to get to Kingston? Answer- Very!!! It may only be 10 miles but the quickest car took nearly 90 minutes and therefore most of us turned up with only 20 minutes to go before the start. With the manager holding his nerve (unlike Mr McLaren) and switching to a 3-4-3 formation, we started slowly, largely due to the beach we were playing on and went 1-0 down inside 10 minutes. But we stuck with the formation and pushed and camped in their half for 20 minutes with Adam Taylor playing a blinder and banging in a 'beaut from top D. Tim followed up shortly after some smooth movement in their 25 slotting home a semi flick from 5 yards. Second half saw a barrage of opportunities go wide including short corners from Nick and Tim but Steev'o was on hand to poke in a rebound and later Mike Killen did the same.
A good win lines us up for a tough one next weekend but the goals are flowing as did the gin on Saturday. Thanks Lyness for umpiring, thanks Aido for letting us trash your flat (WC) Team: Jeremy Porter , Wes Cole, Robbie Layton, Alex McDonald, Ed Gardiner, Mike Killen, Adam Taylor, Jo Griffiths, John Holmes, Tim Sylvester, Steeve Reeves, Nick Harris
Umpire: Graham Lyness
Scorer: Adam Taylor, Tim Sylvester, Steeve Reeves, Mike Killen
Next match: Saturday 14th Away vs Reading 3's
Tornados vs. London Wayfarers 4s: Won 6-3
A new look team and a newly renamed league... yet the Tornados found it necessary to revert to giving the lacklustre-also-ran opposition the complete stuffing they deserved. While no-one would have complained at the result - apart from those in a rather shocking orange and black 'new-look' who only have a poncey pub to share for a clubhouse - it did take a little more work than was necessarily... kinda like fixing a washing machine with a pencil. Still having put Wayfarers into a 'spin' and 'rinsed clean' their defence there was still time to get back to our clubhouse and 'tumble' around drunk. (MJ)
Team: Lee Tearle (GK), MJ, Roly Ferneaux, Thomas Hulbert, Simon Wilshire, Mark Pulford, Will Lucas, Nick Jones, James Perrott, Tom Alexander, Bob Morris & Loz Mockery.
Scorer(s): Nick Jones (2), Will Lucas (2), Loz & Tom
Man of the Match: Nick Jones
Umpire: Si Newell
Next game: Saturday 14 October, vs Reading @ JAGs 1230
Diamonds vs. Indian Gym 5s: Lost 0-1
Indian Gym gave the Diamonds a lesson in energy conservation on Saturday. Forget all that running around in midfield, instead lob plenty of bodies into either circle and wait for the inevitable short-corner strike to secure the three points. It's a tried and tested strategy for a team long on years but rich in experience. Wave after wave of THD attacks were successfully repelled, leaving the more youthful Diamonds side wondering what on earth they had to do to score. It made for an entertaining afternoon's hockey, particularly in the second half as Mark Jones and Conor Bond – among others – came agonisingly close to cancelling out that predictable short corner goal 20 minutes from the end. The result was scant reward for some lung-bursting effort, particularly from Tom Illingworth and Charlie Krasun – who were faultless at the back – and Seamus Betts and Stephen Higgs after stepping up into midfield. It may have been a disappointing start to the season, but Saturday's showing suggested some cause for encouragement. Thanks to Si Newell for a quality umpiring performance, as well as Aidan, Mark J and Si Wilshire for making the trip. (GE)
Team: Paul Reid, Charlie Krasun, Tom Illingworth, Seamus Betts, Stephen Higgs, Graeme Evans, Simon Canter, Conor Bond, Oliver Walton, Si Wilshire, Aidan Brock, Mark Jones
Umpire: Si Newell
Next game: Saturday October 21st vs. Surbiton 5s. Dulwich College 2pm
Men’s 6s vs. Bromley and Beckenham Weazels: Drew 1 – 1
Next game: vs HAC Sutlers, 14 October, 11 am, JAGS
Ladies 1s v Richmond 1s: Won 5-2
Good things to take from this game - 1) we seemed to be less scared of playing on water-based astros than we were last year 2) the press worked really well 3) we're scoring from both open play and short corners. The not-so-good things - 1) we still like to pass the ball to the opposition a bit too much 2) Will doesn't know what number relates to what short corner 3) the showers, though hot, trickled down the wall leaving most people covered in suds and resorting to all sorts of yoga-style positions to actually get wet......
The game: We started pretty well (compared with previous weeks) and Lou scored after 7 minutes. Martha made it 2-0 before Richmond were down to 10 players after one of their girls got a ball in the cheek and went to hospital. They then got one back (penalty stroke....rather unfortunate passage of play leading up to it, but we will learn from our mistakes). A successful PC for each side made it 3-2 (we all got a bit concerned at this point) before a second goal for both Alex and Martha gave victory to us. That's not to say we couldn't have scored more. The forwards all linked really well, Sharon had a couple of good chances and we squandered a few others. But overall, a good performance (even though 4 of us didn't realise the oppo only had 10 on the pitch for most of the game!). (GB)
Team: Pipes, Alex Crawford, Kath Sowter, Clare Byrne, Nicky Prior, Lisa Cox, Gemma Baker, Bettina Wolff, EJ Barry, Lou Morgan, Sharon Smith & Martha Harvey-Jones.
Scorers: Lou Morgan, Martha H-J (2), Alex Crawford (2)
MotM: B
Next game: Hampstead & Westminster 12.30pm start @ DC
Ladies 2s vs. Barnes, Hounslow and Ealing 3s: Won 3–2
This nervy encounter was a squally ocean wave of peaks and troughs. The opposition rode the surf to score early on in the first half, which was mighty unfair given that we were generally playing a bit better despite our relative height/size disadvantage. A jittery first half culminated in, with impeccable timing, a long corner where Kato displayed stick skills to die for round their bulky sweeper, one-two with Rosie, and with a deft touch took all the pace off the ball and herself off her feet, and fooled their keeper into expecting a shot of power - I doubt it even made it to the backboard. But they all count.
Due to some forgettable marking moments, they scored early in the first half, but yet again the spirited 2s rallied themselves with goal number two coming from open play – Claire racing around and creating a chance for Zoey to tap in. Biba’s resounding thwack from a free hit outside the D was swept beautifully in by Rosie. The uneasy last few minutes threatened to have this lead snatched, but our composure was maintained for a stirring victory that leaves us top of the league. Oh my, how delightful to write that. Two weeks off then very tough opposition – hopefully we can combat the vertiginous effect of such a lofty table position to continue this remarkable and virtually unprecedented winning run. (SL)
Team: George Sykes, Oriane Abbonizio, Kate Selway, Lucy Muldoon, Claire Houslop, Lucy May , Sabrina Tunnicliffe, Claire (shorty) Deverill, Zoey Handforth, Sarah Longair, Penny Stephens, Wardy, Rosie Carter
Scorers: Kato, Zoey, Rosie
Umpire: Aido
Next game: Saturday 28 October vs. Old Cranleighans 1s (11 am Dulwich College)
Womens 3s v Woking Vets won 2-1
Although I now know that we won I did actually at the end of the game think we had drawn 1-1 so sorry to those of you who I told the wrong score to and thanks to Jen for reminding me of the rather splendid goal scored by Rosie in the 2nd half following a great pass into the d from Kate. It does beg the question of why someone with no short term memory should write the match reports but enough philosophising – this was a great hockey performance. We have learnt some key skills from Pete at training and the ball positively zipped around the pitch with player of the match Georgie involved in every triangle.
Mo put us ahead in the first half from a well struck short corner; they equ ali sed from a break away (although as Dulcie pointed out they are an old, slow team – they aren’t called vets because of their work with animals, so perhaps we still need to work on that other essential hockey requirement – fitness).
However, we have also managed to acquire some great team spirit and we never lost belief in the way we were playing and our ability to win this game. We came close a few times and then Rosie, who typified our team spirit with a really aggressive performance in the midfield, put the ball in the net from the deftest of touches. And they got rather frustrated and a bit grumpy, which is always fun to watch. They did get some good shots on goal but nothing that seriously troubled Dulcie (and no offense to Jen’s sterling efforts in goal last week but it was good to have Dulcie back from injury). (KD)
Team: Dulcie, Karen, Lucy, Stacey, Jen, Georgie, Erica , Mo , Kate, Rosie, Sarah, Selina
Scorers: Mo and Rosie
Umpires: Banners and Penny
Next game: 14 October 2006 11am vs Raynes Park , Dulwich College
Ladies 4s - No game.
Next game: Saturday 14th October vs London Edwardians at 3pm away.
Ladies 5s vs. Walton & Weybridge 1s: Lost 5-0
The opposition were good, you could almost say they were in a different league, except that isn't true. A few glimpses of encouragement as the defence did a sterling job to keep the score down to 5. The forwards also managed a few fast breaks, our social in the evening was very good, roll on next weekend. (BM)
Team: Ellie J, Bridget, Len, Helen F, Rachael, Fatima, Clarkie, Frances, Faith, Andrea V, Clare F, Kate L, Stephie
Umpire: Penny G
MotM: Kate Leckie
Next Match: Saturday 14th: Away v Epsom 13:30
Womens 6s vs. Leatherhead 2s: Drew 3-3
The first five minutes of our match against Leatherhead were ideal. After excellent passing resulted in an early goal from Vicky, we went 1 nil up. Brilliant sunshine and an early goal can’t be bad. Our delight was short lived however when Leatherhead quickly equalised, then scored again within the first 20 minutes against the best efforts of our defence. One final goal from Leatherhead ended the first half 3-1 down. Despite the 3 that found the mark goalie Polly must be commended for many fantastic saves, and the rest of the defenders (Kate, Jo, Jess and Shona) at the back all worked very hard. In the second half we really woke up and fought back hard, benefiting from some good passing between Mags, Gigi and Alanna, resulting in another goal from Vicky and to our delight a late goal from Michelle in the final 10 minutes.
Our season has finally begun! (We’ll write off the first two results as warm-ups…) (KS) Team: Kate Straker, Polly Willis (GK), Jo Hillyer, Jess Beach, Shona Welch, Mae- Lynn McDougall, Clare Montagu, Gigi Ho, Vicky Wright, Michelle Morgan, Izzy Freeman, Alanna Macintosh, Mags Aylward
Umpires: Penny Ganser and a nice man from Leatherhead(!) Scorers: Vicky Wright (2) and Michelle Morgan (1)
MOTM: Polly Next match: Saturday 14th October – Camberley & Farnborough – 3pm AWAY
Dragons vs Spencer: Lost 4-6
A loss against Spencer is kinda like a North Korean nuclear test... everyone is a little embarrassed that it happens but no amount of complaining will change the outcome. It was the kind of Sunday that looked liked it was going to be the sort of thing you tell your Grandchildren about... but ended up with everyone waiting for Jeremy Beadle to pop out waving a microphone in his slightly creepy hand. But a season of hockey is very much like a bag of Jelly babies... every so often you get a green one which leaves a bad taste in your mouth! (MJ)
Team: Jeremy Porter (GK), MJ, Wilsh, JC, Camel, Jimbob, Coleman, Banners, Tim, Ellie, Jo, Selina, B, Marie & Linds.
Scorer(s): Coleman (2), Ellie & Banners
Umpire: Chris Richman
Next game: Dragons vs Wanderers Daquiris 22 October, 15:00 Battersea Park |
