Sun 28-Oct-07
Issue 04
So while expectation was high, the chariot swung low and the sun
set on dreams of repeated world cup glory… But take yourselves
back a week to awards dinner, vividly depicted below, when the unlikely
still seemed possible and relive the Rosendale revelry. While many
teams enjoyed a week off, the majority of the remainder reflected
a slightly disappointing weekend of sport, with draws and losses amongst
them. That is, apart from the men’s 1s who emphatically despatched
Henley, and collect the team of the week award, mainly by virtue of
being the sole winning team… Let’s hope the half term
break gives weary limbs and livers a rest after an exhausting schedule
of games and world cup-related pub attendance.
Sarah Longair - Editor
Saturday 03-Nov-07
Bonfire & Fireworks Night
On Bonfire Night, all over the country people
celebrate the dispatching of a seditious character known as
Guy Fawkes who, back in 1605, attempted to blow up the Houses
of Parliament in London. But who really cares about history?
Why not come along to the clubhouse and watch the fireworks
while sampling the delights of the bar???
Everyone is welcome... entrance £5.
Help/Volunteers wanted to help with ticket sales
on the night.
Please speak to Noreen behind the bar
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Reports by: Chris Coleman, Gareth Weir, Rachael Fallows, Clare Montagu,
Wes Cole, Simon Riley, Bill Dowie & Lindsey McLaren.
THD Annual Awards Dinner
New Social Secretaries, new venue, new caterers and England starting
massive underdogs against the French in the semi final of the Rugby
World Cup……what could possibly go wrong? Well in the end
not much!! With most people turning up the Rosendale in West Dulwich
on time (I think the prompt kick off of the rugby helped!) and some
even vaguely sober but without question all looking very dashing,
the night started on the right foot. Special mentions should go to
James Huntley for his lovely Reflex sponsored headband and Timmy Sylvester
and Aido for their very manly skirts with not a lot underneath!!!
While the big men got on with their cuddling we got on with our drinking
and before we knew it, starters were had, drinks were drunk and we
still had a chance at half time in the rugby. Little did we know that
post half time bar trip, and for those less healthy ciggie break,
we would be in for a bit of a treat. I’m not talking about the
mountains of alcohol or the main course but of the mighty Sea Bass
being reduced to tears as Les Blancs reached their second final in
as many world cups with a nail biting victory. Swing low sweet chariot
rung out for all to hear and for some this is the last they remember,
as celebratory sambucas followed chinned raffle prizes!!
The excitement of the rugby victory could only be topped by one thing.
Yes, you guessed it, the announcement of who manage to outplay, outscore
and out-improve us minions of the club. The men’s awards were
won by THDs very own little and large in the form of Akash and Big
Bad Tom Alexander while the women’s awards were won by Jena
Kitley and Kate Selway. Team of the year went to the Women’s
1s for their successes in league and cup while the clubman/woman/person
award went to the ever popular Mr Simon Riley and his insatiable appetite
for playing and umpiring.
Thanks to all the teams who bought raffle prizes, especially those
who thought outside the proverbial booze box and bought along prizes
ranging from rabbit ears and balloon animal making kits to spa days
and a hockey stick (kindly donated by Ceelect Sports). Two sets of
tickets for Amy the Wino and Ian Brown at Brixton Academy were auctioned
raising a massive £240 for the club so thanks to Wes and Kath
for dipping into your, evidently, very deep pockets!
Auction over, lights down, music up and shapes were pulled until the
early hours. Especially for those who made it to the official after-party
in Brixton. I would elaborate but everything is a bit of a blur from
here on in! However, stories I have heard the morning after the night
before include having to take days off work to recover (that was more
than one person), arriving home with no buttons on your shirt, covered
in cuts and bruises and having to miss next Saturdays match due to
UDIs, some romantic liaisons, some ‘illnesses’ and a young
gentleman who plays for the 2s getting a beating trying to arm wrestle
the waiter!!
Thanks to all the team social for helping Emma Parker, Lucy Snell
and I organise the do and congratulations to all that attended - we
are not banned from the Rosendale and they even invited us back next
year!!!! More fool them!!! (CC)
Team of the week:
Men’s 1s vs Henley 1st XI: Won 5-2
Saturday 20th October was a good day for most of TH&D but a great
day for 2 of the 1st XI.
Now, I could spend a few paragraphs describing the intricacies of
the game, the ebb and flows of possession, the titanic tactical struggle
as both teams attempted to out-manoeuvre the other, the dice of chance
as players threw their best attempts at goal – but I won’t.
The game hinged on one decision. Let me explain. It’s 2-2.
Some sterling defensive work sucked forward the Henley midfield and
created an opening the size of a pip. Out stepped Smudger. He exploded
into the space beating 4 players. He dummied a pass left. He went
right. He accelerated. He dummied a pass right. He went left. He dummied
himself. Hyphen drifted. Smudger passed and like an eagle sabotaging
his prey, Hyphen smashed the ball home. The Australia referee blasted
his whistle – in or out of the D when the shot was played. Controversy.
Consultation but no video replay. 4 minutes of anguish. The TH&D
royal family Prince Clive screamed goal. No goal.
Unlike the 8pm fixture, no such event happened in our game. That
said, unlike them, we didn’t bottle it. (GW)
Team: Piggy, Gdot, Gary (SAF 1), Smudge, Bubs, Will,
Jimmy, Arthur, Sam, Andy, Rob (SAF 2), Hyphen
Scorers: Gdot, Andy (2), Rob, Hyphen (off the mark!)
Mom: Australian
TFC: Gdot (in the absence of the standard vote for
Banners, major stitch!)
Next game: Saturday 27th October vs. Hampstead and
Westminster, home.
Women’s 1s: No game
Next games: Sat 27 October vs Wimbledon (away) and
Sun 28 October vs Oxford Uni (away)
Women’s 2s: No game
Next game: Sat 4 Nov vs. Spencer 2s (away)
Women’s 3s: Cancelled
Next game: Sat 27 Oct vs. Raynes Park (away)
Women’s 4s vs. Wanderers 4s: Drew 1-1
Unused to our lofty position at the top of the table we went into this
game
cautiously. Kennington the setting - they'd moved the tramps out - the
changing rooms no longer their urinal - we felt quite special. Olivia and her
mum scaled a fence to arrive in the nick of time. She kitted up and off we
went. Baffled by a non-division-four formation we struggled for the first 5
mins until injured captain Lynne and surrogate coach Tim quickly tweaked the
team to fill the big gaps in the middle. We didn't really get to grips with
the game but luckily neither did they and most of the play was between the
25s. Kath was controlling the middle well and Ash, Emma and Claire working
out well between them who to mark and when. We won a few short but sadly they
weren't as unstoppable as last week - in that they stopped them. They had a
break and ended up one on one with Olivia - they went the right way - 1-0 at
half time. The team seemed disheartened so a few encouraging words were said
and the second half looked a lot better. We were in control and most of the
play was in their half but just could quite score that equaliser - it was
tense stuff out there. Then we won a free hit just outside their D - Rona
quickly took it with a clean hit straight to Maire - a great touch and we were
level. A tense few minutes remained til the final whistle - blown v well by
Mr Coleman. Phew. 1-1, 1 point, position 1 in the table.
Team: Olivia, Anna S, Anna C, Rona, Lucy, Lou, Michelle, Mary, Ash, Kath,
Claire, Marie and Emma.
Scorer: Marie
Supporters: Lynne, Lindsey and Tim (with a flask of Tea-strone)
MOTM: Rona
Umpire: Chris Coleman
Next game: Sat 10 Nov vs. Wayfarers 3s (away)
Women’s Team 5 vs Epsom 5s: Drew 1-1
And for the second week running it was a tight match where Team 5
appeared to be holding the upper hand for all but about ten minutes
which unfortunately was enough for the opposition to sneak in with
an equalising goal. Ferret kindly came out to support us, explaining
to us the intricacies of true ‘man to man’ marking. Jacqui
or should I say Sarah (according to Ferret) learned that driving the
ball in hockey does not equate to driving the ball in golf. Interestingly
enough there are several members of team 5 working on their golf at
the moment, which may or may not prove to be an asset back on the
hockey pitch.
Surely we have a big win coming our way very soon (although not next
week as we have a bye). (RF)
Team: Helen ‘Clarky’ Blackie, Faith
Geraghty, Rachael Fallows, Helen FerLong, DJ Van der Leij, Fatima
D’Onofrio, Sally with lovely new pads (GK), Charlotte Hull,
Jacqui Kemp, Alanna MacIntosh, Sarah Newitt, Del Vaneden
Scorers: Del Vaneden (1)
Umpires: Richard Mead and Lucy Muldoon
Next match: Saturday 3 November vs. Reigate Priory
Ladies 3 - 12.30 away
Women's 6s vs Richmond 5s: Lost 1-3
So far this season the 6s face two questions every week: how does
Charlotte our diminutive goalie always manage to take out a member
of the oppo and why do we at least equal and frequently dominate play,
play well but rarely score goals? This week we added a third question:
what is the point of going out with one of the umpires if you don't
get a bit of leeway when it comes to allowing goals?! We had great
attacking play against a very strong opposition who ended up third
in the league last year and we held them off scoring until late in
the first half. We kept up the pressure and were rewarded with an
equaliser in the second half from Bridget. Additional attempts from
Lexi and Sinead nearly made it and somehow despite our strong defence
Richmond scored another two. Katie fought back with a cracker off
a short corner, which Aidan disallowed through spurious application
of rules that are unrecognisable to the bumble hockey we play in the
lower leagues. At our last short corner before the final whistle,
the bouncy JAGS pitch conspired against us and although we scored
again, the goal was also disallowed. It was a great game, we played
really well and it should have been a draw. We need to practice converting
our attack into goals, but on the positive side the team spirit is
great and we're playing much better than last year. (CM)
Team: Kate, Charlotte, Jess, Shona, Sinead, Len,
Clare, Mags, Andrea, Katie, Helen, Claire, Bridget, Vicky, Lexi (plus
Alanna supporting vocally from the sidelines)
Goal: Bridget
Umpires: Aidan and Ram
Next game: 3 November vs Reigate Priory 4s, Away
2pm
Men’s 2s…
Report to follow...
Men's 3s vs. Old Loughts 3s: Lost 1-8
Those avid readers of the 3rd team match report will recall last week’s
edition being full of jubilation after the club’s annual knees
up which is still hurting many of us. This week didn't quite go as
well. England can't catch a rugby ball, Lewis couldn't drive a scalextric
car and we defend like Tottenham Hotspur. 8-1, not our best. In fact,
our worst. Nothing more to say except next weekend is Maidenhead and
we need the points.
Team: Jeremy Porter, Wes Cole, Tim Jones, Alex McDonald,
Laurie Mathers, Ed Gardiner, Foggy, John Holmes, Tobie Allen, Tim
Sylvester, Nick Harris, Joe Griffiths, George, Bungle
Umpire: Mark Jones and James Perrot
Scorer: Bungle
Next match: Saturday 28th away vs Maidenhead.
Men's 4s vs Hampstead and Westminster 6s: Lost 2-5
After proving we were capable of being beaten by a Veteran's team,
this week it was the turn of youth to show us how to play the game.
Lessons were handed out by Indian Gym the previous match, almost the
entire squad turned out for detention (training). Looks like we need
another session this week doing lines, drills and general basic skills.
We're second bottom in the league - our worst position in donkey's
years. Alex T kept it below double figures with some storming saves,
Alex F tirelessly charged round the midfield and Pully proving it’s
not just the Fat Slapper that scores from short corners. Oh, and Loz
proved he is no rugby player by launching Aido's training ball onto
the DC gym roof, 180 degrees away from where he was aiming.
We can do better. We must do better, or next season we'll be swapping
divisions with the Diamonds. (SR)
Scorers: Pully, Fat albino northern monkey
Squad: Alex (GK), MJ, Toby, James, Tom C, Tom A,
Axel, Wilsh, Riley, Nick, Aido, Pully, Norris, Will, Loz
Umpires: The most excellent drag-flicking-Timmy and
The Wesbian
Next week: away vs. Reading. Got to love these journeys
down the M4
Diamonds vs. Spencer 6s. Drew 1-1
First dropped points of the season, but it was away to another top-of-the-table
side.
Spencer were for the most part very comfortable on the ball, moving
forward confidently by passing in triangles; but there is a resilience
to us this year which means we are very difficult to break down. We
did not create many scoring opportunities, but nevertheless took the
lead mid-way through the first half, Warren blasting our only short
corner of the game straight through their keeper. They equalised shortly
before the break, finishing off a move that included a ball fizzed
high into the D which went unpunished by the umpire (er, that was
me, and I’m sure I still haven’t heard the last of it).
The second half saw most of the play in our half, but Spencer’s
chances were few and far between. The midfield battle became scrappy,
and it’s probably true to say we survived on our adrenalin at
times.
Jeremy excelled at the back in his first senior League game, regularly
dispossessing them and looking very assured in possession. But the
whole team is working well together, and this game has shown us that
this season we can realistically unharness ourselves from the relegation
concerns that we lived with all last year. (BD)
Team: Paul Reid, Stuart Craig, Rob Thomas, Jeremy
Higgs, Simon Canter, Stephen Ireton, Adam Smith, Conor Bond, JD, Warren
Holme, Bob Morris, Irfan Begg
Scorer: Warren
Umpire: Billy Dowie
Next game: Saturday 27th October, 11.00 home to Surbiton
5s at JAGS
Royals vs Indian Gym: Walkover - Indian Gym concede
Next game: Sat 27 Oct vs. Reading Rejects (away)
Dragons: No game
Next game: 04 Nov vs. Oldsmiths
Social Events
2007/08
Regardless of what happens on the pitch this season we have a massive
amount of social stuff already planned to help you celebrate/commiserate
away from the pitch.
Bonfire Night
Saturday 03 November
Quiz Night
Saturday 17 November
Xmas Party
Saturday 08 December
Dragons' Drinks
Saturday 15 December
Kurry-Oke Night
Saturday 26 January
Race Night
Saturday 23 Februrary
End of Season Dinner
April
see www.thehockeyclub.co.uk/social/events.shtml
for more details...
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General News
