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News > Newsletter 2007/08
Newsletter 2007/08
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 18-Jan-08Issue 13
A very happy new year to you and welcome to the first Tribune of 2008, a year laden with expectation of success and flair on the field and the inevitability of much silliness and amusement off it. With a full complement of reports this week, this prelude shall be kept brief. Save to say that it was a generally positive week – with not too many losses, several encouraging draws and a few notable wins – in particular teams of the week the Men’s 1s and 3s who beat tough opposition in league games. The women’s 1s and T5 also enjoyed the sweet taste of victory.
Bit of admin – England Hockey are doing a survey which they would appreciate contributions to – it’s about people volunteering within hockey clubs, which is a lot of people in this club who give up their spare time to help the club carry out such a wide range of activities. If you have a second, please go to:
England Hockey Surveymonkey.com/ Events to get in the diary now are the Race Night (Saturday 23 February) and the End of Season slap-up do on Saturday 5 April. The Kurry-oke has had to be postponed due to too many busy diaries, but fear not, this unique evening of cultural fusion will take place next season. Sarah Longair - Editor
Reports by: Gemma Baker, Biba Tunnicliffe, Georgie Hills, Michelle C, Rachael Fallows, Len Price, Gareth Weir, Tim Sylvester, Wes Cole, Simon Riley, Billy Dowie, Aidan Brock & Mark Jones.Women’s 1s vs. Reading 1As: Won 3-1
With no league match until 19th, this was our final training game to prepare us for a tough second half of the season. Reading’s 1as are in the league above, so a good game for us – and we rose to the challenge. Despite half of the DC pitch still rather hard (and slippery) and the sun so low in the sky it was virtually impossible to pass (accurately) from one side of the pitch to the other, THD commanded the first half. Yours truly put the home side ahead, with an uncharacteristic coolness in front of goal to pick up a rebound and calmly slot the ball past the keeper. Alex made it two with a more characteristic short corner conversion, before Lou deflected a great ball in from Bettina to make it 3-0 at half time. Reading upped their game in the second half and exploited a few gaps that were emerging. They got one goal back from a well worked penalty corner, but other than that, the chances were few. EJ and Martha came close on a couple of occasions to increase THD’s lead, but it wasn’t to be. Overall though, a good performance by everyone on the pitch and an encouraging result ahead of next week’s league game. (GB)
Team: Pipes, Alex, Clare, Rachel L, Jen, Bettina, Gemma, Faye, EJ, Shazza, Lou & Martha Scorers: Gemma, Alex, Lou Umpires: Gordon and Will (many thanks)
Next match: Sat 19 th Jan, Oxford University @ DC. 12.30pm start
Women’s 2 vs. Merton: Drew 1-1
It’s never easy when one’s first game back after three weeks of boozing, eating and inactivity is against the team at the top of the table. We went in wanting a win and came out with a draw. A slightly disappointing result, though our promotion hopes are still intact and the 2s’ desire and drive to collect consistently 3 points at the weekend has been reaffirmed.
We began the game reasonably well and went 1-0 up after a straight strike from a short corner was brilliant flicked over the goal keeper by Jo Walford. Unfortunately the game went a little down hill from there. There was some good play down the right with Jeavors and Jo creating some excellent opportunities on goal, but the pressure from Merton was consistent.
After half time, a short corner to Merton saw them claw back a goal – levelling the score. Frustration began to creep into the team’s ranks and we became uncharacteristically quiet. Luckily, our England stash wearing goalie as always was consistently brilliant and saved goal after goal earning herself the totally well deserved Man of the Match vote.
For the last ten minutes we pulled ourselves together and we came close, oh so close to clinching victory. Though the score remained a draw, we should be encouraged that if we play as we did for the last ten minutes, we might just be unbeatable! (BT)
Team: Dulcie, Kato, Sophie, Lucy, Jo Walker, Wheels, Biba, Jeavors, Rosie, Jo Walford, Sarah B Scorer: Jo Walford MOTM: Dulcie
Next Match: 19th Jan v Guildford
Women’s 3s vs. Surbiton Ladies 3s: Lost 1-3
Though we chalked up another defeat on Saturday, never has the hackneyed platitude “winning isn’t everything” had more resonance. And let’s face it: with more defeats than wins to our name, we’re good losers.
Surbiton beat us 1-0 in our last encounter and we were determined to give them a good fight. We had more possession of the ball and our never-say-die attitude resulted in a fiercely competitive and physical match. Defenders Rach and Rosie dominated play as they drove the ball out of our circle and into Surbiton’s half time after time. Of the three short corners awarded to us, it was the crisp stick stop by Lou, magnificently struck by Mo, that saw us score in the dying moments of the game. Post match, Surbiton literally took the cake; serving up delectable selection of sugary home-made confections for the game-weary players. Sure victory is sweet, but in Surbiton defeat is sweeter. (GH) Team: Rachael Biggs, Jo Clarke, Lou Curry, Cat Dwyer, Ellie Gardner, Georgie Hills, Rosie Le Voir, Beth Little, Mo O'Brien, Helen Shackleton, Filipa Miranda Player of the match: Rachael Biggs Umpire: Anna Barrett
Next match: Saturday 19January vs. Spencer Ladies 3s, away
Women’s 4s vs. Horley 1s: Drew 1-1
Having not played a match in over a month, the 4s looked surprisingly fit, non-hungover and ready to meet Horley.
The game consisted of some good defence work which allowed play to be worked through the mid-field, with some excellent skill from Michelle feeding the ball to the unrelenting forwards. Julia found the back of the net during the first half, placing us 1 goal up, but the opposition came back focused in the second half to equalise. A big thank you is owed to George for stepping in as goalie and saving us from defeat. For someone who hasn’t been able to play due to a knee injury, the many floor dives were appreciated!
A one-all draw was a fair result on the day, but left us knowing that we are a classier team and capable of winning the rest of the season’s matches – and no amount of rank changing rooms/toilet facilities, telling offs by the umpire (Julia!) or lack of teas (aka 20 min drive South) will deter us! (MC)
Team: Claire, Emma, Julia, Mary, Lou, Michelle, Linds, Anna, Spanna, Rona, Lucy, George. Scorer: Julia MOTM: Michelle Supporter: Lynne
Next game: Saturday 19 th Jan vs. Shirley Phoenix 15.30 DC
Women’s Team 5 vs. Hampstead + Westminster 6’s: Won 3-2
We waddled out onto the hockey pitch for our first match post Christmas break, clearly suffering from the effects of too much partying over the festive season. We huffed and puffed during the warm up jog/walk and it was a very slow start out on the pitch. Eventually we began to realise that we might actually need to put in some effort if we were going to win the friendly match against Alannah’s mates, which included ex- THD player ‘Yorkie’.
At the half time break Gemma suggested a few key strategic moves which we managed to implement and consequently we were able effectively to shut down the centre of the pitch restricting the opposition’s attack. This allowed us to make better use of the width of the pitch and play more sensible hockey with more passing and less running.
Our thanks to Gemma and Jo for their support during the match. (RF)
Team: Charlie Hawksley, Helen Blackie, Kate Leckie, Rachael Fallows, Faith Geraghty, Alannah MacIntosh, Jacqui Kemp, Del Van Eden and special guests Gemma Baker and Jo Malkin Goal Scorers: Del Van Eden (1), Kate Leckie (1) and Jacqui Kemp (1) Umpires: Our favourite umpire Richard
Next match: 19th January 12pm, vs Wayfarers, Crystal Palace Bar
Women’s 6s vs. London Edwardians 4s: Drew 1-1
Next game: Saturday 19 January vs. UCL Academicals 2s away
Men’s Superheroes 1s vs. Epsom: Won 3-1
The second half of the season has started well for TH&D superheroes with a convincing win over fellow promotion chasers of Epsom. Led by the skipper and coach Batman and Robin, TH&D out-ran and out thought their opposition. On a beaming Saturday in the sunny suburbs, things started well when Batman slipped the ball into the D for Catwoman Hyphen to offer the touch of a lady and glance it past the keeper. Epsom shortly equalised firing a flick past Spiderman in goal, 1-1 at half time. The second 35 minutes saw TH&D outclass Epsom and like “pretty boy” Mayweather in Vegas, they drained the life out of the opposition. With more possession and control, the pressure created short corners and with Will Iron Man conjuring up his dorsa and the classic “straight push on goal”, TH&D were comfortably ahead. With 10 games remaining, this performance is great platform from which the superheroes can see if they can fulfil their potential and ambition… (GW)
Team: Will SpiderMan, Gdot Incredible Hulk, Smudger Superwoman, Andy Batman, Gary Robin, Hyphen Catwoman, Will Iron man, Bubs Shrek, Jimmy Flash Gordon, Rob SuperTed, Laurent Le FrenchMan , Alex S. Mr Incredible, Alex B Uhu-Man, Dave Banaman
Scorers: Iron Man 2, Superwoman MOM: Superwoman TFC: The Incredible Hulk
Next game: Saturday 19 January vs. Trojans home
Men’s 2s vs. Hampstead and Westminster 3s: Drew 1-1
Happy New Year one and all. Hampstead are always a good side, and last Saturday was no exception. They started very strong, and for a while it looked like we might be in trouble – but we stuck at it and kept it to 0-0 by half time. They scored soon after the restart, only for us come back 10 minutes later with an extremely lucky deflection put into the bottom corner by Tim Sylvester from Paul Harvey’s free hit on the 25. They had plenty of chances to regain the lead, but thanks to a strong performance from Nath along with their unimaginative short corners, we kept it on one apiece until the end.
The match report is short due to sporadic, first-match-back, exhaustion-induced blackouts. So, to pad it out somewhat, I’d like to share with you some anagrams of ‘Tulse Hill and Dulwich’:
Ached Nudist Hull Will A Hunched Lid Will Lust Clashed Wild Hull Unit A Winced Dull Sh*t Hull
And because they’re funny, a couple from ‘Tulse Hill and Dulwich Hockey Club”:
A Bicycled Winched Hulk Hullo Slut A Bicycled Cowhide Hull Hunt Skull (TS)
Team: Nath, Dan, Ferg, Robbie L, Tom M, Chris C, Mike K, Spak, Nick J, Banners, Paul, James V, Tim S Scorer: Tim Umpires: Theirs
Next game: Saturday 19 th January vs. Richmond 2s home
Men's 3s vs. Hampstead & Westminster 4a's: Won 3-1
The form book going into this didn't make good reading. The last 4 games combined we were losing 28-2, never conceding less than 6 a game against a traditionally strong, well organised and quick playing team. But as their captain admitted before the game, old age and fitness have slipped off recently and 'Fulham-esque' season with 3 losses all happening in the last 10 minutes of games gave us hope.
No signs of turkey in the 3s as we seemed more on the ball than mid November and actually demonstrated skills learned in training with Joe Griffiths playing a pivotal role (literally) in the middle spraying the ball around and helping our 'messy' hockey out of the back. John removed their centre half from the game with excellent hard work in the middle allowing the back three to comfortably control the pitch and create quick breaks from which Nick Harris slotted home early on in the first half after some great right wing work from Tom on the by-line. Just before the break John Holmes demonstrated his Tendulkar style cover drive with a blistering straight stick reverse shot and their heads dropped. The second half was controlled and almost turned to a rout after Bungle fired home from close range after some excellent unselfish work from Tom again on the right. Tobie missed a one on one and Tom a late effort at near post which would have been 5-0. But of course we slipped up in the last few minutes and they slotted through the keepers leg, an undignified end to what was an unbelievable display in goal from George. More next week please. (WC)
Team: George, Wes, Tim J, Laurie, Kieron, John Holmes, Joe Griffiths, Bungle, Tom Gorikie, Nick Harris, Graham Lyness, Tobie Allen Scorers: Bungle, John Holmes, Nick Harris.
Tornados vs. Chiswick: Lost 2-1
They could also be applied to our performance. 20 minutes in, bossing the game and a goal to the good. All looking well for the men in red and green - a well-taken trademark reverse stick flick from Lozzer and we thought this could be the start of a rout. Sadly it was, just not for us. From a crisp passing and running game to the bad old days of larrup and hope. Used to work donkey's years ago, but the game has moved on from that.
Diamonds vs. Wimbledon 6s: Lost 2-3
A new year, and six weeks since our last game. Those of us who bother with these things had been trying to figure out where our formation had gone wrong last year; after a great start and first half of the season, we had steadily got worse.
Some new faces – Simon Dawson & Mark Evans – and with Charlie back from abroad, saw a fresh spirit in the squad. We produced a reasonable first half, but were mostly on the back foot to a Wimbledon side whom we beat in the first fixture of the season, but whose form had developed in the opposite direction to ours. Unlike us, they built steadily and controlled most of the play. A short corner strike saw them go in 1-0 up.
After making a couple of substitutions at half time, we lost our rhythm completely, hardly got the ball over the halfway line, and found ourselves 3-0 down. Game over...... Well, not quite. Gaps were plugged, a short corner won, the ball slipped right to Tim, and his strike hit the back of the net (via a deflection off a defender which took it over the diving keeper). We were now playing as if we really did believe we could score. Four minutes from the end, their central defender was shown a yellow (he disputed it hotly, but then there wasn’t much he hadn’t disputed all game) and Graeme immediately made it 2-3 with a run & vicious strike from the acutest of angles. With seconds to go, Irfan cracked a pass to the far post where one of our forwards should have deflected in the equaliser. Another head in hands moment, but overall we didn’t deserve a point, and we’d NEVER have heard the end of it from the bloke on the sidelines. (BD)
Team: Simon Bailey, Rob Thomas, Charlie Krasun, Simon Dawson, Graeme Evans, Olly Walton, Simon Canter, Laurie Shotton, Mark Evans, Adam Smith, Bob Morris, Tim Harris, Irfan Begg Scorers: Tim & Graeme Umpire: Billy Dowie
Next game: Saturday 19th January, away to Indian Gym 5ths, 14.30
Royals vs. PHC Chiswick 4's: Lost 1-6
Congregating on a cold January morning next to Wormwood scrubs is not the ideal way to kickstart the second half of the season, however the sun was shining and with new joiners bolstering the ranks (and two subs to boot) the mood was one of cautious optimism.
The first half was a fairly even affair, with the old heads of Messrs. Howick and Parvin providing a calming influence from the back and plenty of energy shown in the midfield and upfront. It is hard for a team playing together for the first time to gel straight away and PHC scored two scrappy goals making it 2-0 at half time, not disastrous and certainly not an insurmountable obstacle. The second half started brightly, unfortunately the lack of match practice and fitness began to tell and PHC were able to exploit the gaps that began to increasingly appear. Four goals to one was a fair reflection of PHC's territorial and possession advantage in the second half, nevertheless our 100% short corner conversion rate (and post-match beer consumption) bodes well for the rest of the season, so long as a few more can drag themselves off the sofa, out for the odd run and along to training in the next few weeks. (AB)
Team: Matheu (GK), Colin, Adam Bond, Ben Slater, Mark Annear, Keith H, Trem Parvin, Jaap Van Lynden, Mark Nash, Tim Smith, Mike McKinnon, Ian Townsend, Graeme Scorer: ? (I was too busy umpiring to notice, sorry!) – but Keith Howick we think..!
Next match: Sat 19th vs St Albans (15:00 at Crystal Palace)
Dragons vs. Sinners: Drew 3-3
Scuba diving is the act of swimming underwater while using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. By carrying a source of breathing gas (usually compressed air), the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in snorkeling and free-diving, and is not hindered by air lines to a remote air source. The scuba diver typically swims underwater by using fins attached to the feet. However, some divers also move around with the assistance of a DPV (diver propulsion vehicle), commonly called a "scooter", or by using surface-tethered devices called sleds pulled by a boat.
Team: Piggy (GK), Alex Timmer (GK), MJ, Tim, Charlie Krasun, Ratty, Will Lucas, Shazza, Snellers, Sarah B, Cat, George Hills & Alanna.
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.
Race Night Saturday 23 Februrary End of Season Dinner April
see www.thehockeyclub.co.uk/social/events.shtml for more details... |
