Thurs 06-Mar-08
Issue 20
Number-crunching is the general theme across the club this week. A few teams appear to be calculating the complicated sequence of scenarios (“we win all the games by n goals whilst x has to lose to y, who must subsequently beat z by 3n goals” etc etc) in order to ensure promotion or relegation. It’s becoming more than a little tense with only a handful of games to go. On the upside, a smattering of victories this week, with particular accolades for the women’s 2s who seem to be on fire at the moment with an 11-0 trouncing of Purley – still payback for them breaking Nicky’s jaw a few years ago..!
Most important this week is the headline news from our tireless social secretaries Lucy, Emma and Chris - see the advert below...
Sarah Longair - Editor
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05-Apr-08
End Of Season Annual Club Dinner 2008
Three course meal, including wine - followed by dancing until late. Friends and partners very welcome so get your tickets early!
Bankside Restaurant
32 Southwark Bridge Road
Off Sumner Street
London SE1 9EU
Nearest tube/overground is London Bridge
£45
inc. half a bottle of wine per person.
(£38 for Juniors/Students/Concessions)
Event starts 6.45-7pm
To be seated at 7.30pm
Tickets available from team Social Secs - before 25-March!!!
There will be a DJ through out the evening, as well as a Raffle. The bar is open until 12 midnight and all guests are to vacate the premises by 12.30am.
Spirits start at £2.75 and bottles beers are also the same. Draught beer starts at £3.30 and goes up to £4.
Plans are being made for concessionary entrance into venues for after that in case people are wanting more fun and frolics?!
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Reports by: Gemma Baker, Lucy Muldoon, Mo O’Brien, Kate Leckie, Bridget, Alex Brown, Nathan Alfrey, Wes Cole, Simon Riley, Billy Dowie, Mark Annear & various Dragons
Men’s 1s vs. Winchester: Won 3-2
During the previous week's game, THD found that being top of the table is no guarantee of victory and struggled to beat a determined BBHC side. As a result TH&D paid special attention to their pre-match preparation for a crunch match versus a potentially dangerous Winchester side:
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Hyphen wore his new pair of hockey sneakers
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Laurent remembered his shorts
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Floella Benjamin, Jimmy's childhood heroine and second mother joined the warm-up to give her support
And the opening exchanges suggested that this preparation had really paid off - THD pressure told and Andy B slotted in a short corner. However not for the first time in the season THD sat back and let Winchester regroup and gain confidence - the result was two Winchester goals in quick succession, one from a break down the left and the second from a P-flick.
2-1 down was not a great position to be in going into half time but the team talk rallied the players and the THD started the second half brightly. The hockey from THD was fast paced with a string of passes from left to right. Within 10 minutes, Rob Heath played a quick hit into Winchester's D and Jimmy slotted in the deflection to bring the scores level.
Then THD took the lead, Hyphen and Jimmy exchanged passes on the left and Jimmy drove into the D pushing the ball to Alex B with an open goal, there was a mistrap, a few seconds wait for the goalie to almost get back into his goal and then a goal, his first in 12 years!
THD sat back and Winchester piled on the pressure, there were two yellow cards, Rob was called a wuss by the umpire, but Gary and the defence held out.
3-2 job done and TH&D go into a crucial game againt Eastcote knowing that there can be absolutely no relaxing - promotion is in their sights but the hard work starts here! (AB)
Team: Will P, Gaz, Bubs, Laurent, Gary, Chris, Rob, Alex b, Jimmy, Hyphen, Andy, Dave C
Scorers: Andy, Jimmy, Alex
MOM: Alex B
TFC: Alex B
Next game: Saturday 8 March vs. Eastcote, DC
Men’s 2s vs. Wimbledon 2s: Lost 1-0
THD ’s battle-weary 2nd team walked out onto the field with several players returning early from injury, knowing a tight game would follow and only one result would be sufficient, a win. The first half passed uneventfully with few chances at either end. When the half time whistle blew the scores were still tied at 0-0. The second half saw THD face a lot more pressure but solid defending thwarted any Wimbledon attack before the ball made it far into out 25. The deadlock was eventually broken after a clinical piece of finishing from the Wimbledon forward, slotting home through a crowded D. THD threw everything forward for the last 5 minutes but their efforts were left unrewarded.
With Surbiton scoring a 1-0 win against Hampstead and Westminster, we find ourselves in a very difficult position.
So now its cliché time:
“The 7 P’s of success… Proper Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance”
“If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail”
In recent weeks much has been said about courage and the “will to win”, and these are definitely two things Tulse Hill and Dulwich Men’s 2s do not lack. There have also been mutterings of proper preparation, and this is possibly why we find ourselves in the position we are now, with three fixtures left, relying on other teams’ results to avoid relegation. As a very sensible person once said “the will to succeed is NOTHING without the will to prepare”. A lesson hard learned for the 2s this season.
Ponder.
Team: Nath, Tom, Dan, Ferg, Chris, Robby, Banners, Mike, Paul, Arthur, Tim, James V, John N
Umpire: Appointed
Scorers: None
Next match: Saturday 8 March vs. Surbiton 3s home
Men’s 3s vs. Wimbledon: Won 4-2
The signing of the treaty of Versailles; The recording of Imagine by John Lennon; Execution of Saddam Hussain; Churchill’s VE day speech; Neil Armstrong’s moon walk.
What do these things all have in common? Well they all took ten minutes to complete! Surprised?? Well not as surprised as we were to go from 2-1 down to 4-2 winners in ten minutes against Wimbledon on Saturday.
With a starting line up of 8 with ten minutes to go and ten on the pitch at the whistle with Nick Harris playing mobile in pocket with another baby due 24hrs previously, it wasn't an ideal start. But that's the way we like to play. The boys from the team below showed they could compete higher up and helped the team put on a show and a half. An immense amount of work went into defending our lines and creating attacking opportunities at pace with George sending us 1-0 up with a violent rocket into the roof from the right. Tobie and Laurie defended resolutely and only on the stroke of half time did we concede a week short corner and didn't clear our lines after a good open play goal from Wimbledon. So 1-2 at half time kept us in it.
On came Connor rushing over from school to make up the 11 and Loz was replaced by Will after a tough half running up miles on the clock equivalent to a 1984 Astra. Will's impact was immediate and from one of those 'never shoot from there' angles he lifted a rocket off the keeper and into the roof. Shortly after a pass from 30 yards by Wes parted the seas for Toby to deflect into the roof and we were ahead. Then only minutes later Will struck again after intense THD pressure and slick passing to confuse the Wimbledon defence and then there was no looking back. 4-2 it finished, beautiful in places, desperate in others but always 100% committed and thoroughly entertaining. We now have gone from 1 point off relegation to 5 points off 4th with a game in hand. (WC)
Could it... no don't tempt fate.
Team: Jez, Laurie, Alex, Tobie, Wes, Joe, Tobie, George, Nick, Loz, Conor, Will Lucas, Tom. Thanks Will, Tobie, Loz, Jonesy
Umpire: Simon Riley, James Perrot and thanks to you two as well
Scorer: George, Tobie, Will x 2
Next Match: Saturday 8th March vs St Albans CP 15:00
Tornados vs. Old Loughtonians: Drew 1-1
Maths. That's what it all comes down to now - simple arithmetic. We get a point in our last game, we're safe. We lose, then Richmond must win and the goal difference from the 2 games has to be 4 goals in their favour. Or is it 5? Could be 3. It's definitely a number below 10.
But that is the future. You want some ancient history. The summary of our game against Renzo's boys from Chigwell. Tales of the unexpected, daring exploits, feats of bravado. Sorry to have to disappoint you here...
Let's face it, we were playing a club blessed with 2 astro's of their own, a warm up pitch, cracking club house and national league 1st teams. It was always going to be tough, especially on Tobes and Alex, stars from the 3s who happily offered their umpiring services. A goalless first half. 35 more minutes to seal the necessary points. And Lozzer does the biz, dinking the ball off a trademark Fat Slapper (or Pully, my memory fails me) exocet past the keeper. Cue celebrations. Cue yet more pressure from the Essex boys and sadly an equalising short corner.
And so to the controversy. Ish. Fat Slapper exocet mk 2, a clash of sticks, ball crashing into the backboards, Aido wheeling off back to the THD half, cheers from THD players and supporters alike, Alex signals the goal, umpires confer, Alex signals a 16, The Judge and umpire confer...
The outcome? Confusion, no goal, a long corner and a jug of beer as a post-match fine for Tobes after robbing us of the win. Ok, it appeared to be the right decision but why let the truth get in the way of a fine and a few beers??
Squad: Alex (GK), MJ, Wilsh, Ram, Riley, Pully, Aido, Tom A, Will, The Judge, The Vicar, Graham, Lozzer
Scorer: Lozzer
MOTM: Wilsh I think. I could be wrong. If I am, a thousand apologies to the true MOTM
DOTD: Tobes, for overruling Alex
Next week: home vs Spencer, 12:00 at CPB, home of the Last Chance Saloon
Diamonds vs. Old Loughtonians 5s: Lost 2-7
Saturday's game was our (equal) worst defeat of the season. OK, so they had only three or four of the players we beat before Xmas, having filled the side out with a load of ringers, but that, quite honestly, was not why we lost so heavily. Each game recently has seen us with a very different lineup each time, with very little continuity. Individually, we have acceptable reasons for missing games – the physio room would be full, if we had one – but it does take its toll. So we ventured North by North East with the minimum 11 bodies and no subs.
With even more horrendous traffic jams than normal descending on all routes to Chigwell, the game was delayed for 20 minutes until our goalie Simon was kitted up, but it was still another 25 minutes before our 11th player staggered already exhausted onto the pitch, by which time we were 0-3 down. Similar story to last week... with a full side, we steadied the ship, and Stuart belted a short into the backboards shortly after the break to reduce the deficit. Within a minute, Tim robbed their central defender and slotted it under the keeper to make it 2-3 and put the fear of god into them. Their half-dozen subs had come on at half time (with the match presumably won) and most of the ringers had left the scene, so their touchline was now almost as bare as ours. It was an even game, and we had our peckers up for a good 10 minutes before they made it 2-4. Stephen then injured himself and we had to rearrange the formation, from where it went downhill...
So, whilst some may point the finger of blame at their ringers, we spent half the game a player light and gave a good account of ourselves when we had 11 men on the field. (BD)
Team: Simon Bailey, Stuart Craig, Graeme Evans, Simon Dawson, Gus Barnard, Rob Thomas, Stephen Ireton, Laurie Shotton, JD, Tim Harris, Colin Wilkie-Jones
Umpire: Billy Dowie
Next game: Saturday 8th March, London Wayfarers 4ths, 12.30 at JAGS
Royals vs. PHC Chiswick 5s: Lost 1-10
Chiswick 5s are a better team than were Maidenhead last week, and we took them on more respectfully than we had last time. Our performance, overall, was more tenacious, and we at least gave the appearance that we might score.
But the result leaves us at the bottom of the London League for the second year in succession. As the 47th and 48th players of this season made their Royals appearance, under the third official captain since September (there have been at least four others who have taken charge in lieu on the field), never can a scoreline have been more deserving on its its victims, nor a result and a season been so damningly reflective.
Team: Matheu Chambers; Ben Hopkins, David Seymour, Mark Annear, Ollie Clark; Colin Wilkie-Jones, Ed Taylor Jones, Iain Leverett, Adam Bond, Jonas Schwan; Jothann Durnall, Ben Protheroe
Scorers: Ben Protheroe, and lots of them
Umpires: Trem Parvin and Aidan Brock
Next Match: Saturday 8 March 2008, 1630 at Spencer vs Titans (top team in division plays strongest team in the league!)
Women’s 1s vs. Woking 1As: Won 1-0 (Saturday)
Women’s 1s vs. Surbiton: Lost 3-2 (Sunday)
Another weekend, another double header. Some would say we are now at our fittest, others may make the observation that we’re looking exhausted. Maybe it’s fair to say that on Saturday we looked fit and on Sunday we began to look exhausted. The Woking game was a strange one – another oppo caught up in the relegation struggle were not going to make it easy for us, but we had space to pass the ball round, we kept the width, height, we passed backwards, forwards and sideways and generally had most of the possession… although only one goal made it to the back of the net, courtesy of Martha in the first half. Having 2 Rachels involved in short corners made it slightly confusing, there were 4 cards in the games (all to Woking) and their frustrations were evident, but even when Will disappeared – this time to help the Women’s 2s – we didn’t lose our heads and we came out victorious.
Sunday was another matter. Surbiton, with their youthful-England-standard juniors faced a slightly less youthful, not-quite-England-standard THD side. Thankfully Sophie stepped up at the last minute to help out (and reduce the average age of the team), along with Jo Walker (who, while very much welcomed to the squad, didn’t do much for the average age statistic!), but we went out knowing that victory would put us back up to 2nd in the league. Unfortunately, the pitch left a lot to be desired and our normally fast flowing game was halted by the patches of beach that appeared every 10 yards or so. But it was the same for both teams, and in the first half THD were pretty much camped in Surbiton’s half. We had numerous short corners (not that they were all stopped or struck convincingly) but the pressure was on. Disappointing then for Surbiton to get a breakaway goal from one such un-stopped short corner. But Rachel made it 1-1 with a great strike from the top of the D and it was all square at half time. However, youth showed in the second half – Surbiton didn’t stop running although we persevered to stop them – all the backs played well to keep them out. Their second goal was matched by Sharon who latched onto the end of a rebounded shot and it stayed at 2-2 for a while before their nippy right mid finally got the better of Jo W and put the ball into the melee for a touch in in front of goal. A disappointing final result as we deserved a draw, but well played to everyone… thanks to Jo and Sophie for giving up their Sunday afternoon and to the other 10 1st XI regulars… you’ve got next Sunday off!!! Finally… (GB)
Squad (for both days): Pipes, Alex, Kath, Clare, Jen, Rachel W, Jo W, Gem, Rachel L, EJ, Lou, Sharon, Martha & Sophie
Scorers: Martha (sat), Rachel L (sun) & Sharon (sun)
Motm: Jen & Shaz (sat), Kath (sun)
Next match: just the one….. Sat 8th March v Wanderers – 11am at DC
Women’s 2s vs. vs. Purley: Won 11-0
What a fantastic game on Saturday!! The sun was out the goalie was late but the team was well prepared for her arrival so not too much bother at all. Full team out and we were all full of enthusiasm to win this game and of course winning 11-0 on our home leg we had a lot to live up to and boy did we. Biba as ever took control on our front line and really kept things moving and made some great tackles and lovely distribution. This gave confidence to our forwards to move about and collect some good balls for some great goals, they started coming thick and fast and just did not stop.
Will arrived and took control of the subbing, making some wise decisions for us and certainly helped us maintain our structure so we kept on form for well just more and more goals. Thanks Will we love having you on the side line. Kato as ever had a great game and made some nifty little moves when was moved from RB to RF, great versatility. Welcome Chloe you were great and glad to have such a confident player on the pitch, hope you will be back. Hils had a stormer with taking on 6 or 7 players beating them all and then have 2 shots on goal, not bad for a our sweeper!!!! Should also mention Sarah Buxton who made some great moves as CF and Sarah Beddoes who had a stormer as well with 4 great goals.
Let’s keep working girls and keep winning until the end of the season. (LM)
Team: Lucy M, Kato, Biba, Sophie, Jo Walker, Sarah J, Sarah Buxton, Sarah Beddoes Rachel T, Jo Walford, Dulcie, Chloe, Hils
Umpire: Mark Annear
MOM: HILS (woo, hoo)
Scorers: Sarah Beddoes (4), Sarah J (1), Rachel T (3), Sarah Buxton (1), Biba (2)
Next match: Saturday 8th March vs Old Georgians away
Women’s 3s vs. Epsom Ladies 3’s: Won 2-1
Apparently the first half was quite a good performance from us… I wouldn’t know as I was still in bed at 1:30… I did however manage to drag my dying carcass to the pitch in time to see Parker latch onto a lovely slip inside to send us 1-0 up 5 minutes from half time.
Epsom were not going to take this lying down and came at us very hard and very quickly in the second half, piling on enough pressure to even the score almost immediately. But we too also refused to roll over on this one and the play was fast and furious from end to end. We finally broke the stalemate with about 15 minutes to go when we caught their defence on the back foot, and with a perfectly placed pass inside from Georgie, Jena was beautifully positioned for an easy slip past the goalie. The remainder of the match was a fitting testament to our defence as Epsom hammered us constantly and with 5 minutes on the clock they gained short after short which were expertly defended and with a massive sigh of relief the final whistle blew giving us a much deserved win.
(Big thanks to B who helped out with the subs and half time talk). (MO’B)
Team: Rachael Biggs, Jo Clarke, Lou Curry, Erica Goldsmith, Georgie Hills, Ellie Johnston – GK, Jena Kitley, Rosie Le Voir, Beth Little, Mo O'Brien, Emma Parker, Julie Rhodes, Helen Shackleton
MOTM: Nail biting finish with the final vote having to be emailed- both Parker and Julie
Umpire: Nick Winram
Next Game: 8th March v Old Kingstonians Away
Women's 4s vs. Wayfarers: Drew 2–2
Next game: Saturday 8 March vs. London Edwardians, CPB
Women's 5s vs. Barnes 6s: Won 4-1
Having beaten our old rivals Barnes 3-2 before Christmas without a goalie, we were looking forward to the rematch and hoping for a convincing win. Despite numerous injuries, we managed to get a full team out, with the help of Lucy from the 4s. The game was fast-paced, and also a bit scrappy - lots of dodgy stick tackles and lifted balls - Richard's expression was highly entertaining to watch! However, we kept focussed and strong, with some great breaks and passing up the pitch. Once we scored one goal, the rest kept coming, including a fantastic PC goal from Jacqui which Barnes didn't have a chance of stopping. Special mentions must go to Lucy for helping us out and having a great game in defence and also to our injured players Del and Sarah who both played brilliantly (KL).
Team: Sally, Rachael, Charlie, Lucy, Sarah, Martina, Jacqui, Andrea, Faith, Alanna, Kate, Del, Helen B
Umpires: Richard Mead and Jeremy Porter
Scorers: Kate, Del, Helen Blackie, Jacqui
Next match: Saturday 8th March vs. Cheam - 14:30 away
Women’s 6s vs. Bank of England: Lost 0-3
We didn't quite knock the wind out of their blue rinses this time but despite the score, we did put in a solid fight with some great passing and movement of the ball. The first 15 minutes looked pretty impressive, we kept the play wide with some fantastic work from Shona and sharp passing between Lex, Mags and Katie. BoE managed a lucky intercept to score and although we were down 1-0 at half time, a win was still within our reach. Luck wasn't on our side though and they managed to get another two average goals in the second half, deflating our hopes of revenge on the OAPs. Endurance (and a lack of subs) meant we kept fighting right up until the whistle blew, with Gigi getting some good breaks and the backs working really hard on switching the play and Mags deciding she can take on possibly the biggest player from the oppo and surprisingly winning... meanwhile Jess was content with just being able to breathe by the end of the match. Next week we play Berrylands on grass… this should bring back fond memories for everyone and have us running to pick up every ball!!! (Bridget)
Team: Kate, Katie, Claire, Jess, Shona, Len, Charlotte, Mags, Helen, Vicky, Lex, Gigi
Umpire: Aidan
Next match: Saturday 8 March vs. Berrylands- 1.30 away
Dragons vs. London Strollers: Won 6-2
Morning, Scott.
When it transpired that Jonesy was holding on too tight, and he turned in his wings, Wesbian was given his dream-shot to be sent up against the best of the best. Fixtures Live calls it The Battersea Mixed League. The players call it: MIXED LEAGUE.
Within minutes of Strollers’ first attack, Wesbian went into a 4G inverted-dive with their number 28, and left his wingman, Piggy, exposed. Strollers 1-0 Dragons. When asked why he wasn’t marking, Wesbian remarked that he “was communicating”.
The second half had only just begun when Wesbian called for the ball and promptly hit the brakes, the forward predictably flew right by and buried it in the bottom corner. 2-0. Things had gone a little awry. It was at this moment that everyone asked themselves The Question, “What would miniaturised naval aviator, Dennis Quaid, do?”. The answer was unimportant.
With two bogies on his six, Bino was unable to find missile lock as he came out of the clouds but Tobie, too close for missiles, switched, instead, to guns and fired one home from close range.
What followed, broke a major rule of engagement (which are, of course, put in place for the safety of you and your team), as Tobie momentarily snuck beneath the hard-deck, and took the shot. 2-2.
Shortly after, TimTim became locked in a flat spin after running through a bogie’s jet wash and was forced to bail out. Unfortunately, his RIO never made it. There were some fears that he would never re-engage but these proved unfounded when his quick pass left Bino with only the backboard to beat. 3-2, Dragons.
At this point the floodgates opened, Tobie found the need, the need for speed, and finished from a narrow angle and Bino added a 5th and 6th. There was still time for Bino to attempt a reverse stick shot from a ludicrous angle with TimTim better placed but, as Bino commented “You don’t have time to think in there. If you think, you’re dead tackled”. Wise words there.
And so it finished. Wesbian may not have won the MIXED LEAGUE trophy but his final act, a fly-by of McDonalds via the Highway to the Dangerzone was simply breathtaking. ( MWP, WC, TS)
Report by Maverick and Goose
Team: Piggy, Wes, Nick, Lindsey, Kate, Tobie, Lou, George, Alanna, Bino, Timmy,
Ump: Snellers and Mark
Scorers: Tobie (3), Bino (3)
Next match: vs. Oldsmiths 16-March @ Battersea Park
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.
End of Season Dinner
Saturday 5th April
see www.thehockeyclub.co.uk/social/events.shtml
for more details... |
General News
