Match reports - January 26, 2008

The 3rd XI enjoyed a rare winning outing with a 3-2 win at Camberley to lift themselves out of the relegation slots for the first time this season; the Ladies also battled to a gutsy 1-1 draw with second-placed Spencer; the 1st XI just about did enough to beat lowly Surrey OBs 2-1, the Veterans dragged themselves off the bottom with a 31- win over leaders St Albans; but there were defeats for the 2nd XI and the 4th XI.

Surrey OBs 1-2 1st XI
Well, we were poor and very lucky to come away with three points against a spirited but limited SOBS side and had the rub of all the umpiring decisions – a half season’s fortune in one go. As it is we are still very much in top with February our decisive month. A state of flux existed at 8.20 on Friday evening with the sudden unavailability of Bruce due to injury but luckily Adam Davies was available and at 16 was playing his first game of men’s hockey being home for an exeat weekend and slotted strait into Bruce’s position. Adam then proceeded to be man of the match and is a player that we should see playing at least at the highest club level.

The first 20 minutes did not give any indication of what was to come and with us playing the ball around and wide a number of chances were created and squandered with our short corner drill being woeful. The final 15 minutes of the half heralded the rot with too many long balls shooting off the edge and end of the pitch. Nevertheless the half time team chat sorted things out and five minutes into the second period good build up play followed by a defence splitting pass from the streamlined Cook enabled Knapp to roll the ball home. The lead should have been doubled by Knapp who proceeded to dumfound Preston by winning the 69 shirt for the rest of the season with a crass effort at goal. Chances came and went with Robbo a spectator which continued as we all watched the SOBS best player run unchallenged into our D and push the ball speculatively towards the goal for Robbo to be outwitted by Ed B and the scores were even. Eds C restored the lead with a short corner strike and we held out for an important but less than decisive win.
UCL are next up and play like we did for most of the game today and it will be goodnight nurse. Thank you Adam for playing and showing us how easy hockey can be when playing the simple and commercial options. David Knapp

2nd XI 2-3 Barnes
A cracking game which we lost but again showed the fighting spirit which has seen us turn in some good performances of late. We went two down ten minutes into the second half and that seemed to be that against a physically big and good Barnes side, and although we pulled one back, Barnes restored their two-goal lead with 15 remaining. Then the fun started, Chris Tiss, who had got under the opposition’s skin with his skills and mouth all day, scrambled a second – earning a green card for his yell of “Eat that” into the defender’s face – and we pressed hard and had we had a short-corner routine which involved being able to stop the ball might have grabbed a draw. Neil Grimes was immense in midfield and again Dodie and Heardy controlled the back like the old pros they are. The cry-off of the week comes from Chris Porter in an apology given to Tiss who was waiting to collect him from the station. Porter, if he is to be believed, had been up all night "with a lady" and was in no position to leave his flat because of exhaustion.

Camberley 2-3 3rd XI
The 3rd XI delivered a rock star performance taking a full three points away at Camberly with a hard fought 3-2 win. An early 10am start, damned cold and Tim Cook, our designated umpire, had forgotten his cards … it did not bode well. Starting with the low sun behind us, we moved the ball effectively albeit, slowly on occasions. Movement up our preferred left attacking flank was effective and a returning Chopper made a nuisance of himself for the Camberley defence. Strong marking at break downs and a good control of the game led to a short corner which deftly taken by Bruce, beating the advancing defenders, shelled home an excellent goal. The game continued with a more confident team and Rich L attacking up the right flank provided Bruce in the centre a range of options with his control of the centre of the field. An attack followed through and a strike into the D led to Dave L perfectly angling the ball in a cramped D past their keeper. This was also the first time that we had gone two goals ahead all season. Camberley started to find their rhythm and on an attack, some poor tackling led to a lapse in attention and from a dead ball, they scored.

Half time came and a usual inspiration of a team talk followed. A slight line-up change of Rich L going up front as proving successful last week started the second half by pushing up higher. The tactical problem we had was that their attack was also pushing high creating a gulf in the centre of the field. Both sides attacked and counter attacked. Tim had to have a chat with the captains although slightly more directed at the opposition as we are all good chaps! The short resulted from one attack and a slip from Bruce to Preston, flicking it past the keeper it still required Chopper to glance it into the goal to take it to 3-1.

Camberley came back with several attacks and from a short corner, we became overloaded and Camberley had an open attack and scored. With five minutes remaining, Camberley loaded the pressure however what many have described as the heroic moment of the season and others as the moment they were standing amongst giants, a fighting defence became exposed and with the keeper caught in no mans land, a ball slipped past without question on its way to the back board, Armo slid past the Camberley striker and cleared the ball off the line to keep the team in with a shout (Guess who write this report …). In what remained of the two minutes, Camberley narrowly missed an equalising opportunity but the force was with us for arguably the first time in two years. Man of the match, Armo (not bad that, nominating yourself!) but a team effort, three points and a safety out of recession. James “Modesty” Armitage

Ladies 1-1 Spencer II
An early start after a week off saw us playing second-placed Spencer II at home. We had been one of the only teams to take points off them this season, holding them to a draw before Christmas, and inevitably both teams wanted to take the full points this time around, us to move up the table and them to sustain their position at the top. It was always going to be an eventful match.

Both sides started well, us against the sun after having lost the toss. The first 15 minutes saw good attempts coming from both ends a couple of penalty corners each and on 20 minutes Spencer manager to lift one into the net over keeper Katy who had just made a terrific save on the floor. We continued to pile the pressure onto the Spencer defence our forwards of Caz, and May doing an excellent job of closing down their defenders and driving the ball up and into the Spencer area but to no avail and we went into half time 1-0 down.

The second half was far more eventful. Our oranges at half time especially prepared by coach Mott obviously gave us the extra boost we needed. Going out hard, the midfield of Vikki, Nina, Jax and Sarah H were working harder than ever with some good movement, one touches and passing around and up to the forwards. We had several close calls, a ball chipped over the cross bar, Jax and Caz managing to get on the end of excellent crosses into the Spencer circle by May (Carl Lewis) Evans and Nina (Mike Tyson) Sutton, but just cleared wide of the goal by the Spencer keeper. Eventually our hard work, determination and perseverance paid off as an intercepted ball was passed into Vikki (silky skills) Mottram who moved the ball around her Spencer defender and 'melted' the ball into the goal. 1-1. We kept the pressure on and just shortly after our levelling goal, Caz (Wayne Rooney) Hall found herself racing the Spencer keeper towards a loose ball on the edge of the circle. The two collided and ended up in a skirmish before the keeper booted the ball away - but from outside of the D. She was yellow carded and sent off while the match was put on hold as another Spencer player kitted up. We were determined to capitalise on Spencer having one less player on the pitch and a sub keeper in goal but in true OC fashion we probably played better when they had 11 players on the pitch! We tried not to let the break in play interrupt our flow but inevitably it did. We conceded several short corners which our rock solid defence of Rossie P, Mez, Tux and Muriel as ever defended well and Katy in goal was called upon to make a couple of saves. Tempers had been rising through out the match and eventually a Spencer player snapped and Nina found herself on the end of the girl’s fist! Neither umpire saw the punch and play continued until it was time for the Spencer keeper to come back on again so with six minutes left to go, play stopped again while she kitted up. The game finished 1-1 all a great game by our ladies and we were unfortunate not to get another goal. Jax Joyce

Match reports - January 19, 2008

The 1st XI overcame a limited Addiscombe side 6-3 to maintain their outside chances of promotion, but the performance of the day came from the 2nd XI who finally clicked as we knew they would and beat league leaders Woking 4-1 away from home. The 3rd XI secured a good 3-3 draw at the delight that is Kennington, the 4th XI played well in losing 1-2 to Staines, and the Vets secured only their third win of the season with a 1-0 victory at HAC.

1st XI 6-3 Addiscombe
This was a potential banana skin against an Addiscombe team who have had a good season up to this point. The game saw Cooky play by far and away the best he has played all season and it was his intervention in the second minute that won a long corner that became a short and then a goal with Rippers coolly slotting home the loose bal. Nick Lewis doubled the lead with the shot of the season, Cook again making a nuisance of himself in front of the keeper , the ball breaking to Nick at the top of the D who put the ball into the top corner with a blistering shot. The remainder of the half saw us dominate without creating any chances and we lost our shape when Ed Breton went of with a knock on his hand.

Addiscombe were back in the game in the early stages of the second half but straight away we regained the two-goal cushion. Sven increased the margin with a drag flicked short, the first of two with, in between times, Addiscombe scoring a soft short corner. Rippers scored his second after a great move down the right and there was just time for the opposition to score a consolation with another short corner in stoppage time.

The two big pluses were the performances of Nick Lewis and Cooky with the downside the concession of three soft goals. Unquestionably we had the rub of the umpiring especially early on and we made it count. Surry Old Boys next week and then UCL and Merton after which we will know whether we have a long wait until September or have a chance to be in the mix. Rex Bermon

Woking 1-4 2nd XI
On paper this game was a formality. We had taken on point away from home all season whereas Woking, the league leaders, were unbeaten at home and had not lost anywhere since early October. On a pitch which made our old one look slick and sandless, the early exchanges were tight and the pace quick. But whereas we made inroads, Woking’s attacks foundered against the rocks of Dodie Khurshid and Jon Heard. We took the lead on 15 minutes from a short corner, fiercely disputed by the defence who claimed to their own umpire that they were not ready. Neither side created many openings in the reminder of the half, but Woking’s concern was evident from the length of their half-time chat. “We’re top, they’re crap but that doesn’t matter if we carry on playing like this,” were the last words shouted to them at the break.

The second half was equally pacey but the better attacks came from us with a hole in Woking’s midfield being repeatedly ripped open. We had some nervous moments and Woking were enjoying their best period when we broke and struck the second. We could have extended the lead but Bruce hit the post and then a short corner was cleared off the line; at the other end Nigel made some good saves and the defence remained solid. Five minutes from time we again broke and made it 3-0, only for Woking to run right through a dozing midfield and pull one back within 20 seconds. The ball was in our half for the next few minutes as Woking threw the kitchen sink at us, but from another break we sealed a convincing win with the last strike of the match.

Match reports - January 12, 2008

The second half of the season started with a good 3-2 win for the 1st XI at Walton, while the Ladies hammered bottom side Barnes 5-0. The 2nd XI enjoyed a hard 0-0 draw with Walton, while the 4th XI also drew, 2-2 at Reigate. But struggling sides the 3rd XI and Veterans both lost.



Walton & Weybridge 2 1st XI 3 The month of January is always an important month as teams can fall away or come up on the rails following a month of inactivity. For us the next six games will see if we have the character to force us back into contention. The current leaders UCL slipped up again before the break and with Wanderers and Bank of Boks to come early this half their season could similarly be decided. At the beginning of the season they caught both sides cold but one has the feeling that the previous results could be overturned.

On a fast and excellent pitch Walton and Weybridge were going to be a difficult side to beat having had a good first 11 games picking up dramatically from last season’s travails. The first few minutes saw us caught cold giving away an unnecessary short corner with W & W’S slick routine punishing us most emphatically to put us one down. We thought we were level five minutes later when Knapp swept home a quick free hit but Eds was deemed to have passed the ball with his foot – in our view it must have been a wooden and size 28 foot. Nevertheless by half time the lead had been gained, Paul marking his league debut with a tap in after Bruce’s reverse stick pass across the goal took the whole defence by surprise and Cookie using the space that was created ahead of him and using his pace to outstrip the defence and hitting a sublime shot into the top right hand corner – one of the best individual and team goals of the season. The move had started at the right back position and with three passes round the back and a sharp pass up field to find Cookiey we took the ball from one end to the other in a minute or so.

Having taken the lead we inexplicably tried to play a completely different game and lost our way somewhat having put together some wonderful hockey in a 15-minute spell in which we scored our two goals – something to take home and put right for next week.

The beginning of the second half saw us play another five minutes of good stuff but W & W were not going to lie down and came back at us strongly but against the run of play very unselfishly Cookiey set up Knapp by taking out the goalkeeper and slipping the ball across the goal for Knapp to have the easy task of popping the ball home.

Instead of wrapping the game up we missed a number of chances and allowed the oppo back in when a beautifully worked short enable the gap to return to one goal with seven minutes remaining. W & W certainly showed the benefit of having a well drilled short corner routine. The last few minutes were Walton’s as far as the first four were concerned with Nigel Smith making one good save and one top drawer save that enabled us to run out winners following a needless yellow card for chat that reduced Walton to 10 and took the steam out of their challenge.

Once again we had two umpires, Peter and the experienced converted player Ian Jolly umpiring us for the first time who worked well together and umpired very consistently. Another tight but must win game next week against Addiscombe to ensure we stay in the top section of the league.

Barnes 0 Ladies 5 Our first match back after Christmas was expected to be a struggle and we did take our time to find our stride. The pitch was half frozen and hard but playable. Our first goal came about halfway through the first half - a bit of a scramble in the circle and Vikki finished it nicely to put us 1-0 up. Katy, after one-hour’s sleep, was not having to do much at all in goal up the other end and Tux the centreback/forward was having a stormer with some great creative play bringing the ball forward and distributing it around. Muriel and Rosie as ever solid as a rock for us at the back. Nothing was really on for Barnes an before long Nikki had a scored a second goal after a taking the ball around the Barnes keeper and hammering it home. Supersub George came on up front and within minutes had an aerial shot on goal rebound off the cross bar! Her usual position being defence she was so busy admiring her shot we failed to capitalise on the rebound!! But a few minutes later George did manage to score her debut goal for OCs and all was forgiven! At half time the score was 3-0.

We came out hard in the second half determined to rack up some more goals. The forwards of Mez, Caz and Nina were doing their usual job of closing down the Barnes defence and creating scoring chances. The midfield of Sarah Hardiman, Nikki and Jax were again working hard and putting Barnes under pressure. We did concede several penalty corners which Rossie P and her defence defended solidly. Another goal came shortly from some great team play a cross into the D and Vikki fired her second goal past the Barnes GK who had no chance. It was all over for Barnes but we kept pushing winning a final penalty corner. Sarah Hardiman had the final hit of the game to smash the ball just over the Barnes keeper who had gone straight down on the floor, to convert our penalty corner into a fifth goal. The final whistle followed immediately and the OC ladies had started the second half of the season as we mean to go on! A good solid win. Well done ladies! Jackie Joyce

A most agreeable warm-up

1st XI 2 Mid Sussex 2 A very useful and enjoyable warm up match against a friendly and competitive Mid Sussex side. No question that we would like to make this an annual fixture and perhaps on a home and away basis in September and January in each year. We sincerely hope that the MS young defender who received a very nasty injury to his finger makes a quick recovery.

We welcomed Paul Arcott into the team for the first time with Rob Merry also stepping in due to the vagaries of availability and could have won by a few but for some profligate finishing and James Myers in the MS game who was outstanding and showed to us all that he has not lost his edge over the period since he played a handful of games for us. Indeed, Robbo had little to do but in the end made one excellent save to prevent us from losing 3 – 2. Knapp and Rippers scored our goal, the former a tap in following a deft pass from Rippers and the latter a superlative solo goal – the best we are likely to see all year. Paul will be an asset for us in a wide midfield role the having played for Epsom in recent years with his reading the game very well and making the right passes and runs even if they are not always recognised by those around him.

The game highlighted what it needed to highlight with our attacking in too narrow a fashion in the first period and not making passes early enough when coming out of the back. We spread the ball wide via Rippers but failed to use Cato in a similar fashion that would have caused the oppo serious problems. Had we won by a few our problems would have been masked and so the match achieved what it was meant to other than the loss of Gavin Adair to a twisted ankle.

Thank you to for the umpires who at the cost of 2 Mars bars umpired the game straight after they had umpired UCL v Guildford and umpired extremely well. League action this coming weekend against Walton and Weybridge and so we must look to put into practice the lessons learnt in the game against Mid Sussex.