Match reports - October 25, 2008

The 1st XI remained top of the table despite making hard work of beating Addiscombe 2-1, and for the second week running the 2nd XI had to dig deep to defeat Surbiton 3-1. The Ladies squandered a lead against Merton to slip to their first loss of the season, and the 3rd XI suffered their third straight drubbing, 1-8 at Goan. Goal machine Louis Strover made it seven in two games as the 4th XI beat Staines 5-0.



Addiscome 2-3 1st XI
Addiscombe always prove to be a sterner test than we think they should and today was no exception. We knew it would be a tough game and but for an inspired series of saves by Robbo in the first two minutes we could easily - and probably should - have been one down. As it was we found ourselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes, Knapp with the deftest of deflections and Cookiey slotting home when loose in the circle. From this point onwards from what should have been a routine victory we contrived to make hard work of the final 50 minutes with Addiscombe quite rightly finding themselves level five minutes into the second-half.

Both sides forced a series of short corners with the home side's far more threatening than ours and it was no surprise when one of theirs was squeezed home. Prior to half time we were guilty of missing a series of good chances to wrap the game up and the Addiscombe keeper began to make some saves that kept the home team in the game. As the game wore on the quality of his saves increased and one wondered if it was going to be one of those days. Five minutes into the second half another short corner was our undoing but at that stage Addiscombe were well worth the 2-2 scoreline.

The introduction of Chris Valentine settled our formation and he began to dominate down the right and when we played the type of hockey we talked about the chances came thick and fast. Eventually we scored from our last short corner of the game with Paul Acutt deflecting home a well worked move but instead of closing the game out we made some unforced errors and insted of coasting to a win it felt as if we were hanging on. A number of good chances came and went with more top draw saves by the Addiscombe keeper and it was with some relief that the final whistle blew.

This performance was better than the scoreline suggests with some excellent hockey and very good preformances from Ed Breton, Chris Brewer, Chris Valentine and man of thematch Ed Copleston. Four wins out of four is as good as it gets, but we had the same record last year before we went into a run of one point from nine. Our nemesis Bank of Boks are next up and we cannot afford anything but a win. Disappointingly our availability is again far from 100 % next week so a good opportunity for someone to grab a place and keep hold of it for future weeks. David Knapp



Ladies 1-2 Merton
This week the ladies played Merton, which give last week’s great result we had a lot of confidence to take the points in this game … but the thing about Merton is they are unpredictable.

With a full squad and pumped up we started the game hard and held the possession. Given our previous games against Merton this seemed to be slightly easier than normal as they only appeared to have a couple of strong players. In the first 20 minutes we took advantage of this, clearly taking the game to them and get a number of shots on goal. Eventually persistence paid off and from a cross from the right Steph mashed the ball past the goalie to take us one up. And while for the remainder of the first half we continued to hold possession, we allowed Merton to get a fluke equaliser as we failed to clear our back line. Bollocks!

So into half time it was all to play for … but there are times when things just don’t go your way, especially when you have no control over some things! The second half saw us loose some of our confidence and allow Merton back into the game. Things then turned slightly worse for Tux as Martin pulled out a green card (harsh!), for a dodgy tackle… this wouldn’t have been so bad but Mr and Mrs Tucker had turned up to watch their daughter for the very first time! Martin how could you!!

It was soon after this that Merton caught us on the counter and produced their second goal to take the lead… arse! Even though the final score remained 1-2 to the end the squad never gave up trying to get the equaliser but lady luck wasn’t on our side. The result leaves us mid table but with the league so tight at the top we can get straight back up there! Helen Hawes


2nd XI 3-1 Surbiton
The 2nd XI maintained their 100% record on Saturday evening, registering a third consecutive win against a poor Surbiton outfit. All in all it was a decent performance considering the amount of new faces that we drafted in, having lost Chris and Paul to the 1s. We could, and probably should; have scored at least two more goals to put a bit of gloss on the score-line but some wayward finishing meant that we found ourselves defending doggedly for the last quarter of the match.

After a sluggish start (no change there then) we began to grow in confidence and put together some fluid passing moves with Neil Grimes finding space and distributing effectively. Our defence also gave us a solid platform with new recruit Mike Grindy looking assured at right back. Another feature of the game was our movement and pace in attack with Bruce, Rory, Alex and Tissy interchanging regularly and giving their leaden footed defence a torrid time. Rory Alexander clinched our first after 20 minutes to give us a deserved lead. Although it should have been his second after one of the most inexplicable misses ever seen at TD (and there have been a few) just moments before. Confidence grew and we hunted down our second which came before the interval. More good work from Grimes set up a swift counter attack which culminated in Tissy cleverly squaring to yours truly to slot past the keeper - cue wild celebrations from me, which on reflection was a bit embarrassing, my apologies!

We began the second half on the front foot and dictated the play for extended periods with Bruce eventually applying what turned out to be the final nail in Surbiton’s coffin, his second in successive games. Surbiton, it must be said; were limited opponents whose attacking approach consisted of firing long balls in hope rather than expectation. They did however pull one back through a miss-hit short corner which cruelly wrong footed our keeper. The goal had a destabilising effect on the team and we lost our shape towards the end. But some no nonsense scrapping from Jon Heard (a rock all afternoon), Henry, Andy and Duncan ensured that we limited them to the one goal. By the end Surbiton's frustration boiled over and one of their players was sent to the bin by Sheriff Williamson (it was a pretty awful tackle and that’s coming from me) to confirm Surbiton's demise.

On to Spencer next week with a spring in our step, after a much improved performance. Well done lads!
Chris Porter


Goan 8-1 3rd XI
Report to follow ... or more likely not!

4th XI 5-0 Staines
This weekend saw the 4th XI take on Staines 5s at home. Tom Pollard re-appeared from university to make a welcome return to a defence that was missing Robin Crumbly; Nick Jocelyn returned from injury and Peter Shanks made his first appearance of the season for the 4th team.
The opening minutes of the fixture were evenly competed by both teams. We made a composed and solid start which, once we settled, allowed us to impose ourselves on the game and push forward in pursuit of the opening goal. Oxo and Bertie ‘Don’t blame the credit crunch on me’ Bance, linked well down the left flank, whilst Adam Justice battled tirelessly for the team in an unfamiliar midfield role.

The deadlock was broken towards the end of the first half. A free hit just outside the opposition area was struck hard towards the goal. Louis Strover stuck out a stick to get the all important touch of the ball before it struck the bottom right corner of the goal (1-0). Shortly afterwards, Smeer did well to connect with a similar drive (but from open play this time), deflecting it narrowly wide.
At half time, the difference between the two teams couldn’t have been more marked. As we discussed the first half there was an air of determination about the 4s who were clearly looking forward to play resuming. A glance at the other end of the pitch told an entirely different story. Staines were slumped in their goal and looked defeated already.

The second half picked up where the first half ended, with the 4s pushing forward. Oxo once again provided the drive down the left flank which led to three goals being scored in quick succession. Louis struck an early second goal with a typically powerful finish from inside the area (2-0), before Dom pushed in from close range (3-0). Louis then controlled a loose ball on the edge of the area, turned on a sixpence and smashed home a 4th (4-0). At 4-0 down, the opposition brought a previously unseen determination and aggression to their game and were clearly determined to get something back. This new found urgency was to no avail though as Grant Archer skilfully denied the Staines forward line any opportunity to settle in the area (one such occasion is shown in the photograph above).

Late on, Smeer capped a typically tenacious performance with a goal from close range (5-0), and whilst the game may be remembered for the five goals, the result was built upon a resolute defensive performance in which Steve Harmer commanded play as pivot, Grant Archer put in some memorable moments of skill as sweeper, Tom Pollard played as if he hadn’t been away and Darren Pouts made another strong display. Thanks must also go to Nick Aston who dragged himself out of bed with flu to take his starting place in the team.

The result leaves us second in the league and looking forward to a 2nd v 3rd place showdown with Old Reigatian 2s next weekend. Thanks to Duncan and Rosie for umpiring.