Match reports - November 1, 2008

The 1st XI made if five out of five with a 4-1 roasting of a tetchy and ill-disciplined Bank of Boks; the 2nd XI squandered a 2-0 lead to be held 2-2 by Reigate Priory; the 3rd XI are still looking for their first win after going down 0-5 to Old Reigatians, while the 4th XI lost 1-4 to the same opposition. Two Stuart Sleeman goals gave the Vets victory over HAC while the Ladies lost a friendly at Epsom.



1st XI 4-1 Bank of England
At last we have recorded a comprehensive win against the team that seems to always present us with problems.

We welcomed Rory Alexander into our midst following his joining the club three weeks ago and working his way via the 3rds and 2nds into the 1st XI. A hugely positive signal to all club members that by playing for one team does not mean that the door is closed to promotion within the ranks and that by turning up to training your face will become known.

The first 10 minutes saw us totally dominate the match without really creating many good chances although some scrambled clearances kept the score level. We probably had too much time and did not box that clever trying to force the wonder pass instead of being patient. The goal eventually came with Ed Breton drag flicking our third corner giving us a deserved lead. Although pressing for the remainder of the half and not taking the advantage of some good half chances Trickster had to be on his game to make an excellent one on one stop to keep the feisty Bank at bay.

A change in formation at half time suddenly opened up the game and with Bank losing their discipline we took advantage, Ed Copleston sliding in to nudge home our second and Paul Acutt finishing the best move of the game to make it 3-0. Bank's indiscipline led to two yellow cards and regrettably we joined in the testy exchanges and came off the boil. Deservedly Bank pulled one back with their taking advantage of a lapse in defence and but for man of the match Ed Breton taking one off the line it could easily have led to a very uncomfortable last 10 minutes. Nevertheless another short corner was converted with Ed Breton again popping the ball home with a sweet reverse stick strike and the points were ours.

There were two real positives from today. Firstly was the performance of the 4 players who have played second eleven hockey this season, Chris Valentine, Paul Acutt, Dodie and Rory which means that unavailability of first eleven players will mean second team hockey on their return - a healthy and correct situation. The seconds with 2 more new players were unlucky not to win and remain undefeated so suddenly training has become a premium. Secondly the average age of the first two XIs has tumbled down and so it must remain.

The best start to a league season since our halcyon years of a decade ago must now be built on with cockiness, arrogance and an expectation of winning (as opposed to a real desire to win) going to be our most likely downfall over the next four weeks. David Knapp



Spencer Saints 2-2 2nd XI
The 2nd's 100% winning streak came to an halt on a cold and damp Saturday afternoon in Earlsfield. In the end we had to settle for a "desmond " (tutu) with Spencer whose performance defied their lowly league position. It was a game we should have won, taking a 2-0 lead deep into the second half. However Spencer scored with 15 minutes to go and agonisingly drew level in stoppage time....2-2 felt like a loss.

In reflection 2-2 was probably the correct result given that Spencer provided a far sterner test than any of our previous opponents: Well organised, athletic and pacy up front they will surely climb the table throughout the course of the season. Home advantage also counted with Spencer more attuned to what was a very quick and bouncy surface.

However it was the OCs who started the stronger and carried more of a threat throughout the first half. Our two new recruits, brothers Nick and James or James and Nick (I can't tell) settling in quickly and providing some of our most promising work. But for some top notch defending we would have been two-up at the interval. Sadly and importantly we lost Bruce after 20 minutes, who damaged his shoulder in a 50/50 with a Spencer central defender. His goals and general nuisance factor were greatly missed, especially in the second half when we were trying to really apply pressure and force Spencer into errors.

Locked at 0-0 at halftime; it was collectively agreed that we could prosper if we changed the point of attack more often and with more urgency. The first goal came as a direct result of that with the ball being sprayed first left and then right before being fired into the D for Tissy to sweep home from close range. 1-0 and some Andy Murray-esque fist pumping. We continued to press without ever really being on top but managed to double our advantage after Jon Heard's viscously struck free hit was astutely deflected in by Neil Grimes. 2-0 time for cool heads and some "keep ball". Well not if you are Chris Tiss; who decided he would have a crack at decapitating and generally maiming Spencer's midfield playmaker straight from the restart. Out came the yellow card; off went the diminutive Sri Lankan. Idiot/plonker/short arse (can I still get a lift next week mate?)

As clichéd as it sounds we actually played pretty well with 10 men, kept our shape, stepped up our intensity and held out for the 10 minutes whilst Tissy was having a rest. Unfortunately with time ticking away Spencer were awarded a short corner from which a topped 6-iron inexplicably found its way into our net. 2-1. There was a general sense of foreboding as Spencer found the kitchen sink and began throwing bits of it at us, and alas; after some great work from their quick front man (who had been generally speaking well shackled by Jon and Andy) he pulled the trigger and the rest is history.

In summary - our first real test, an enjoyable game to have taken part in; but the type of game that if we want to stand any chance of winning this league; we must close out in the future. Discipline and cool heads are required to succeed and we do have enough experience to deal with situations like the one we encountered on Saturday. However we must keep our chins up, we are still undefeated, 2nd in the league with a home game on Saturday to look forward to.

Keep up the good work - those of you who aren't snatched by the 1sts on Wednesday night or have a dislocated shoulder ... Chris Porter

3rd XI 0-4 Old Reigatians
After a number of poor results the aim of the day was to try and turn our fortunes around. The weather it has to be said was not in the mood to help us out on this mission. This week we welcomed Seb and Richard to our side with Chris also making his first league start.

We started very strongly which is something that has not been seen from the 3rd XI for a while. Unfortunately though this was not to last as OR’s started to reverse the pressure onto us. This pressure ended up with OR’s gaining a short corner which they duly converted. Thanks go to Dickie for stepping in in goal for us after the last minute injury to Nige. Dickie was unfortunate not to save the short after getting an arm to the shot but not being able to stop the ball from going in.

The pressure continued to be applied on the defence of CD, Ollie and Adam and even they could not keep ORs out with them getting another couple of somewhat fortunate goals before half time. We felt pretty unlucky to be going into half time 3-0 down. The weather if anything was continuing to get worse it was noted during the second half that the rain was coming down at a pretty much 45-degree angle.

The second half continued in a similar fashion although the midfield did strengthen up with Armo, Ross, Seb, Richard, Chaz and Chris all starting to link up a lot better. There are some link up plays which we can improve on here but this will come as the midfield play together more. Additionally with the midfield linking better this started to bring Preston and Dave into the game a lot more and we managed to make a lot more chances in the 2nd half. Nevertheless despite this better play ORs were still able to catch us on the break another couple of times and the end result was a 5-0 beating.

The results will come once the team start gelling together we just hope that that is sooner rather than later. Nigel Hawes


Old Reigatians 4-1 4th XI
Report to follow.

Veterans 2-1 HAC
A 10.00 am home game so no change to the usual routine for a vets game of most of the guys turning up at 9.55am some claiming that they had done their warm up by turning their car heaters on full. By 10.10 am we we ready to go on this very cold morning with the OCs having 12 players and providng two umpires in the well wrapped up Cook and Eve with HAC with 11 players.

This must have been one of the first games in many a year with no Eve or Pollard on the team sheet, both breaking bits of their bodies in recent weeks in the line of duty without knowing it. Andy Eve taking a tumble and hurting his shoulder three weeks ago and only finding out that he had dislocated his collar bone a few days later at casualty. Wade was heard to remark in the pub that Andy was a bit of a plonker for not going to check it out after the game, after a game that he had hurt his foot but played to the end. It was not until the week just gone that Wade seeing the Doc for his company medical was told that he had broken his metatarsal bone in his foot!...as you can see these vets boys are made of stern stuff!

So to the HAC game, which started without stalwart keeper Pete Shanks who was in the garden when called by Andy at 10.00 am. Amazingly he was on the pitch 25 mins later in full keepers kit to pull of one of his trademark double saves. A scrappy first quarter gave way to some "just like watching The Arsenal on a good day" hockey for the rest of the first half with Speers, Butcher and Loades solid as rocks at the back happy that their old mate Pete was now behind them protecting their rear flank.

Tireless running from Jonny "Dorian" Grey and Nelligan and no little flair from Orsborn and Hothersall soon had the old army boys chasing shadows. All that was lacking was a goal to make the silky stuff count. This was finally provided by that fox in the box , his honour Judge Stuart Sleeman showing all the "its just like riding a bike" skills of old as someone finally got on the end of one of the many crosses that were being fired into the D.

Half time was taken with a sense of relief that the good work put in had resulted in some reward at last. The only regret was that no one had thought to get a jug of the mulled wine now on tap at the bar to warm things up a bit more.....

The second half brought more frustrations as a second goal proved difficult to get. Eventually this led to a few of the lads attempting a bit too much and possession was often given away far to cheeply allowing the army boys to get their dander up and start having a go. This eventually led to an equaliser which actually shocked the OC troops into more positive action. A few calm heads were needed just to work possession into the right areas and get back to playing it simple. We also needed to get on the end of things in the danger area again.

Cue the man of the moment. The goal poacher himself, Judge Sleeman spotting a ball coming over from his fellow court room man of action Councillor Dave Burles QC, gets the most important of deflections to stear the ball into the back of the net for the winner. The defense then decided that was enough of that so shut up shop for the remaining minutes to produce the win that the lads deserved.

The beer never tasted so good after that in the bar............and the chilli for lunch finally warmed the boys up. Tommy Trinder


Epsom 2nd XI 2-1 Ladies
On a miserable Saturday afternoon we found ourselves at Blenheim playing a friendly against Epsom 3s, from Divison 2. At the start of the day we had 12 players which by recent standards is not many of us, and by the time we met we were down to 11 which meant no subs for a change! Following confusion over meeting times, Ems was running late so we started the match with 10 men, a little disorganised and with several players out of usual position. The rain had started to bucket down and the match looked set to be hard work, although we were looking forward to a no pressure match.

We started slow which was to be expected and we were all having to work extra hard, especially the forwards on closing down the ball, and by this time we had news that Ems was in a cab and on her way from Streatham, so we were determined to work hard try and put some pressure on Epsom and use the match as a good fitness session! Epsom dominated the first 10 minutes and we were forced to defend fairly hard. We soon found our stride though and settled down and began moving the ball around the back, creating space and getting around Epsom with some quick passing, skillful play and fast runs. We had several crosses into the Epsom circle and a penalty corner but no finish. We were pressurising well but a break from Epsom and some complacent defending from us say Epsom take the lead against the run of play. We went into half time wet, bedraggled and still waiting on Ems to arrive. The jelly babies - a gift from Epsom - were gratefully received, a very nice gesture from our oppo. We talked tactics whilst we learned Ems and the cabby were still battling the traffic and Tux reminded us as we stood there hair plastered to the sides of our faces, soaked through and getting cold that this match was for 'fun'!

Second half we new we just had to stick to our players, try and keep the pace up and continue to play our hockey and an equaliser would come and sure enough it did after five minutes from a pass into the D to Caz to Dor who 'melted' it into the goal. We were back in the game. Epsom upped the pressure and were obviously a little narked and things started to become a little more feisty, Nikki in the middle battling it out with her opposing playing and nearly getting a stick in the head (and not whilst playing the ball either!) She retaliated in the best way possible, by demonstrating superb skill and dribbling circles around her opponent. Half way through the second half Epsom had a spate of penalty corners and pushed their players high we defended well on the whole with Lucy who had stepped into Stephs pads in goal for the week having to pull off some cracking saves to keep the score level. Eventually, Ems showed up and we were glad to have some fresh legs to keep us going and try to get a grip on the game again. Just as she arrived we conceded another penalty corner which unfortunately after a melee in the circle the ball was slammed into Mrs Hawes foot who was covering the post - causing Hels a fair bit of pain but not as much pain as the penalty flick that was awarded. Epsom converted and took the lead again. We didn't give up and Ems made her mission to the pitch worth while with some silky skills on the right and a fantastic ball hammered into the circle across the goal mouth but unfortunately our tired legs failed to get on the end of it. We won a final penalty corner but failed to convert and then the final whistle blew. Despite the weather and the fact we lost, it was an enjoyable match. Thanks to Tux for getting it organised, to Ems who spent God knows how much on the cab (we shall def buy her a few beers bonfire night to make up for it!) and to the Epsom umpire for umpiring the whole match. Jackie Waite