Match reports - November 29, 2008

The 1st XI returned to winning ways – and the top of the table - with a 4-2 victory over Surrey Old Boys, and the 2nd XI maintained their title ambitions with a 3-0 win at Barnes. But there was less to smile about for the 3rd XI who went down 3-2 to Camberley, while the good starts by the 4th XI and Ladies now seem some time ago. The 4th XI have now lost four in five after losing 1-2 at OMWs, while the Ladies, who lost 1-3 at Tulse Hill, have now taken only one point out of the last 15.

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1st XI 4-2 Surrey Old Boys
After the disappointment of last week it was imperative to bounce back not only with a win but a convincing performance. We welcomed back Duffy from his travels but with Bruce at Twickenham we were thin on the ground - nearly as this as Will's hair. Talking of which Will lasted a total of 46 seconds before doing something to his back and that was the end of his Saturday afternoon exercise. Accordingly Eds was thrust into an alien role and then proceeded to take no chances and perform his duties well.

Cato and Duffy worked well in the middle together and this enabled Ed B to play further up the field with his working well with Rippers b oth having a greater presence than in most games this season higher up the pitch. We kept the ball short and sharp and although Trickster had to mop up a number of bits and pieces we dominated the first period and scored three goals with incisive play down the right, hitting the back line enabling Ed B to score one and Gavin two - all three either tap-ins or deflections. SOBS had some good individual players but perhaps lacked the team work that with their enthusiasm could cause others in the league problems.

The second half saw us a little more ragged but Knapp shot home to make it 4-0 at which point the opposition came back at us and nicked two goals. We created chances but became too strung out and lacked the earlier cohesion and this has to be down to a lack of fitness. There was also the case of an incorrect choice of options at various points but nevertheless this was an impressive performance ahead of the two big ones left before the break.

Last week we lost to HAC, allowing Wanderers to leapfrog us at the top of the table. This week HAC did the same to Wanderers, allowing us to return to the top, two points clear of Wanderers and OMWs. We play both these sides in the next fortnight. David Knapp



Barnes 0-3 2nd XI
After taking on the league leaders the previous weekend it was onto third-placed Barnes, third only by virtue of a weaker goal difference than ours. We arrived at a miserable and cold Chiswick expecting a tough assignment, in truth it was nothing more than a routine victory for a team growing in confidence and desire. Barnes were not helped by the fact that their best player (by a mile) pulled his hamstring after five minutes and had to play up front in the "hobbling around role", but to be honest there was only ever one team in this contest (so ill keep it brief this week!).

We made a couple of changes to the side that drew with Whitgift: Andy Selby filling in at right back for Mez and myself and Duncan swapping roles - I moved to left midfield and Duncan moved to defensive midfield. On the whole the changes worked as I was given more licence to get forward and consequently scored a couple of goals whilst Duncan set about their midfield breaking down attacks and harrying Barnes into errors.

To say we dominated the first half would be an understatement. I can’t remember them ever really being in our half longer than a few seconds, it was one-way traffic. We made multiple forays into Barnes' D and if their umpire had gone to Specsavers we could have had about 10 short corners. We went one up after 15 minutes after the ball was squared to me to sweep into the roof of the net from close range. Minutes later after a short corner (which should have been a flick and a card after their sweeper made a heroic goal line clearance with his foot) and some pinball action the ball broke to Rory who connected sweetly with a reverse-stick strike which whistled past the keeper. I take full credit for this as it was me who during the warm up told everyone not to try anything to flashy in the D and to put the ball on a foot etc - reverse psychology.

2-0 up at the break and it could have been three or four. We never really kicked on after half time which was a bit disappointing, we managed to get a third (I got on the end of a deflection and tucked it away again from close range) fairly early on which effectively killed the game and both sides knew it. Barnes hit a post but that was about as close as they came. Neil Grimes also went close late on but was unfortunate not to score. In truth with the game won our intensity dipped and our passing and movement also faltered - I think we all had one eye on the warmth of the dressing room. If we had maintained our first half form and improved our awareness and distribution when on the break we could have doubled our advantage such was the paucity of resistance coming from Barnes whose league position looks fairly flattering based on that performance.

So we remain hot on Whitgift's heels with two games to go before Xmas. We must win them both so we can mount a serious title challenge in the New Year. Special mention to the defence - nine goals conceded in eight games is by far the best record in the league, keep up the good work! Chris Porter


Tulse Hill 2-1 Ladies
Saturday saw as trek halfway round the south circular to play TH&D away on a cold morning. We had a good warm-up and were revved up and ready to go from the start. The first half was pretty evenly matched with some good attacking plays from us and them. We scored first with some good quick passing up and into the TH circle for Vikki to slot past their keeper to take us 1-0 up. However, it wasn’t long before we conceded our first penalty corner which TH converted with a merciless straight strike. The pay was end to end with TH pressurising us well on 16 and us likewise. We conceded another penalty corner but successfully defended it second time around. At half time the score was 1-1.

The second half saw both teams battling hard but we seemed to be tiring as we struggled to keep up with our TH counterparts. Another short corner conceded by us and converted by them saw TH go 2-1 ahead. It also seemed to be a half of injuries as Rewa in goal was forced to run out and make a save and went down falling on her shoulder. She didn’t get back up and he suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder. We had no subs were one down and I was starting to think about donning the keepers pads and helmet. Fortunately after some time testing the wounded limb she tentatively got to her feet and bravely continued the game. Five minutes later Gayle received a stick in the face, there was no blood and again she bravely continued on. Mez then got a ball in the hand but after a bit of hopping around carried on! We battled on trying to keep the pace high taking quick balls to get ourselves back in the game, but unfortunately we just didn’t mark our players enough and for the second week in a row couldn’t seem to score. After a break by TH they scored a third goal to secure the match for themselves. It wasn’t a good game by the girls and we will have plenty to work on in training this week if we want to end our streak of draws and losses. Jackie Waite



3rd XI 2-3 Camberley
Bollocks ... bollocks ... and more bollocks. Nigel Hawes

OMWs 1-2 4th XI
Report to follow.