Match reports - February 14, 2009
The Bank of England have helped destroy the economy, and they pretty much did the same for our hopes of winning Surrey Division One with a 4-1 win over the 1st XI. The Ladies slipped to their fifth straight loss, going down 1-2 at Surrey’s other South African side, Merton, and the 3rd and 4th XIs both lost to Old Reigatians. The only glimmer of light came with the 2nd XI’s 2-0 win over Spencer, but they “won” the game 5-0 after the opposition failed to arrive with a keeper or anyone willing to take on the role.
Bank of England 4-1 1st XI
Another disappointing result at Bank of England against an efficient Bank side who fully deserved the three points. Once again however our ever present self destruct button was in evidence and firmly pressed.
We missed Cato, James Wood and Rippers big time but it could and should have been so very different. The second goal was always going to be the key, we fluffed our lines but Bank did not.
Bank had the better of the early exchanges as we took our time to find our feet but when we did come into the game we played some very good and enterprising hockey creating a number of chances that the Bank keeper dealt with comfortably. Our first short corner was followed by our second and Nick Lewis's shot was stopped on the line by a Bank foot and Knapp put home the resultant stroke. We could have scored again before the break but one goal difference was probably a fair reflection of the first period. At half-time we knew the second goal was crucial.
We began the second half as we finished the first and should have gone two up within five minutes but Knapp missed a golden chance when set up by Cookiey following our best move of the match. Two minutes later Bank were level. A Bank foot was missed on the half way line by an apologetic Sean but full credit to the Bank scorer whose sublime dummy took Trickster out of the game and made a difficult finish look easy. At this point the button was pressed with Ed Breton starting his unjustified tirade against Sean earning yet another yellow card. Down to 10 men and with defensive resources at a minimum we were forced to put the excellent Jonny Hunter to sweeper taking him out of the role he had played so very well at the bottom of the diamond. Five minutes later a sloppy pass gave Bank their second - and again we were penalised by the loss of Breton.
From this point onwards we were chasing the game. A number of shuffles in the pack produced some good moments but we were unable to unpick the 10-man defence of the home side. Bank scored their third on the break with another good finish, we wasted three shorts and even when having the extra player ourselves did not look dangerous. The denouement came with Bank's fourth, a super strike from the top of the D.
Our rejuvenated and youngest side for many years - if not ever - was unable to cope with the need to win a crucial game but fair play to Bank who made the most of their few chances to score four very good goals.
Seriously disappointing but still a huge amount to play for albeit a difficult mountain to climb. Bank must now be favourites to win the league as they are on a hot streak of form and have in the past three weeks disposed of the points above them with consummate ease. David Knapp
2nd XI 2-0 Spencer Saints
Spencer arrived "looking like a bunch of students" according to one onlooker and, true to student form, failed to provide a keeper or even anyone willing to go into goal. As a result, we were handed a 5-0 walkover, hardly a satisfactory state of affairs for the people who had turned up. A decent friendly followed which we won 2-0, squandering a hatful of chances.
Old Reigatians 4-1 3rd XI
We faced a tough challenge against the league leaders Old Regiations, arriving at the ground with four players with the opposition already warming up. At push back we did eventually did manage to get 11 out on the pitch.
We started well with good ball pace moving through the midfield well. Defensively we also looked stronger. Unfortunately we could not hold on to 11 players for long with Jock getting a yellow card. This lead to continued pressure at the back and we conceded. Unfortunately we then went onto concede a second within quick succession.
With 11 back on the pitch we started moving the ball nicely again the midfield with Chris Scott making some great runs down the left then linking well with Andy and Ross up front. This lead to some good chances at this point I will apologise to Armo as he did set Chris B up with a chance that was easier to score than miss (I blame it on the bad knee!).
Unfortunately we could not reach half time without conceding a third. We went into half time 3-0 down. As the team talk reflected we had played some good hockey in the first half and we unlucky to be 3-0 down.
As our captain said go into the second half and pretend its all square. At the back we held strong with Tim, Jock, CD and Ewan all putting in their fair share on tackles. When I oppo did get through Nige was making some great saves. Doug and Chris S we giving as the width and we were starting to exert some pressure on the oppositions goal winning some short corners and getting some shots on goal. And yes Armo, Chris B did also miss another sitter(I blame this on not having my own stick).
We did concede again with Reigate getting through on a counter attack. However we all dug in and never gave up. A few minutes before the end. We got a short corner. The ball came out to Jock who struck the ball sweetly to the left hand post where Doug was waiting to slot the ball past the keeper.
The game finished 4-1. The score line did not reflect how much better we have played compared to previous weeks. If we can perform every week there is hope for the rest of season . Well done to everyone that played it was good team effort all round. Nigel Hawes
4th XI 0-4 Old Reigatians
a thoroughly entertaining match against a side who are our most welcome visitors, playing in the right spirit on and off the field. The scoreline didn't do us justice but the result was fair. Louis Strover could have scored five but all his bullet-like shots went inches wide.
Merton 2-1 Ladies XI
We were in dire need of a win and some much-deserved points to add to our tally. Merton were mid-table and we knew we were more than capable of beating any team in our league on our day – it just hasn’t been our day recently.
However, the match started and it was always going to be an uphill battle against Merton’s 12 - 11 on the field and their umpire. The game was fairly even to start with, some scrappy play from both sides, neither playing to their full potential. But after 15 mins or so we settled and began to play better hockey with good touches, quick passing and some good attacking play. Merton had some good attacking play too which we defended well although eventually conceded a penalty corner. This was where the match became controversial. A shot on goal hit the post and rebounded out onto Sarah’s foot – not toward the goal line though therefore not preventing a probable goal. We expected another shorty and started to get ourselves back into position to defend it, however the Merton umps had other plans. Not being sure which had been hit first – the post as could clearly be heard or the players foot in front of the goal line. Play was stopped to discuss with our umps, and after the discussion, as the Merton umpire wasn’t certain which it had hit, our umps saying it was the post first, he was over ruled and a flick was awarded which Merton took advantage of going 1-0 up. Although we felt this incredibly unfair we relished the challenge and kept our heads up.
After half time the match got even more ‘interesting’. Several calls that should have been shorts in our favour somehow went Merton’s way, our umps blowing in our favour and being told off by the 12th Merton player for blowing in ‘her D’. We did not allow ourselves to get rattled however (well maybe only me on the sidelines) and we kept pushing Merton’s defense with some fast breaks from May and some very quick passing between Niks, Nina and Liz in the midfield eventually saw Liza fire home an equalising goal for her first OC goal, which couldn’t have come at a better time. At 1-1 we were ready for more goals and yet more breaks from May with Snoopy, Dora and Liza pressurising the Merton keeps who made some great saves. We did manage to gain ourselves some short corners though not before time, however failed to capitalise on these. Merton kept the pressure on us too with Tux, Mez, Lucy and Rosie doing their usual sterling job in the defense and Sarah playing as Sweeper having to make some crunching – but fair tackles. After 1 particular tackle in our umps end which the Merton player on the receiving end didn’t like (however was a good tackle from the clear view of our umps), it was time for the Merton umps to step in again (surely not in our umpires half?). The whistle was blown and the cards were being reached for … however, our ump was having none of it as the tackle was clearly good. No card, but a firm talking to from the Merton umps over a clean tackle …
Eventually, and this is where memory fails me in the adrenalin of the match, Merton scored another goal to take them again into the lead which although we continued to fight hard until the very end in true OCLHC style, we didn’t recover from. Maybe this match report is slightly biased and sees things from the OC perspective. And to be fair, the umps was consistent in the fact that the decisions were consistently bad - for both teams, however the worst decision of all was what eventually lost us the match. Well done to the OC ladies, we did have a good game and played some of the best hockey we have seen all season, and most of all for keeping our calm and composure. Thanks to our umps for what must have been a frustrating match to umpire. Jackie Waite
Bank of England 4-1 1st XI
Another disappointing result at Bank of England against an efficient Bank side who fully deserved the three points. Once again however our ever present self destruct button was in evidence and firmly pressed.
We missed Cato, James Wood and Rippers big time but it could and should have been so very different. The second goal was always going to be the key, we fluffed our lines but Bank did not.
Bank had the better of the early exchanges as we took our time to find our feet but when we did come into the game we played some very good and enterprising hockey creating a number of chances that the Bank keeper dealt with comfortably. Our first short corner was followed by our second and Nick Lewis's shot was stopped on the line by a Bank foot and Knapp put home the resultant stroke. We could have scored again before the break but one goal difference was probably a fair reflection of the first period. At half-time we knew the second goal was crucial.
We began the second half as we finished the first and should have gone two up within five minutes but Knapp missed a golden chance when set up by Cookiey following our best move of the match. Two minutes later Bank were level. A Bank foot was missed on the half way line by an apologetic Sean but full credit to the Bank scorer whose sublime dummy took Trickster out of the game and made a difficult finish look easy. At this point the button was pressed with Ed Breton starting his unjustified tirade against Sean earning yet another yellow card. Down to 10 men and with defensive resources at a minimum we were forced to put the excellent Jonny Hunter to sweeper taking him out of the role he had played so very well at the bottom of the diamond. Five minutes later a sloppy pass gave Bank their second - and again we were penalised by the loss of Breton.
From this point onwards we were chasing the game. A number of shuffles in the pack produced some good moments but we were unable to unpick the 10-man defence of the home side. Bank scored their third on the break with another good finish, we wasted three shorts and even when having the extra player ourselves did not look dangerous. The denouement came with Bank's fourth, a super strike from the top of the D.
Our rejuvenated and youngest side for many years - if not ever - was unable to cope with the need to win a crucial game but fair play to Bank who made the most of their few chances to score four very good goals.
Seriously disappointing but still a huge amount to play for albeit a difficult mountain to climb. Bank must now be favourites to win the league as they are on a hot streak of form and have in the past three weeks disposed of the points above them with consummate ease. David Knapp
2nd XI 2-0 Spencer Saints
Spencer arrived "looking like a bunch of students" according to one onlooker and, true to student form, failed to provide a keeper or even anyone willing to go into goal. As a result, we were handed a 5-0 walkover, hardly a satisfactory state of affairs for the people who had turned up. A decent friendly followed which we won 2-0, squandering a hatful of chances.
Old Reigatians 4-1 3rd XI
We faced a tough challenge against the league leaders Old Regiations, arriving at the ground with four players with the opposition already warming up. At push back we did eventually did manage to get 11 out on the pitch.
We started well with good ball pace moving through the midfield well. Defensively we also looked stronger. Unfortunately we could not hold on to 11 players for long with Jock getting a yellow card. This lead to continued pressure at the back and we conceded. Unfortunately we then went onto concede a second within quick succession.
With 11 back on the pitch we started moving the ball nicely again the midfield with Chris Scott making some great runs down the left then linking well with Andy and Ross up front. This lead to some good chances at this point I will apologise to Armo as he did set Chris B up with a chance that was easier to score than miss (I blame it on the bad knee!).
Unfortunately we could not reach half time without conceding a third. We went into half time 3-0 down. As the team talk reflected we had played some good hockey in the first half and we unlucky to be 3-0 down.
As our captain said go into the second half and pretend its all square. At the back we held strong with Tim, Jock, CD and Ewan all putting in their fair share on tackles. When I oppo did get through Nige was making some great saves. Doug and Chris S we giving as the width and we were starting to exert some pressure on the oppositions goal winning some short corners and getting some shots on goal. And yes Armo, Chris B did also miss another sitter(I blame this on not having my own stick).
We did concede again with Reigate getting through on a counter attack. However we all dug in and never gave up. A few minutes before the end. We got a short corner. The ball came out to Jock who struck the ball sweetly to the left hand post where Doug was waiting to slot the ball past the keeper.
The game finished 4-1. The score line did not reflect how much better we have played compared to previous weeks. If we can perform every week there is hope for the rest of season . Well done to everyone that played it was good team effort all round. Nigel Hawes
4th XI 0-4 Old Reigatians
a thoroughly entertaining match against a side who are our most welcome visitors, playing in the right spirit on and off the field. The scoreline didn't do us justice but the result was fair. Louis Strover could have scored five but all his bullet-like shots went inches wide.
Merton 2-1 Ladies XI
We were in dire need of a win and some much-deserved points to add to our tally. Merton were mid-table and we knew we were more than capable of beating any team in our league on our day – it just hasn’t been our day recently.
However, the match started and it was always going to be an uphill battle against Merton’s 12 - 11 on the field and their umpire. The game was fairly even to start with, some scrappy play from both sides, neither playing to their full potential. But after 15 mins or so we settled and began to play better hockey with good touches, quick passing and some good attacking play. Merton had some good attacking play too which we defended well although eventually conceded a penalty corner. This was where the match became controversial. A shot on goal hit the post and rebounded out onto Sarah’s foot – not toward the goal line though therefore not preventing a probable goal. We expected another shorty and started to get ourselves back into position to defend it, however the Merton umps had other plans. Not being sure which had been hit first – the post as could clearly be heard or the players foot in front of the goal line. Play was stopped to discuss with our umps, and after the discussion, as the Merton umpire wasn’t certain which it had hit, our umps saying it was the post first, he was over ruled and a flick was awarded which Merton took advantage of going 1-0 up. Although we felt this incredibly unfair we relished the challenge and kept our heads up.
After half time the match got even more ‘interesting’. Several calls that should have been shorts in our favour somehow went Merton’s way, our umps blowing in our favour and being told off by the 12th Merton player for blowing in ‘her D’. We did not allow ourselves to get rattled however (well maybe only me on the sidelines) and we kept pushing Merton’s defense with some fast breaks from May and some very quick passing between Niks, Nina and Liz in the midfield eventually saw Liza fire home an equalising goal for her first OC goal, which couldn’t have come at a better time. At 1-1 we were ready for more goals and yet more breaks from May with Snoopy, Dora and Liza pressurising the Merton keeps who made some great saves. We did manage to gain ourselves some short corners though not before time, however failed to capitalise on these. Merton kept the pressure on us too with Tux, Mez, Lucy and Rosie doing their usual sterling job in the defense and Sarah playing as Sweeper having to make some crunching – but fair tackles. After 1 particular tackle in our umps end which the Merton player on the receiving end didn’t like (however was a good tackle from the clear view of our umps), it was time for the Merton umps to step in again (surely not in our umpires half?). The whistle was blown and the cards were being reached for … however, our ump was having none of it as the tackle was clearly good. No card, but a firm talking to from the Merton umps over a clean tackle …
Eventually, and this is where memory fails me in the adrenalin of the match, Merton scored another goal to take them again into the lead which although we continued to fight hard until the very end in true OCLHC style, we didn’t recover from. Maybe this match report is slightly biased and sees things from the OC perspective. And to be fair, the umps was consistent in the fact that the decisions were consistently bad - for both teams, however the worst decision of all was what eventually lost us the match. Well done to the OC ladies, we did have a good game and played some of the best hockey we have seen all season, and most of all for keeping our calm and composure. Thanks to our umps for what must have been a frustrating match to umpire. Jackie Waite
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