Match reports - March 28, 2009

As the season slowly winds down, the 1st XI kept up the pressure on Wanderers with a 3-2 win at OMWs, but the 2nd XI, unchanged for the first time this season, missed out after Epsom failed to raise a side. The Ladies went down 0-3 to Wimbledon.

OMWs 2-3 1st XI
Well, we came needing three points and came away with three points - just. Our team talk concluded with the very prophetic words of "we don't want to be playing the last five minutes only one goal ahead - we must kill the game off early on. We, er ended up 3-2 up with five minutes to go, having been one up inside five minutes and then Knapp having a stroke saved two minutes later. Two-nil at that stage would have killed off the game. As it was we were indebted to Trickster who had his best game of the season making three fine saves in the last quarter with the pick being the one on one at the top of the D with ball and then man being cleared out of the circle. How different it could and should have been.

We started very well, forcing three corners in the first five minutes with Knapp fortuitously rolling home, rolling being the operative word, the third of them. We continued to press and forced a stroke with Jonny Hunter being impeded when about to shoot but the resulting stroke was poor and easily saved by the keeper. Nevertheless we continued to press and created a series of good chances that we were unable to convert partly due to some excellent goal keeping and our profligacy in front of goal. In between times OMWs looked dangerous on the break, forced some corners and a one-goal lead was never going to be enough.

In the second half we had shots taken off the line, mistrapped when under pressure and began to leave ourselves exposed at the back. OMWs belied their post Christmas poor run of results putting us under pressure and quite clearly saw an opportunity to upset our promotion aspirations. Not to be denied though, Eds dribbled home a topped short corner strike and two fortunate goals had given us the breathing space we required. OMWs are nothing if not fighters and pulled one back when Wobble was deemed to have impeded the oppo's striker and gave away a stroke and earned a yellow. OMWs showed us how to take a stroke. 2 minutes later and whilst down to 10 A sweet move down the right saw Eds crash home our third and with OMWs losing their left half for five minutes for a clumsy stick tackle with 10 minutes to go the game should have been closed out. 2 perfectly weighted passes by Gavin into the D went begging and we were to pay the penalty when OMWs deflected home a crash free hit - five minutes to go. Up stepped Trickster to make those two of those three saves including a left-leg stretch popping the ball round the post.

Hold out we did and so a win next week against Addiscombe - who also need the points for different reasons - will give us the promotion spot we have been yearning for four years.

Last word goes to Rob Parry who umpired his last game (a bit like me retiring four years ago perhaps) as well as he always has done, providing class in the most difficult of roles on the hockey field. Never confrontational Rob has earned the respect of players at all levels and his sanguine and level headed approach has always pervaded through the tensest of situations. Rob, many thanks for your involvement over the many years you have umpired and best wishes for your retirement - as long as that may be ... David Knapp


Wimbledon 3-0 Ladies XI
Keeping it brief it was not our finest hour. We seemed to be a bit lethargic from the start and Wimbledon seemed to be that much quicker and fitter than us, passing the ball around easily and being the team to make the 50/50's. We were not outclassed and are were more than capable of beating the Wimbledon side, we just weren't really with it on the day. There were moments of good hockey and Steph in goal having to pull off a couple of great saves including an awesome double save. There were a couple of short corners each end with Wimbledon being the side to convert.. At half time it was 1-0. In the second half Wimbledon managed to secure the win with two more goals. The final score finished 3-0. Thanks to Goalie for umping. It is not all over yet though we are relying on the two teams above us to lose next week, but if they lose and we win our two final matches, we would actually stay up!! So lets put this match behind us girls and pull out a better performance next week to give a hope of staying up for our penultimate match! Jackie Waite

Match reports - March 21, 2009

Although a Rory Alexander goal five minutes from time secured the 1st XI a draw with leaders Wanderers, it was not enough to put the league in our hands, and we now have to win our remaining games and hope they slip up. The 2nd XI thumped Reigate Priory 5-0, and the Ladies recorded their second win in six days with a 2-0 victory over Tulse Hill. The 3rd XI went down 1-5 to Reigate, confirming their relegation, but the goals rained in at Aldershot where the 3rd XI lost 6-10 and at Surbiton where the Vets lost 2-8.

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1st XI 2-2 Wanderers
A great day, great umpiring and a great game of hockey which was by far and away the best game we have played in all season and doubtless the best since we played against Wanderers 12 months ago and drew 2-2 on that occasion too. Both sides wanted a win, Wanderers to seal the league with two games to go and us to keep alive our faint hopes of winning the league. The first game of the season against Wanderers was one which we felt we had let slip having been 2-0 up and losing to the last hit of the game but there is no question that Wanderers will be going back up the A3 wondering how they failed to win the three points today

We knew the first 10 minutes would be crucial as Wanderers would not want to allow us a head start like last time and so it proved to be. Wanderers tore us apart in the first 10 and could easily have been two, maybe three up. However their shooting boots had been left at home with only two goals from their shot count of 27. We made a series of big tackles and for all their pressure and shots Trickster had very little to do with the shots either being blocked or being shoved wide. As the game wore on we came back into it and in the final analysis made our corners count with two from 10 whilst the oppo converted none from 15.

David Knapp had a good chance after 15, picking the ball up in front of the keeper, taking it wide but hitting the post when he should have done better and Rory, who scored both, failing to convert Adair's cross following his best run of the season down the left. That would have made it 2 - 0 at half time Rory having put us one up deflecting home Eds’ sweetly-struck shot. Our corners looked dangerous their keeper dealing with two Hunter powerflicks with ease but Wanderers threw huge aerials that continually released the pressure and gave us plenty to think about.

1 - 0 at half time should have been made two by Eds from the top of the D, Cookiey who hurried and snatched at a spanking through pass from Gavin and then again by Cookiey two minutes later who tried a reverse stick strike from the bye line when we had two at the top of the D waiting for a pull back with the goalie and last defender out of position.

A couple of minutes later Wanderers deservedly equalised with a quick free hit that was rolled home by the striker as we stopped, argued and then looked at the umpire as an excuse - unprofessional for what was a perfectly legitimate goal. Five minutes later an uncharacteristic error by our man of the season thus far, Cato, gave Wanderers a 2 on 1 against Trickster and we were up against it. Shades of December 6.

Not to be outdone we forced a short corner and an intricate move that was not quite off the training pitch enabled Rory to tap in from a foot and it remained at 2 - 2 for the last five minutes. Wanderers were without a doubt the happier at the end with a point but to have won the league we would have had to thump Wanderers and then have two weeks of strange results.

We wish Wanderers all the best next season and they have definitely been the best side in the league for arguably two years. My biggest complaint is to question why they lost the play off last season thus resulting in our having to play them this season !!

All to play for in the last two games with two wins securing us second spot. David Knapp

Reigate Priory 0-5 2nd XI
A routine win over a side who started the day nibbling at our heels in which our defence remained unflappable against the huff-and-puff approach of Reigate. The first quarter was evenly fought, Reigate creating several half-chances, but a superb Ed Breton flick from a short corner gave us the lead midway through the half, and then Chris Valentine swept in a second on the stroke of half-time. The second half was scrappy with some indifferent tackling, and as we took our chances Reigate’s composure fell away, culminating in the their captain being yellowed for dissent. We continued the break down attacks while taking our chances, and could have had a sixth but for some generous umpiring when the keeper took out Paul Acutt.

3rd XI 1-5 Reigate Priory
Despite the scoreline, we were not overwhelmingly outplayed, but we gave away the ball too much, shipped some fairly tame goals, and failed to use our width. Three goals in seven minutes midway through the first half killed the game, and from then on it was fairly low-key stuff. The Reigate keeper’s clean sheet disappeared with the last hit of the game. The result confirmed the relegation we all knew was inevitable from before Christmas.

Aldershot 10-6 3rd XI
Report to follow.

Ladies 2-0 Tulse Hill
Report to follow.

Match reports - March 14, 2009

The 1st XI did the business with a 3-0 win at Surrey Old Boys, while the 2nd XI left it late, Tom Merry scoring the winner two minutes from time in a 3-2 win over Barnes. The 3rd XI snatched their sixth point of the season with a 0-0 draw at Camberley, while four first-half goals, including a Louis Strover hat-trick, helped the 4th XI to a 4-2 win over Old Midwhits. The Ladies went down 0-1 at Guildford.


Surrey OBs 0-31st XI
On a pitch that traditionally is one on which we struggle this weekend's game against SOBS was no exception but an important win with another clean sheet.

One up in two minutes when Rory converted following a fluent move down the right, we perhaps thought the game would be too easy. We did convert a series of chances but SOBS looked dangerous on the break with our providing far too much space between our forwards and midfield and midfield and defence. The game turned on Tricksters save of a penalty stroke midway through the second half - no flick saves are easy although SOBS stroke taker made a hash of his stroke - the swig of water perhaps unsettling the taker.

Two minutes later the game was killed off, Rory again on hand to slot home a well-worked corner and Knapp had the easiest of chances at 2-0 to make it three and end the scoring. In between times we missed a stack of chances, yours truly deciding football a better past time than hockey on a couple of occasions, but win we did to go into next week's game with all to play for. Another solid defensive performance but slightly lacking at the sharp end. David Knapp

2nd XI 3-2 Barnes
After the high of the victory against the current league leaders last weekend there was always the danger that some complacency would creep in this weekend against mid-table Barnes. Despite unfortunately having only ten men for much of the game, it was a fantastic effort to come away 3-2 winners in a hard fought and bloody encounter!

We started brightly and immediately signalled our intent to move the ball around quickly. The control was rewarded early on with Ed Breton smartly finishing from close range after a unselfish and important pass from Preston Rutt. Unfortunately, it was to be Preston's final contribution as he was summoned to A&E after his little boy, Archie, had been taken ill. We
wish Archie all the best and hope he makes a swift recovery.

Having lost Chris Valentine to the 1st XI late on Friday, this left us reeling with only ten. Unsurprisingly the balance of the match shifted and a fine finish late in the first half from an almost impossible angle meant we were level at 1-1 at the interval.

We continued to struggle at the start of the second half and failed to pressure their goal. That was until Ed produced an almost carbon copy of his first goal. Drawing the keeper out before calmly slotting from close range, it was a crucial turn as we again prised a vital lead.
Barnes then managed to equalize, drawing level following another fine finish.

A couple of nasty head injuries left Barnes without the advantage of fresh legs but still with 11 men to our 10. We hope that the injuries are not serious and wish them both a quick recovery. It was only the arrival of Andy Eve, summoned from his sofa, that allowed us to return to 11 men, plug the gaping holes and maintain some sustained pressure. After a couple of mediocre short corner routines, we finally got the third, which proved to be the vital winning goal, two minutes from time. Again a fine Wobble by Ed and a well-timed pass alllowed Tom Merry to squeeze the ball in from a tight angle. Two goals from two games but fortunately this week the ball ended in the opposition net!

Barnes had chances to draw level again, notably when a shot ricocheted of James Robson's shoulder just over the bar. But a resilient performance ended in an important win that leaves us well placed to challenge for the league. More of the same next week! Rob Merry

Camberley 0-0 3rd XI
Report to follow

4th XI 4-2 Old Midwhitgiftians
This match produced a truly bizarre first-half in which Old Midwhits dominated the midfield, produced some slick passing moves, and found themselves 4-0 down at the break. They paid for failing to put enough pressure on the goal and also for giving the evergreen Louis Strover far too much room. Armed with a new stick after breaking two in as many weeks, he was back to his best and rifled in three goals from four strikes (we only had five in the whole half) in a crazy 12-minute end to the half. Good finishing and poor goalkeeping.

The second half was more low-key, Old Whits using their possession more effectively but floundering against a solid midfield and defence. Nige Smith was called on to make some good saves, Old Whits scored twice from short corners, but they never looked like clawing back the deficit.

Guildford 1-0 Ladies XI
We started the first match of a double-header weekend knowing we were in desperate need of a win to have any chance of staying up this season as well as for team spirit and moral. We started well and settled well, possession being fairly equal between the teams. We conceded a few shorties but also won a few. although neither team being able to capitalise on them. At half time the score was 0-0.

The match was pretty uneventful and Guildford eventually broke the deadlock with a conversion from a penalty corner (which we are not convinced was actually stopped outside the circle but c’est la vie). We piled the pressure on Guildford for the rest of the match and really took the game to them playing some great hockey but once again just being unable to put the ball in the back of the net. The score finshed 1-0 to Guildford. Thanks to Martin for travelling to Guildford to umpire for us. A disappointing result for us but not the end of our weekend…. Jackie Waite

Ladies XI 1-0 Wanderers

Our second match of the weekend saw us playing top of the league Wanderers who began turning up on mass early Sunday morning whilst the OC ladies were clearly fatigued from the late PB the day before (and possibly a few drinks the night before) and turned up in dribs and drabs. To make things worse our favourite umpire (usual umps for Merton) turned up to ump for Wanderers and our hearts sank (see match report from 14th Feb), it looked like it would be an uphill battle! Still we tried to stay positive as our pride couldn’t take a second loss of the weekend. The first 15 minutes were a bit scappy but we eventually settled and began passing the ball about well and pressing the Wanderers defense. We conceded a couple of shorts but defended them well. We had some good attacking breaks and eventually the deadlock was broken. We won a short with the Wanderers goalie deflecting a straight strike from Dor into the path of Manny with another strike deflected in by Ana. We were 1-0 up! We managed to comfortably maintain our lead into half time.

The second half was a bit more eventful. Wanderers came out hard and pressurised us well. We conceded a fair few shortees but defended them all successfully, Steph having to make some excellent saves both from the shorts and in open play. 10 minutes or so in saw one of our players yellow carded, which should have been a red although the Wanderers ump was very compassionate and allowed just a yellow with the consent of the Wanderers captain. We were down to 10 for a good 15-20 minutes and were in slight disarray, with several players out of position and already tired legs having to make up extra ground. But we were not going to lose this match it was ours and OC ladies never like to do things the easy way! We were definitely on the back foot and Wanderers had several shots saved by Steph in goal having a tremendous match and the whole of the OC ladies running our little legs off completely knackered but pushing on defending hard and getting the occasional break which saw a couple of near misses too! Eventually back to 11 we held on to finish the match 1-0. A well-deserved win at last to finish off the weekend on a high! Thanks to Heardy for umpiring and also to our supporters on the sideline!Jackie Waite

Match reports - March 7, 2009

A rousing season-best 14-1 win for the 1st XI improved our goal difference but its was against an eight-man HAC side (who went down to seven when one was carted to hospital before half time). The result of the day was the 2nd XI's 4-2 win at leaders Old Whits, a result that puts the title within our grasp with games in hand. The Ladies relegation worries deepened with a 2-3 loss at Old Georgians, a result which leaves us five points adrift. The 3rd XI now need to win all their remaining four matches to have even a remote chance of avoiding the drop after a 1-2 reverse at home to Addiscombe, but the 4th XI climbed to fifth with a 2-1 win at NPL

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1st XI 14-1 HAC
Not quite the game we anticipated as a very depleted HAC team pitched up at TD with only eight and then losing Tim to a facial injury after 15 minutes with the score 2-0. We all hope the injury is not serious.

Our plan was to play incisive one-touch and expansive hockey which we did for 60 minutes but inexplicably failed to do so for the last 10 with the score at 14-1. We started to assist HAC by taking goal-bound shots off the line and failing to provide the simple tap in for team mates by trying to go it alone. How important could those extra two or three goals be on the 5th April?

The goals we scored were in the main tap-ins, save three short corners and two from the top of the D. We welcomed back Ed Breton until he was scythed down and James Wood back from his cricket tour. The hugely important Jonny Hunter chose to spurn a family wedding to play what turned out to be a significant role in the middle of the pitch.

Our goals were scored by Knappy (5), Rex Bermon (4), Nick Wood (2) and one each from Eds, James Wood and Wobble. At 3-0 we inexplicably allowed HAC to score with their only open play chance and late on some sloppy defending saw us concede a short corner.

Meanwhile down the M3 Wanderers were putting 11 past Camberley with their also conceding one so although we did not dent Wanderers goal difference by as many as we thought we may, we did reel in three.

Our best wishes go to Tim and let us hope that HAC do not roll over as easily next week against Wanderers as they did against us today. David Knapp



Old Whitgiftians v 2nd XI
Old Whits away was always going to be an interesting game. Would our stingy defence (comfortably the best in the league with just 14 goals conceded before this game, against their 32 conceded) trump their more poignant attack (they had scored 70 vs our 29)?

The start for us was less than ideal - a mix up by the skipper meant that everyone turned up at the wrong venue and this was further compounded when he ( and his brother) got caught up in the tailback of an accident on the way. This could have resulted in a slow start (much like when we had conceded 3 goals in 15 minutes in the home leg) but we started strongly and the game saw a fairly even start played at a high tempo.

Will Stevens had been moved up into centre halves and this was crucial in the early exchanges - he gave us a release through the middle from 16s which we had lacked in previous games. We looked very composed in defence and dangerous on the break and we took the lead from a good finish just 15 minutes in.

Unfortunately we then conceded the first of many short corners just seconds later and the strike went through Robbo - a carbon copy of last week's goal. Instead of panicking we grew stronger, aided by some fairly poor tackling by them. We regained the lead before half time with a powerful, low flick into the bottom corner of a short. Just before half time we had to defend a short which then struck a defenders foot. Not spotted by the umpire the skipper immediately corrected the umpire as the half time whistle went. Thankfully a good save by Robbo left us ahead.

2-1 at half time and all to play for in the second half. We came under some heavy pressure at the beginning of the first half, with them forcing a lot of short corners aided by, at times, some indifferent umpiring. Robbo made amends for his earlier mistake with some outstanding saves of the corners and in open play and it was stopped by the post men half a dozen times too!

Despite this we still looked dangerous in attack and we scored again mid way through the second half. This only galvanised them into attacking us relentlessly and we were under real strain when Duncan was yellow carded for a series of poor tackles. His first offence but a reflection of some poor tackling by both sides earlier in the game. We weathered that period well, but then just after conceded from a short when Tom Merry, in an act of self preservation, dragged a shot just missing the left post into his own goal - a cracking finish!

The game had got more and more feisty but for a change it was them loosing their cool more than us - and this certainly helped us. A sweet strike by Will of a well constructed short gave us the two goal breathing space to see out the game.

An excellent effort by the whole team, played with superb determination throughout and no little skill. If we play like that for the rest of the season there is a good chance we will win our remaining 5 games, and in so doing claim the league.

Finally a big thank you to Nick Lewis for umpiring, after a plate glass window has robbed him of playing - he did a great job. Rob Merry

3rd XI v Addiscombe
Report to follow

NPL 1-2 4th XI
It wasn’t pretty, but a brilliant defensive performance and some incisive attacking play gave us a 2-1 away victory against NPL 3s.

NPL started the game brightly, gained a lot of possession and penned us into our own half for much of the first 15 minutes. Despite all their possession though, NPL never really looked dangerous and simply could not get near the goal with Rob Crumby, Grant, James Bishop and Steve Harmer denying every attempt to get in a dangerous position.

With the game appearing dead-locked in a strange stalemate that was playing out between the half way line and our sixteen, NPL ran out of steam and we came alive as an attacking side. Adam Justice threatened on several occasions before a fast break down the left wing led to him finding space in the area to drill home the opener (0-1). Half time.

We had the better of the opening exchanges of the second half and continued to break quickly as we had towards the end of the first half. Oxo, Rob Jonker and James Bishop did well to move the ball wide and feed Adam, who scored his second of the game after a goal-mouth scramble (0-2).

NPL scored a controversial goal late in the game, scraping the ball home while their forward pinned Nige Smith helplessly to the floor (1-2). Nige let most of Teddington know what he thought about the goal, and he was rightfully aggrieved after a flawless performance which deserved another clean sheet.

There were chances to extend our lead and, but for some nervous moments late on, we looked worthy winners in the end. This was a hugely important result against a team who sit one position below us in the league. Dom Tucker

Old Georgians v Ladies
Report to follow