Little cheer as league starts

The league season spluttered into life on Saturday but there was little to celebrate as all three teams in action went down to defeats. The Ladies, in their first match back in Surrey Division Two went down 1-2 to newly-promoted Surbiton III, the 3rd XI, also playing a league down, lost 1-3 at Walton & Weybridge, while the 4th XI crashed to a 0-4 loss at home to Surbiton. To complete the fun, the 1st XI surrendered a one-goal lead with 15 minutes remaining to lose 1-2 to Epsom in their last friendly before their league starts next weekend.
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Walton & Weybridge 3-1 3rd XI
Turning up with a strong experienced side there was hope that the OC 3rd XI would start the season in a different vein to how they finished the last. The first 20 minutes looked like that this may be possible as the ball was knocked about well with the moves starting from the back four of Ross, Tim, Stuey and Armo and being played around with a degree of finesse. It was this type of finesse which led to our goal when the ball was played up the right before being hit across the goal for Dougie to fire in from close range. This left us 1-0 up and really we should have pushed on from here. Just before half time the Hawks began to threaten a bit more by breaking from midfield and overpowering us a bit. This eventually led to them obtaining a short corner and even after saving the initial strike the second shot was fired in. The ball allegedly hit a foot which was accepted (even though it had hit the stick first) and one of the umpires gave a short corner, however the Hawks umpire stood at the halfway line claiming that it was goalward bound and awarded a flick. The timing of this flick was poor and our players who were stood in a similar position were not of quite the same opinion as the umpire. With a well placed flick the Hawks drew level and we went into halftime at 1-1.

The second half started much the same as the first with Dunx and Chris Bents putting in some hard yards in midfield and Tissy and Dougie also making some great runs. A note for ourselves is that we probably need to utilise the skills of both our wide men more in future. In addition it was nice to have Preston and Andy up front for us but again we did not seem to utilise their skills enough. As the half drew on we seemed to lose our composure more and more not helped by our captain from the back. This led to almost continuous pressure from the Hawks and despite some saves from Nige we eventually ended up shipping a further couple of goals with the end score being a 3-1 loss. The 3rd team need to forget about the if, buts and maybes and all around need to improve the fitness levels and be led from the back with a sense of composure. We will be able to achieve far better results this season but will definitely need to work at it. Also thanks to Cookie for umpiring at such short notice, much appreciated.

Ladies XI 1-2 Surbiton
The start of the new season, we were all raring to go and kick the season off with a win under the new captaincy of Sarah Mann.

Playing Surbiton 3s, we started off strongly and had some good passages of play and attacks on the Surbiton goal. Distribution was good and we were doing our best to make the ball do the work and frustrate the opposition. The defence were keeping any Surbiton attacks at bay with some clinical tackling and they were quickly sending the ball back to the mids and forwards to start another attack. We had good and sustained pressure on Surbiton but the opening goal was not forthcoming and we went in half time 0-0.

A rousing team talk and we looked to turn our pressure of the first half in to the opening 3 points of the season. Unfortunately, Surbiton had the same idea and were fortunate to get a short corner early in the second half which they duly converted. Heads did not go down and we stepped up the pressure to get the equaliser,we had good attacks on their goal but could not get the last touch and when Surbiton had another short corner, they doubled their lead. With 15 minutes to go, fitness levels were still good and we stepped up the attacks, a surging run by Sarah Mann saw her take the ball in to the D and open the OCLHC account with crisp finish. A tense final 10 minutes saw Surbiton cling on and us do everything we could to get the equaliser but the final whistle came too soon for us and Surbiton were the victors.

Although we didn’t get the three points we were hoping for, it was a very positive start to the season. We welcome some new players to the squad and also welcome back players too, all of which adds tremendous depth and strength to the team. We will build on Saturdays performance and look forward to our opening three points of the season in our next league game. Vikki Mottram

Phoney war almost over

With the start of the league season almost on us, almost all the sides were in action this weekend. The 1st XI went down 2-5 to tenants UCL Academicals, but there was a 2-1 win for the 2nd XI. The 3rd XI went down 1-3 at Teddington, while the Ladies, under the guidance of new coach Andy Howell, lost 1-6 at Teddington, a result which left Rosie Marriott bewildered … despite playing the entire game she was convinced the final score was 0-2.

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Cresswell appointed coach for 2009-10

Following the David Cresswell's first year as coach and the successes of the 2008-09 season in which both the 1st and 2nd XIs achieved promotion, we are very pleased to announce that David has agreed to coach us again in the 2009-10 season.

"Not only has David brought along much needed expertise on the coaching side but it is no coincidence that the conduit between the school and the club has flourished over the last 12 months following a 12-year struggle," David Knapp, the club captain, said. "Already this season six OCs, three of them 09 leavers, have expressed an interest on joining the club for the forthcoming season.

"Once David Cresswell has bagged his 2012 Olympic gold medal we expect him to elevate his role to player-coach."

New faces make mark in warm-up win

1st XI 3-1 Mid Sussex
A useful first run out of the season against a spirited Mid Sussex side who like us were short of a few key players and most notably Jmaes Myers in goal.

The missing faces from our ranks gave us the opportunity to play three new faces, all of whom scored, two of whom are OCs. With the likelihood of three of last year's leavers joining and two other OCs, the joining of seven true OCs is very positive.

As one would expect in a game at this time of year we made basic errors but these were outweighed by some super hockey. A half time scoreline of 2-0 with goals from Jade Pierce, who popped home a rebound from a short, and a cool finish from Mike Roper following our most incisive move of the match, was a little flattering as Mid Sussex missed 2 very easy chances and could have gone in 2-1 up at half time.

The first 20 minutes of the second half saw us dominate play and Andy Farguar added our third follwing excellent work from Cookiey down the left who skinned his half back and set up Andy.

Our lack of fitness showed in the last quarter and Mid Sussex pulled one back from a short but we held on comfortably and had a number of gilt edged chances to add to the scoreline. The MS keeper had an excellent second half, redeeming himself after in his words "a poor first half".

Thank you to Keith, Matt and Houghie, the latter's first visit to TD for 15 years, for umpiring. We do not normally see three umpires in total for our pre-season games and so to have three for one game was a luxury.

Next week we play the three first round Surrey Cup games with some tesing matches in the offing

Training starts this Wednesday at 19.30 for the whole club.

Beauties, elephant men and double entendres

OC 4th XI 4-3 OC Ladies

Well dear reader, Harmer’s column is back and it has been some time since we last met. I believe it was when we celebrated the departure from these heavily debt laden and credit crunched shores in May of the one and only Nicholas Herbert ‘Bertie’ Bance. Who has done a bunk to South Africa to sit out the global recession and the international warrant for his arrest, something to do financial irregularities with his hair stylist! While the rest of the OCHC sweat out the financial roller coaster, you will be glad to know that Bertie is ducking bullets, purchased his and her Kevlar vests and has attended numerous anti carjacking courses in down town Jo’burg!


It is in fact Bertie’s departure from these shores that allows this column to report on what will hopefully become a regular fixture. The last time the Mighty 4th team played the ladies was back in 2004 on a very hot day in May which ended in the men sneaking a last-minute winning goal and El Bance getting so sunburnt he spent a week looking like a Wimbledon tennis strawberry (bright red and covered in cream!). We never did get around to organising another game, mainly due to a certain member of the squad continuously dribbling (due to the sun and heat) whenever a member of ladies team came near them on the pitch! Harmer’s Column is never one to out, anyone, for anything but the ladies put it simply, "Get rid of the dribbler and we will play you again!", So now that Bertie has left ... game on.


And so it came to pass that the Mighty 4th Team gathered pitched side at TD after a summer of weddings, engagements, BBQ’s and job worries to dust off their hockey sticks and remember how to run! That Sunday morning saw the opposition arriving in fine fettle looking toned and focused for the match ahead. Beautifully commented upon with the sound bite "the ladies looked fit!" quote Chris Bents. Alas the Mighty 4th team looked worried, Robin Crumby looked practically petrified and Armo remained hideously elephant-man ugly!


In the first half, the 4th team proved that no fitness, skill or tactical training over the summer months will ultimately end up in the team being crap! In the mid-morning sun we sweated and toiled with the ladies asking many questions of our back line, that we did not want to answer. The Mighty 4th team find it hard enough to concentrate on a match during the league season but as Robin Crumby had declared this event National WAG day, the wives, girlfriends and significant others were also heard commenting that we were rather poor! Of the few goal attempts we did produce Armo managed to spray his shots around like Jenson Button with a bottle of champagne on the F1 podium.

How we managed (most likely through Nick J) to be 3 – 0 at half time we shall never know. The ladies had been unlucky not to score themselves but the 4th team had an evil plan. Half time Buck’s Fizz served to both teams should have pushed the majority of the ladies back into the alcoholic daze they had awoken from a few hours earlier. Alas it had the opposite effect and inspired the girls in the second half to score three well worked goals, even with the massive drag factor of having Armo the Ewok seconded to their team for the last 35 minutes.


With the clock counting down, it was 3-3 and someone had to produce the magic. Come’ith the moment, come’ith the man, well Grant Archer at least! Inspired by his baby daughter cheering from the side lines our left back suddenly found some pace (not seen since 1992) and burst into the D from the left wing position. According to him, he finishing was like Michael Owen scoring that last minute winner against Man City. For those not using recreational drugs that day the reality was somewhat different, some might say divine intervention helped Iceman Archer push the ball into the net as he had all the grace, style, meaning and impact of a Gordon Brown Labour Conference speech!

At the final whistle the 4th team could not really celebrate as the ladies almost achieved revenge for the match five years ago. The only solace that we took was Armo standing on the halfway line looking like Wayne Rooney chewing a wasp, incensed because his presence had not inspired a world-class fight back!

Fear not ladies, you have chance for revenge as a possible post season fixture in April has been pencilled in the diary which is being billed as either "Steve Harmer’s Testimonial" or "Bye Bye Oxo" as he may well be leaving for a warmer climate down under.