Match reports November 14 2009
The 1st XI moved top of the Surrey/Hants Regional 2 with a 3-1 win over London Wayfarers, while 2nd XI eased their relegation worries with a 6-0 win over Wanderers, all goals coming in the second half. The 4th XI beat Surrey University 3-0, while the 3rd XI fought out a 0-0 draw against UCL Academicals. The Ladies went down 0-1 at Wimbledon, while the Vets also drew 0-0.
Cookie slots home the 2nd XI's sixth
Click here for this week's match photos
London Wayfarers 1-3 1st XI
A workmanlike performance following a very lethargic pre match routine. A sign of the advannce we have made over the last 2 or 3 years however is the fact that a number of us realised we were way off the pace in the warm up and in each of their ways galvanised the guys into shape.
The first 10 minutes were going to be key as Wayfarers were a far better side than their league position showed with their first team more than holding their own in the tougher league above. Fortunately we managed to have the better of the first period and with some intelligent running in the mid field and up front scored a superbly crafted goal creating space with a quick interchange of 5 or more passes and threading through a well weighted cross for Eds to guide home following a blindside run. In 15 we were 2 up with another crisp move ending with Gavin forcing a stroke that Jonny H put home with great power. At that point we should have sealed up the game but allowed LW back into the game. Trickster made 3 very good saves but we conceded a goal on 25 minutes, caught on the break and allowed a shot from the top of the D to its way in. The initiative passed to the home side who pressed for the remainder of the half and the break came at the right time for us as we had lost our pattern and were running with the ball needlessly and at the wrong time instead of continuing our passing game.
Five minutes into the second half we restored our two-goal advantage when Knapp picked up a loose ball five yards out and from then on we controlled the game albeit being unable to find the sucker punch. Eds hit the post after a wonder save by the LW keeper and on a couple of occasions we made the wrong decision in the D.
All in all a satisfactory result and a reasonable performance but we do have to look back and consider the number of times we made poor decisions and runs that made the game more difficult than it need. All hands to the pumps next week v Southampton Uni with our being five key players short. David Knapp
2nd XI 6-0 Wanderers
Forgive the tired old cliche, but this really was a game of two halves, and one played in the most unpleasant driving rain. In the first we controlled much of the game, so much so that Wanderers' forward line were forced deeper and deeper into their own half to try and get the ball, but failed to make the breakthrough. We were so on top that at one stage Jon Heard surged through a series of tackles on a run which took him from the halfway line to within eight yards of the goal – out of puff and bewildered by unfamiliar surroundings, he was relieved to be fouled and win a short corner. However, throughout the game our corner routine was poor as we failed to convert one from more than a dozen opportunities. Nil-nil at the break and it had all the makings of one of those days.
In the second half we ran riot, three goals in the first five minutes ending the match as a contest. Will Stephens, in his first game of the season, scored twice and modestly claimed the change in fortunes after the break was simply because he had moved into midfield where he adopted a senior-citizen never-run approach. With Cookie running rings round a tired defence, we could have racked up a dozen. As it was, the fifth goal (sorry, scorer please identify yourself!) was wonderfully worked, a flowing, quick move from side to side capped with a cracking finish, and the sixth saw Cookie rob a defender on the halfway line, sprint through, round the keeper and fire home as he fell.
UCL Academicals 0-0 3rd XI
Report to follow.
4th XI 3-0 Surrey University
In almost 30 years with the OCs I reckon I have watched around 1500 matches and until today I wouldn’t have been able to name the worst one I had seen. The high point of the day came when Adam dished out his home-made cookies, superbly soft with just the right qamount of crunch of the outside, after the final whistle. They were so good they almost made the previous 70 minutes worthwhile. Almost.
The good news is that the 4th XI won 3-0 and moved into third in the table. The bad news is that this was a match which started sloppily and got worse with more unforced and avoidable errors that Steve Harmer’s English O-level paper. Harmer, incidently, was green carded simply because he had been captain of the side last year and the umpire held him responsible for the torpor.
Harmer, the jaded rock at the back of the midfield diamond and a man who last week admitted to being a “reformed Chav”, is an interesting case study. Despite much abuse from team-mates, opponents and passing spectators, week in, week out he turns in solid and unheralded performances. One facet of his play is well worth watching. Give him the ball anywhere in the opposing half, ideally in a dead-ball situation, and then watch. His head darts about as if looking for the smallest opening to thread a precision pass through. Unsuspecting opponents wait for a flick to the right wing or a sweep to the left. The unwary expect a Cristiano Ronaldo moment; what they get is Titus Bramble. Every time – and Opta stats show this is the case in 98.6% instances – having gone through his preparations he then belts the ball as hard and as straight as he can. It’s often effective and is a throwback to the era of grass hockey. There are few such practitioners of the art still left in the game. Get out and see it while you can.
Andy gave us the lead in the fifth minute, Jamal fired home the second on 20 minutes with an almost solitary strike of class, and Dom scrambled home the third with the last hit of the game. That aside, the only drama of the afternoon came when the wind lifted the dugout from its base, over the perimeter fence and deposited it upside down on the grass bank.
Surrey Uni at least brightened up a wretched day with their kit, classic shiny tight shirts straight out of Liverpool’s 1980s period with the shortest shorts to match. They huffed and puffed but seemed obsessed with kicking the ball when they did get near our goal. We gradually allowed ourselves to get sucked into the scrap, so much so that for the last quarter it was the very limited visitors who created the bulk of the attacking chances. The end could not come soon enough.
Wimbledon 1-0 Ladies XI
With Wimbledon sitting just below us in the league we knew it was going to be a tough match. It was a disappointing start for us struggling on a very bouncy pitch, frustration showing all over and unfortunately we went down one nil with a simple one on one.
However the second half was a totally different story. We regrouped and played brilliantly piling on the pressure. We had several chances on goal with the hitting of posts and diving for touches but not able to score. A really shame to lose one nil but a great effort with again some fantastic defensive work.
Veterans 0-0 St Albans
Report to follow.
Cookie slots home the 2nd XI's sixthClick here for this week's match photos
London Wayfarers 1-3 1st XI
A workmanlike performance following a very lethargic pre match routine. A sign of the advannce we have made over the last 2 or 3 years however is the fact that a number of us realised we were way off the pace in the warm up and in each of their ways galvanised the guys into shape.
The first 10 minutes were going to be key as Wayfarers were a far better side than their league position showed with their first team more than holding their own in the tougher league above. Fortunately we managed to have the better of the first period and with some intelligent running in the mid field and up front scored a superbly crafted goal creating space with a quick interchange of 5 or more passes and threading through a well weighted cross for Eds to guide home following a blindside run. In 15 we were 2 up with another crisp move ending with Gavin forcing a stroke that Jonny H put home with great power. At that point we should have sealed up the game but allowed LW back into the game. Trickster made 3 very good saves but we conceded a goal on 25 minutes, caught on the break and allowed a shot from the top of the D to its way in. The initiative passed to the home side who pressed for the remainder of the half and the break came at the right time for us as we had lost our pattern and were running with the ball needlessly and at the wrong time instead of continuing our passing game.
Five minutes into the second half we restored our two-goal advantage when Knapp picked up a loose ball five yards out and from then on we controlled the game albeit being unable to find the sucker punch. Eds hit the post after a wonder save by the LW keeper and on a couple of occasions we made the wrong decision in the D.
All in all a satisfactory result and a reasonable performance but we do have to look back and consider the number of times we made poor decisions and runs that made the game more difficult than it need. All hands to the pumps next week v Southampton Uni with our being five key players short. David Knapp
2nd XI 6-0 Wanderers
Forgive the tired old cliche, but this really was a game of two halves, and one played in the most unpleasant driving rain. In the first we controlled much of the game, so much so that Wanderers' forward line were forced deeper and deeper into their own half to try and get the ball, but failed to make the breakthrough. We were so on top that at one stage Jon Heard surged through a series of tackles on a run which took him from the halfway line to within eight yards of the goal – out of puff and bewildered by unfamiliar surroundings, he was relieved to be fouled and win a short corner. However, throughout the game our corner routine was poor as we failed to convert one from more than a dozen opportunities. Nil-nil at the break and it had all the makings of one of those days.
In the second half we ran riot, three goals in the first five minutes ending the match as a contest. Will Stephens, in his first game of the season, scored twice and modestly claimed the change in fortunes after the break was simply because he had moved into midfield where he adopted a senior-citizen never-run approach. With Cookie running rings round a tired defence, we could have racked up a dozen. As it was, the fifth goal (sorry, scorer please identify yourself!) was wonderfully worked, a flowing, quick move from side to side capped with a cracking finish, and the sixth saw Cookie rob a defender on the halfway line, sprint through, round the keeper and fire home as he fell.
UCL Academicals 0-0 3rd XI
Report to follow.
4th XI 3-0 Surrey University
In almost 30 years with the OCs I reckon I have watched around 1500 matches and until today I wouldn’t have been able to name the worst one I had seen. The high point of the day came when Adam dished out his home-made cookies, superbly soft with just the right qamount of crunch of the outside, after the final whistle. They were so good they almost made the previous 70 minutes worthwhile. Almost.
The good news is that the 4th XI won 3-0 and moved into third in the table. The bad news is that this was a match which started sloppily and got worse with more unforced and avoidable errors that Steve Harmer’s English O-level paper. Harmer, incidently, was green carded simply because he had been captain of the side last year and the umpire held him responsible for the torpor.
Harmer, the jaded rock at the back of the midfield diamond and a man who last week admitted to being a “reformed Chav”, is an interesting case study. Despite much abuse from team-mates, opponents and passing spectators, week in, week out he turns in solid and unheralded performances. One facet of his play is well worth watching. Give him the ball anywhere in the opposing half, ideally in a dead-ball situation, and then watch. His head darts about as if looking for the smallest opening to thread a precision pass through. Unsuspecting opponents wait for a flick to the right wing or a sweep to the left. The unwary expect a Cristiano Ronaldo moment; what they get is Titus Bramble. Every time – and Opta stats show this is the case in 98.6% instances – having gone through his preparations he then belts the ball as hard and as straight as he can. It’s often effective and is a throwback to the era of grass hockey. There are few such practitioners of the art still left in the game. Get out and see it while you can.
Andy gave us the lead in the fifth minute, Jamal fired home the second on 20 minutes with an almost solitary strike of class, and Dom scrambled home the third with the last hit of the game. That aside, the only drama of the afternoon came when the wind lifted the dugout from its base, over the perimeter fence and deposited it upside down on the grass bank.
Surrey Uni at least brightened up a wretched day with their kit, classic shiny tight shirts straight out of Liverpool’s 1980s period with the shortest shorts to match. They huffed and puffed but seemed obsessed with kicking the ball when they did get near our goal. We gradually allowed ourselves to get sucked into the scrap, so much so that for the last quarter it was the very limited visitors who created the bulk of the attacking chances. The end could not come soon enough.
Wimbledon 1-0 Ladies XI
With Wimbledon sitting just below us in the league we knew it was going to be a tough match. It was a disappointing start for us struggling on a very bouncy pitch, frustration showing all over and unfortunately we went down one nil with a simple one on one.
However the second half was a totally different story. We regrouped and played brilliantly piling on the pressure. We had several chances on goal with the hitting of posts and diving for touches but not able to score. A really shame to lose one nil but a great effort with again some fantastic defensive work.
Veterans 0-0 St Albans
Report to follow.
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