Oxo bids farewell with stirring win

Bob Dylan’s Neverending Tour has been on the road since the late 1980s, and it must seem to the 4th XI the current season has been nearly as long. With two matches still remaining it is likely to overlap with the early rounds of the summer leagues.

But Saturday’s 4-3 win over Surbiton marked the end of the career of Oxo as he leaves for Australian during the summer. Slightly worrying, given where he is heading to, is his opening line ...

4th XI 4-3 Surbiton

Blimey it was hot.

The 4th team found themselves tasked with playing the recently promoted Surbiton on a hot and arid Saturday in Thames Ditton. As a kangaroo hopped by, and dingo climbed out of a nearby billabong the whistle went to start the game.

Surbiton were ‘strong’ to say the least and the OCs found themselves 2-0 down after 20mins. Their honouree captain Oxo had been slightly less than inspiring in centre forward. However, he showed himself to be a mastermind of tactical play as within moments of sacrificing himself to the bench Dom scored to put the OCs back in the running, and 2-1 at half time.

The first 25mins of the second half were a whirlwind of goals. First a goal from Bents, followed by one from Surbiton, then one from Ado brought the score to a tense 3-3. The OCs can be proud to have kept their heads at this point, especially in the searing heat. Lesser players would have lost it slightly.

Dressed as if he had just sailed back from the south of France an apparition in white and khaki appeared at the sideline throwing insults in all directions. Sporting a ‘hello sailor’ look rather than his usual ‘nurse harmer’ attire – Captain Harmer appeared at the sideline to offer ‘support’. Using ingenious reverse psychology, he ensured every OC player got a suitable sledging.

And then a breakthrough. Bents, apparently spurred on by the news there was an all girls hockey tournament taking place at Surbiton’s home ground (we should point out here it was an Under-10s event, but that might have been known by Bents already), decided to finish things off. It was once again the old faithful of the fourth team – Howy, Trinder, Ado and Bents linking up to bring the score to 4-3.

Most of the attacking in the final 5 minutes was in the direction of Jonker, who had kindly offered to umpire the second half. For the author, after 6 years of playing for the OCs it was a shame to finish with toys thoroughly thrown out of prams. Although it was great to win. As the final whistle went, OCs took the win graciously – and with cake.

As the sun dropped below the burnt orange horizon, pints of fosters could be heard clinking in celebration of a fine season and a fine team.

Ladies' awards wrap up successful season

On Friday, April 9 the ladies celebrated the end of season in style with a small gathering of 16 lovely ladies and one male coach in Surbiton. As you can imagine Goalie was in his element! Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed including shots for every single player for fines and positive reasons.

The highlight of the night was the Whetherspoons race. This involved each member of the team, being time, running, high heels and all, out of the bar down the road to Whetherspoons buying a jager bomb and sprinting back. Initially times were quite lame - about six minutes - but then it turned serious and the tactics started. Ana was our overall winner with a superb time of 1 minute 19 seconds, anyone would think it had been life or death.

There was a serious side to our night with words said from both Sarah and Goalie and a few Awards given out and were as below;

Players Player - Rosie Marriott

Most Improved - Emma Varley

Coach's Player - Jackie Waite

Most Goals - The retired Vikki Mottram

Also on a very sad note the ladies said goodbye to a brilliant player who has been with the club for 14 years and produced some outstanding hockey. Vikki Mottram aka Gadget you will be missed.

As a leaving gift, Gadget was given a little pressie, two mugs with her name, number and the OC crest on them (one for home and one for work) and a pink umpire shirt. Gadget quickly picked up on the hint and made it clear the shirt would be worn but not on the pitch as she refuses to umpire. In response to her gifts Gadget produced from her pocket an A4 sheet of paper and recited a poem which she had created and in honour of her here it is:

The season's over, time for me to go
But first I wanted to let all of you know
Playing for the OC's has been a ball
I want to thank you one and all.

Starting back in 96
We were still playing with banana shaped hockey sticks!
Mel was captain, Ladies OC founder too,
And in a moment of madness asked me to fill the captains shoe.
I wore the armband at all times with pride
But if I said the job was easy, I must have lied

Finding an umpire could be quite hard
And you never you knew if Martin would show you a card!
A few greens we've had a long the way
And I think a few yellows, well, what can you say!
We always play with the aim to win,
Even if it meant time spent in the sin bin
We've had cuts and bruises, bloody noses, black eyes too,
But we wear our OC shirts proudly - the orange and blue.

And a huge thank you to Hels, Jax and Manny too.
Captains past and present, we'd be lost without all of you.
You've built this team up to be a team to fear
and I have no doubt of you getting promoted next year.

And thank you our Coaches – hubby Dunx and Goalie too
Where would we be without both of you.
You always put up with our constant chat
But you had our full attention, I promise you that.
Even when we were discussing Strictly Come Dancing
You got us to listen at the fourth time of asking

To thank you all would take too long
And I'm sure you've had enough of me waffling on
So I'll stop now and please raise your glass
A toast to The OC Ladies – a team of pure class.

A new best for Rosie

Congratulations to Rosie Marriott who finished the London Marathon in 3:23.11, improving her time of 2009 by 12 minutes and ranking as the 324th fastest female competitor.

It's not too late to sponsor her by clicking here.

Rosie runs another marathon

It’s London Marathon time, and now that Eds Copleston has admitted he is too old and unfit, the mantle of representing the club rests again with Rosie Marriott who is running to raise some cash for Help For Heroes. Last year Rose ran the event in 3 hours and 35 minutes, and we wish her well this time.

If anyone would like to sponsor her, please click here.

Match report April 10 2010

The 1st XI capped a memorable season with a 4-2 win at City of Portsmouth to give us the league title by a remarkable 11 points. For any team to go the whole season unbeaten in the league is a feat to be proud of but following promotion last year is even more so. Having used five keepers during the season and probably 15 or so outfield players we become the fist OCHC team to go the whole league season unbeaten. With nothing to play for, the 2nd XI finished with a defeat by Bank of England, the 3rd XI with a 3-1 win at Teddington, and the 4th XI with a 0-5 loss to Oxted


City of Portsmouth 2-4 1st XI
Not the most glorious of endings to what has been a glorious season and memorable season. For any team to go the whole season unbeaten in the league is a feat to be proud of but following promotion last year is even more so. Having used five keepers during the season and probably 15 or so outfield players we become the fist OCHC team to go the whole league season unbeaten.

Today we were affected by the skipper being unable to play due to his bad back, Rory having food poisoning and CB away on holiday - renewing his marriage vows. Add in a puncture for Knappy on the A3 and a tricky traffic affected journey our preparations were badly affected and it showed right at the start. Once we got into our stride great running from the top two and slick passing saw Gavin tap home two well-worked goals following unselfish passing of the ball in the circle - the style of hockey Mani wishes to introduce to cement David Cresswell's vision.

The next 10 minutes saw us play our worst hockey of the game and it was no surprise that City of Portsmouth came back into the game taking advantage of our over committing and winning a stroke on the break. At this point we realised that being arrogant was not going to win the game nor any friends and so we played the last 10 of the first half the way league champions should and wrapped up the game, Cookiey slotting home following a six-man move from our 25 to the goal that contained eight passes. Gavin scored his third, picking up a great through ball from Hunter, who managed to keep his feet for the first time in the game, rounding the keeper and scoring from a difficult angle.

Although going off our game in the second period and conceding a good short corner goal mid way through the half we had enough in reserve to create chances that were not taken, hit the goal frame for the second time in the game and run out winners 4 - 2.

City of Portsmouth were gracious in defeat and we appreciated the good wishes for next season. A return to their glory days would also be good for the home side but the modern day approach of going to the so called bigger clubs in the vicinity is a problem.

The next five months will see us integrating new player/coach Mani's style and requirements and the replacement of Eds and Knappy in the team, the former moving to the USA and the latter taking on the manager mantle. We must aim high next season but do so we have to increase our fitness levels which are currently short of the mark required for a serious assault on promotion next season. David Knapp

2nd XI 1-4 Bank of England
Click here for match photosThe 2nd XI, assured of league safety thanks to the win at Oxted, went down 1-4 to Bank of England in a well-fought match. There were enough signs in new faces on show mixing with the old lags to suggest next year will be less fraught. It certainly will be for the indefatigable Rob Merry who steps down after a tough season at the helm, but one in which he has remained cheerful in the face of some poor performances and personal injury. He certainly enjoyed the post-match celebrations, as Lydia reports on Facebook: "Boyfriend comes in at 2.30, turns on the light, Wakes me up, tells me he loves me with kebab & beer breath then passes out: good times!"

Teddington 1-3 3rd XI


4th XI 0-5 OxtedI
With five matches remaining, thanks to the size of the league and mid-season weather-related cancellations, the 4th XI could be excused looking a little weary at a time most other players have put the kit in the attic and headed for the coast. Against a team who romped to the title weeks ago, it was always going to be hard, and the April heat hardly helped. On the plus side we created a chance in the second half which was missed. Otherwise, it was one-way traffic against a slick and enterprising Oxted side. Nigel Smith in goal would have been disappointed with the first two goals he conceded but thereafter pulled off a string of excellent saves to keep the scoreline respectable.

End-of-Season Dinner on May 14

The annual End-of-Season Dinner will take place at The Alma in Wandsworth Town on Friday, May 14. Tickets cost £35, including a generous slurp of wine, and as numbers are limited to around 60 it will be strictly first come, first served.

The OC Cricket Club held their dinner there last month and it really is an excellent place for such a dinner. It is held in a large, self-contained function room above the pub which is ideal and the food is really superb.

It’s also easy to travel to. Wandsworth Town station is opposite the pub and there is plenty of off-street parking in the surrounding roads.

Details of how to apply for tickets will appear here shortly.

Thames Ditton under new management

From today, Thames Ditton will be managed by JJ Griffin, replacing Ed and Alison Breton who, as we all know, have moved into the world of golf.

JJ will be known to many of you, by sight if not name, as he plays for the OCRFC BXV, although in an ill-advised outing for the 1st XV last weekend he managed to break his clavicle and so starts his tenure at TD with his arm in a sling. This is inconvenient but makes him very easy to identify.

I know JJ has plans to have a meet-and-greet day, and with various league matches still outstanding most of us will get a chance to say hello sooner rather than later.

Martin Williamson and Rick Johnson will be acting as liaisons between the OC Society and JJ, and there are plans for work to be carried out over the summer which will be flagged at a later date.

His contact number is 07858 284807 and the existing TD clubhouse number also works. His current email address is womblesuk@hotmail.com.

We would also like to thank Ed and Alison for all the hard work, and the remarkable job they have done in making such a difference to the way the club is run and the facilities on offer.

Record figures for website

The website recorded 26012 page impressions in March, smashing the previous record by more than 10%. It also recorded more than 2000 unique visitors for the first time.

So far in 2010, the site has recorded 64,951page impressions (against 43,836 last year).

The weekly match reports have all attracted more than 200 page views each, with a few more than 300, indicating the site is increasingly used by opponents as well as our own players.