Match reports October 22 2011

A good weekend for the senior sides with a 3-2 win for the 1st XI at Yateley and a hard 2-1 victory for the 3rd XI against a good Barnes side. The 2nd XI came from behind to draw 1-1 with Camberley, while the Ladies beat Old Kingstonians 3-1 in a friendly.

Yateley 2-3 1st XI
Over a season things balance themselves out. Last week we should have won but contrived to draw by conceding a late equaliser whilst today we should have drawn but snatched a late winner.

Yateley certainly deserved a draw and can count themselves unlucky not to have at least drawn. Two-nil up in 10 minutes with two good finishes from Rippers and Man of the Moment CV gave us the early advantage but one that we did not use to snuff out the home team. We knew after their game last week that Yateley had the character to run us close even after we went two up and so it turned out.

Sam, making his debut in goal, was left exposed as the home team broke away and ran the ball home but we made it to half time 2-1 up and playing against nine men. This should have been the time we capatilsed and although we had a couple of chances their keeper made two good saves and we squandered some good chances. At the other end our defence held firm and Sam's presence put off the Yateley forwards when seemingly destined to score.

The turning point was Sam's save of Lowe's stroke low to his left with 17 minutes to go. We thought we had scored but CV was judged to have impeded the keeper and with two minutes to go Yateley broke fast and equalised when they had another 3 on 1.
As it was we then broke as Yateley sensed they could snatch the game, CV earned a short and Hunts dragged flicked the ball home with his best flick of the last three years with a few seconds left.

After last week's diappointment the character we showed was excellent but Yateley should have made more of their open play chances. We had set our stall out to not concede unecessary shorts and managed this to great effect in only conceding one all game. Yateley will be up there at the end of the season as the fates have conspired against them thus far but this could prove to be a vital win by the end of the season.

Finally, apologies to Yatelely for not making it back to their clubhouse for tea which was for no other reason than the need for us all to be in certain places at certain times. Not our usual practice. Four games against Yateley so far and all four games top matches. Looking forward to the rematch at TD in February. REx Harrison

2nd XI 1-1 Camberley & Farnborough
Well, coming back from a 6-1 defeat the weekend before was never going to be a particularly easy task. TD bathed in sunshine, it was time to take on Camberley and Farnborough who to date had exactly the same amount of points as us in the league.

Well there is not really much to write about the first 25 mins, as the umpire said at the end of the game, where were you guys for the first half of the game. Ports then came up and said “we were practising are defending”. We were certainly under the cosh, Harry and Alan doing a wonderful job keeping us strong at the back. Unfortunately we could not keep the ball in the middle of the park, trying to do slightly to much with the ball. This lead to Camberley and Fanborough taking a 1-0 lead as we went into the break. Which I think we can all agree we could have found ourselves quite a few down at the break, part of which we owe to Watson for making some good saves and keeping us in the game.

An inspirational team talk from Lewi, lead to a very different second half, we took hockey back to the very basics and it started to pay off in the second half. Henry Maughan and Ports working the middle of the park really well and winning 50/50’s leading to some really good counter attacks. Guessy put in some good work down the right, with Nords and Peeps starting to see a little bit more of the ball, we started to apply some pressure on the oppo. We also started to win a few short corners, none of which converted!

The goal eventually came….to be honest a little bit lucky Chris B slammed the ball into the D with Harry somehow managing to get in a stick on the ball (not sure that it was all intentional) but it was a bit of luck we deserved.
We had out chances to win the game, although I think we were pleased to come out with a 1-1 draw. In fact as sad as it sounds, the draw felt to us like a win! It was an improvement from last week but we need to make sure we get the three points next week.
MOM goes to Allan Cheung for two really solid performances and DOD goes to Tom Merry (sorry), it was for passing the ball straight to the centre forward. The perfect pass from Mez right to his strong side, but our team does play in blue and orange. A special mention to James Dyke who played very well, welcome to the OC’s and also welcome back JP Wack, we have missed you. Chris Bents

3rd XI 2-1 Barnes
Ten minutes in and the only question seemed to be by how many we would lose. Barnes, with slick passing at speed, repeatedly cut into our defence and laid siege to our 23. But in the 11th minute we took the lead with our first attack - a route one breakaway - and from then on the game opened up. A well-taken second gave us a two-goal lead which was cut back to one by the break. The second half was end-to-end stuff, Nige Smith made two excellent saves - one deliberate, one by virtue of lying in the right place at the right time - but Barnes should have levelled when a ball a foot off the line on the right post was somehow steered past the far post.

Old Kingstonians 1-3 Ladies XI
A tough friendly against a side who pushed us hard for promotion last season and who started the stronger, going ahead through a deflected goal inside four minutes. We countered well, taking a 2-1 lead by ten minutes with some good finishing, and a third before the break did not flatter and, according to Goalie, we should also have had a flick. The second half was played more in our half as OKs attacked without reward. Julia saved a flick when a goalmouth scramble ended with a shot illegally cleared off the line, and produced several more good blocks as we allowed OKs too much of the ball. But a win is a win, and there were enough positives to make it a worthwhile day out.