A mixed weekend with losses for the 1st XI, Ladies and 4th XI, but the 2nd XI, 3rd XI and Vamps remain top of their respective tables with good wins
1st XI 0-3 London Edwardians
A tough test for the OC’s awaited,
An early start, something that Café Soul legend Tim Ming hated.
OC’s in great form and Edwardians third in the table,
This game was set to be a memorable fable.
To the fans annoyance the boys started slowly,
The opposition broke away and netted past our goalie.
Our defence battled hard to keep Edwardians at bay,
Then Pettitt got a yellow and wasn’t allowed to play.
The second half was a far more even affair,
OC’s growing into the game as CZ and Robbo displayed some much-needed flair.
Deadly shooting has been the theme in previous games,
But the finishing on this occasion was pretty lame.
Doble’s cracking reactions kept the score line respectable,
And a game without a Murphy goal, a real collectable.
As blue and orange attackers piled forward OC’s were camped in the Eds D,
But sadly the goals just weren’t meant to be.
Eds broke twice and killed the match,
The boys fought valiantly but failed to dispatch.
The opposition were good on the day and deserved of the win,
Now J Harman only had his eyes on the gin.
Questions raised of what might have been,
If only the coach had taken his green.
The attention was turned firmly on the quiz,
Jugs consumed and Robbo’s strong trivia knowledge was doing the biz.
The quiz we lost, just like the game,
With a round on 1960’s TV themes that we just couldn’t name.
Clapham waited for those still standing,
Where else but ‘The Grand’ for our final landing.
The journey will resume next week,
With the team gunning to hit their peak.
A journey to Sussex is the challenge as Horsham await,
The game that could determine our top 4 fate.
Mom: Josh Doble
Dod: George Pettitt
Cheam 0-2 2nd XI
Match report to follow
Addiscombe 0-3 3rd XI
Match report to follow
Croydon & Old Whits 4-0 4th XI
Match report to follow
Old Georgians 4-2 Ladies
Match report to follow
Vamps 2-0 Lonodn Wayfarers
Warm up
I’ve been playing for the Vamps for over 10 years, and I promise you, NOT ONCE have we warmed up as a team. This momentously changed today when Jane took us through some aerobic moves. To be honest this challenged the less co ordinated amongst us and I hoped the opposition weren’t watching. Personally I was in awe of Amy who managed to make even heavy duty lunges look dainty. As a lack of warm up seems to suit our team I was pleasantly surprised that by the end no one had pulled a muscle.
Umpires
Louise had to pull out from umpiring due to a dodgy foot (thanks for sharing the photo, Lou, I love looking at feet). This led to a frantic Friday night trying to secure a replacement (not helped by Doris who had shifted our Sky dish. So whilst I’m making calls, Mr S is on our roof, prodding the dish and shouting – have we got reception yet? Apologies for swearing on the phone, Jane.) Let me tell you, trying to find an umpire at 7pm for a 10am game is right up there in my list of ‘best ever Friday night entertainment’. So, a big thank you to Dawn and Pam who agreed to umpire half a game each. Definitely my new best friends (until I need to ask a favour from someone else). In the end, a very timid Wayfarer umpired, which was an uncomfortable affair as she was reduced to tears at half time, thinking she was doings such a bad job. I think at the end, many of the Vamps thanked and encouraged her….not to ever umpire again. (Obviously a little joke).
Game on
We had plenty of subs which in the past has been extremely tricky to manage. Today was seamless, even with two midfield players rotating out every seven minutes. From the outset we were in control, playing some lovely flowing hockey, with the help of Georgia and Sophie from the 1sts. I know we often talk about the Vamps’ age, but Wayfarers were all in their twenties, so I watched with pride as they struggled to contain our team where the majority are aged over 50. However it was the youngsters who scored, initially anyway: Amy with two, Georgia with one (a lovely reverse hit), then Jane stepped up and scored two more.
Result
5-0: not bad and keeps us on target to win the league. I was a very happy match manager, but even happier as this week I didn’t manage to get anyone hospitalised. A big thank you to Hilary for umpiring.
Onwards and upwards!
Barnstormers 3-3 Epsom Embers
