The continuing expansion of the OCHC came last weekend when the new seventh men’s XI took to the field for the first time.
Slotting in between the 3rd and 4th XIs, the 3As made a winning debut with a 5-3 victory at Spencer, taking a squad of 15 despite a rather inhospitable 9am start time. The squad is a mix of volunteers from the 3rd and 4th XIs and some new recruits.
The large number of men’s players in the early part of the season helped the committee bring forward plans for another side, and Kieran Tallent selflessly stepped forward and agreed to captain the team. Fixtures are always a headache when raising a new side, but the South League shared out vision and kindly agreed to the 3As filling a gap in Surrey 3 caused by the withdrawal of a club. While our results will not count towards the league, it will enable the South League – and us – to gauge the level at which the team should enter the competition in 2018-19.
“The club reacted to growing numbers,” explained OCHC chairman Helen Hawes. “Thank you to the South League for sharing our vision, and also thank you to Cato, Kieran, Andy Eve and many others for making this happen.”