Men’s 2s 5 – 0 HAC Gunners
OC2XI ft Holloway, Wilson & Simpson Vs HAC gunners
OC’s fresh of a non training week came in to the game with high energy. Buzzing around the pitch. Creating early chances. Dave Roberts tired from morning birthday activities narrowly missed an open goal no open the scoring.
OCs pressed on, winning a corner. Dispatched through the defenders legs. 1-0.
Fluid hockey along the baseline lead to Cooper playing a 1-2 off the keepers pads before pushing home to make it 2-0
OCs continued to build. Rolls Royce Simpson commanding through the back Holloway finding space. A lovely ball through to Lankfer and his signature flick over a defender lead to Wilson rounding the keeper and squeezing the ball home 3-0.
HAC came back in to the game looking for a scrap and somehow escaped cards. As OC’s forgot how to inject short corners and failed to capitalise
Half time 3-0.
Fantastic pressing from the front three lead to the 4th Wilson nicking the ball. Rounding two and passing to DR who rounded the keeper and slotted in for the second time in 6 hours. 4-0
As the game drew to a close a final corner and chance at redemption…. A lovely move saw Lankfer deflect in for a well deserved goal. The OCs win 5-0.
A welcome clean sheet after the exclusion of Liam – dropped or unavi… who knows.
The 2s go in to next week looking to take 3 points from Teddington
Mom: Simmo
Dod: Lawson
Goal Scoreres: Lawson, Lankfer, DR, Ben Wilson, Coops
London Wayfarers 4s 3 – 0 Ladies 2s
OCs Ladies 2s faced London Wayfarers 4s, who sit at the top of the table, on their home turf in Battersea. Coach Ben arrived (with the largest whiteboard I have ever seen at the side of the hockey pitch), to give us simple but effective tips to go out hard and try to control the game from the outset. DJ Diddy P (aka Alice) provided the team warm-up music, but unfortunately, we were out-tuned by the opposition who turned up with a mega speaker and drowned out the Saturdays (especially selected for Miggs).
Ben’s useful coaching tips paid off and for the first half, the team played very gutsy and tenacious hockey and worked hard to try to take control of the game. There were dubious decisions from some trainee umpires which frustrated both teams. Wayfarers came out hard and fast too, and after a lot of battling at either end of the pitch, Wayfarers went 2-0 up after some relentless attacking in our D. OCs 2s were never out the game, and also had plenty of opportunities in the D. We had some great drives down the right hand side which eventually earnt us a short corner. Alina hit a rebound ball which was slightly above the back board and whilst the trainee umpires awarded it, Wayfarers took matters into their own hands and restarted the game from a 16. Slightly frantic moment followed, given OCs has set up from a centre restart. Eventually the game was stopped, the goal decision overturned by the umpire at the other end with absolutely no consultation with the other umpire. Be grateful OCs that we provide qualified umpires at our game. Poor umpiring impacted both team equally but it wasn’t fair on the umpires who had been put in that situation.
In the second half, the OCs 2s continued to battle hard to get back into the game. There were some outstanding tackles from the defenders, particularly from Helen at centre-back. Ele was accused of diving when she was blatantly fouled while on the ball, which caused some outrage (especially from Ele). The forwards worked hard to set the press and the midfields hassled hard to win the ball back when we had turned it over. The OCs had another opportunity to score and this time Alina hit the post. Wayfarers managed to sneak another goal in before the final whistle which resulted in a 3-0 loss.
Another disappointing result for the OCs 2s but they put in a strong, brave team performance against the top of the table. Back out to Battersea again next week, where the 2s will be even more determined to turn the tide and seal a victory.
Final Score 3-0
POM: Alice Pim
Wimbledon 4s 3 – 4 Men’s 3s
A late start on a damp January in Raynes Park was not exactly the Barbados tour that Max has promised to organise for next year – but it was another hurdle to overcome in our quest for silverware.
Pre push back, we learned that Charlie Mc has an identical brother who might be better at hockey than him, that every Saffa in London knows all the others, that not all Donny warm ups are perfect and that Richie loves being squirted up the bottom.
We started slightly slowly and they scored early on – a soft goal that no-one enjoyed. Perhaps a much needed jolt for the boys.
Then came 30 mins of some shit hot hockey. The midfield of Harman, Leslie and Raines was elegant, combative and skilful. We won almost all the 50/50s; we looked fit and bright. The lads up front were making great runs and in the blink of eye we were 4-1 up before half time. Jethro foxed the keeper with a one on one, Will Leslie reverse smoked it into the side netting, Charlie Mc slid in back post for one of those goals you only ever see in training and then Will won a p-flick that Rainesy converted.
We gave ourselves a well-deserved pat on the back at half-time, ate some haribo and then slightly retreated into our shells second half. We stopped winning all the 50:50s and started to force the play too much. Wimbledon had nothing to lose at this stage. Shepherd made a vital, illegal intervention in the D putting the team before himself and got green carded by a referee who never warmed to the athletic defender. They scored from a couple of short corners and then inexplicably it was 4-3. Anyway, they screwed up their last ditch short corner which would left an incredibly sour taste in the mouth and we hung on for 3 points. That’s what we do; we harvest points week in, week out. Why? Because we’re stacked full of nuggety, competitive heroes.
Huge game tomorrow. Donny’s in Annabelle’s when he consistently claims there’s nowhere else he’d rather be than with the boys.
MOM – Will Leslie
DOD – Scribe (Shep)
Goal Scorers – Jethro Thomas, Mark Raines, Will Leslie, Charlie McCarthy
Sunbury & Walton Hawks 2s 2 – 3 Ladies 3s
Ladies 3’s had a great game this Saturday with an end result of 3-2 to OCHC!
Playing Sunbury & Walton 2’s was challenging but with everyones effort we
managed to pull through. Well done to Sophie Y, Jess and Bea for collectively
scoring the 3 goals and helping us stay in the lead. Also a special mention to Livvy for achieving the POM.
Written exclusively by Mischa (for late arrival)
Goals: Sophie Y, Jess Q, Bea C
POM Livvy Rosser
Surbiton Sparticans 3 – 4 Men’s 4s
Derby Day
El Clasico, The Merseyside derby, The Old Firm derby and OCHC v Surbiton are all spoken in the same breath.
After last week’s fleeting moment of euphoria in which Surbiton 5s were reported as having lost 2-0 to Ashford, changed to a 5-0 win for Surbiton after a stewards enquiry, it was our turn to visit Sugden Road for the first of 3 away league matches at the dog unfriendly environment. Rumour has it that the same set of stewards are sitting again this week following Epsom’s temerity at snatching a win against Surbiton 5s.
With Sparticans 2 points ahead of us, having played a game more, we could not afford to lose especially with Merton snapping at both our heels. The first game had seen us win 4-2 in a closely fought game courtesy of a Jethro master class but his now sporting a third XI shirt following that game meant that we had to do without him. However we did have a mighty strong squad showing the great strength in depth that we now have at the club.
A good warm up on Surbiton’s impressive new practice area saw us start the game in dominant fashion that lasted the whole of the first half pressing as we did for the whole 35 minutes as Mike Norrington in his first game for us this season spectated as did Denton. A firm strike from a well worked short corner put us one up at half time with Sam D bobbling the ball home although it really should have been more.
The second half saw Sparticans pressing us more but 5 minutes into the half a very swift break culminated in a cross whipped in from the right and Ben S made a very difficult finish look easy as he swept home the cross first time from the top of the D into the far corner. Ben made it look easy but it was a super bit of skill that belied the difficulty of the chance.
All looked rosy at that point but the oppo were certainly not done and came back at us playing some very effective hockey. 3 goals in 12 or so minutes put them 3 up as they caused us real problems down our left, especially with deft aerials into our right hand corner. 2 of the strikes from the top of the D were especially good and we were badly caught out.
At 3-2 down with 15 minutes to go we were in a spot. Ahead of the game the wise man Guy reminded us that we had a squad of 15 versus their squad of 13 with age on our side too. The extra legs proved to be our match winner. Shuffling the pack slightly positional changes were made and with 5 minutes to go we were level. This time Sam D crunched the ball home from a short corner that could have deflated the home team. Credit where credit is due as Sparticans still looked for the winner but in doing so left gaps at the back and in the last minute Jake slipped the ball past the keeper to Knappy, an Eds Copleston impersonator, on the right post for a simple two foot tap in.
There was still time for us to concede a short corner that was played out as the last play of the match but which we defended well.
During the last few minutes there were murmurs from the home side that Scarney was far too good for the 4s and yes, he did have a storming game at the back but it was only his second game of the season and in any event with our ladies 1s, the men’s 2s, 3s, 5s and Stormers all top with the 4s and Barnies second perhaps it is time for those across the railway to acknowledge that we are ever drawing closer to our geographically close neighbours.
The whole squad played well but it is the stepping up of Toby and Ben, our club’s future, that is the most important and pleasing aspect of this season along with guys stepping in and fully committing to the cause having played higher up the club in previous seasons.
We all left in high spirits after a cracking game of hockey other than Denton who was deeply upset at having been shouted at by the Surbiton janitor on the practice pitch and in the club house. A dog psychologist has been working on Denton all week as the O50s have a league game at Sugden Road late this Saturday at which Denton will be present.
Scorers: Sam Doran, Ben Smyth, David Knap, Jake Kemp
POM: Sam Wilson
Ladies 4s 4 – 0 Bank of England 1s
Written by Sam Jones
POM – Josie Heap
Goal Scorers: Zoe Jones, Ailsa Pack, Colleen Bohm, Gemma Thomas
Wimbledon Masters 1s 2 – 5 Stormers
It was another cold weekend in London but at least this week the pitch was inspected properly by the Wimbledon captain. Unfortunately ‘playable ‘was a loose term to use about this pitch, no matter what the weather.
The stormers needed to maintain momentum this week to stay clear at the top of the league yet the standard motivational team talk left some of the team still wanting especially for the subs that were already there… We got off to a great start with a high press but the finishing lacked lustre and accuracy. The stormers defence got so confident they thought they didn’t have to mark players and our goalie watched the ball go across his D at waist height to be tipped in – 1-0 down. At last our captains tactics turned up, and after a short corner goal, all things were even with a maverick finish. The stormers then turned the screw winning a stroke; maverick stepped up again, going in at half time 2-1 up.
Starting straight from the off, JJ played a lovely ball through to Gav who finished with the deftest of touches over the goalie. It was soon to be made 4-1 with interplay through the heart of the Wimbledon defence finishing with a JJ goal. Wimbledon managed to get another one back with more slack defending. However last play of the day, JJ broke away running into the D only to be taken out. Most would have called another stroke but the Wimbledon umpiring decided on a short corner to end the game. Another routine that Gav had the finish to see stormers staying top with a 5-2 win.
MOM – Gav with 2 fine finishes
DOD – JJ I know what you are thinking how did this happen
Goal Scorers: Will Marshall (2) Gav Adair (2) JJ
Written by JJ
Ladies 5s 2 – 0 Berrylands 1s
OC Warriors v Merton Boars – Harry and the Order of the Phoenix
After a narrow first defeat of the season to the dementors of Barnes last week, the Warriors were back at the OC quidditch arena seeking to restore order and back to winning ways. Clearly playing for Warriors is becoming as popular as a JK Rowling franchise with 25 players offering their availability. After a tough casting selection, the final 16 were chosen to face they who have previously been named.
The team was set with seekers, chasers, blockers and of course our own Hagrid (Brendon) as keeper. It didn’t take long for the magic to start with Harry linking up with Jonty (you can’t be Sirius) White, who reverse flicked his wand to stun their keeper for the first goal inside 2 minutes.
The magic didn’t stop there with a string of short corners a reward for early dominance.After a few near misses, it was Harry who used his ‘expelliarmus’ spell to disarm their defence and fired in two quick goals that their keeper was either helpless to save or unsighted as the ball whizzed through a forest of legs.
At 3-0 the team relaxed, perhaps too much, and were mugged in to giving away a short corner. To their credit, it was well taken and went past the Warriors blockers and into the far corner narrowly missing the outstretched diving keeper – 3-1 half time.
The second half was equally entertaining with the full cast playing their role in restoring dominance…and no I’m not going through the whole cast list and allocating names this week! The fourth goal came from yet another short corner with Jonty collecting the ball and laying it off for Harry who then mesmerised their defence with a dribble and shot for a Harry hatrick whilst the fifth was after some good work from Riley on the left who found Jonty who in turn rounded the goalie and reversed flicked in for his brace at the final whistle.
All back at the Leaky Cauldron for a few ButterBeer or whatever they call IPA these days and order restored back to wining ways.
Hamstrings 2 – 5 Richmond Supervets
Out Bhattied
The unbeaten run has come to an end with a virtuoso display from the very talented Mahmood (Nora) Bhatti/Immy.
After the frustration of another weather postponement last week a good match day squad following the Barnies becoming available was in high spirits in light of our winning streak since November 12th. Reading vets have a certain mystique about them and are always the team to beat in any league.
For the first 33 minutes we were in total control, going 1 up with a clinical move down the left hand side and creating many other chances that were not converted. The game changed with the late arrival of the aforesaid Immy who turned the game on its head in a 15 minute spell, scoring two and expertly setting up two tap ins between the 33rd and 48 minutes, a reminder of his abundant talent that was perhaps never really fulfilled at the highest level.
This was a game where Reading showed the benefits of being clinical in front of goal, our having far more chances but not really putting the oppo’s keeper under consistemt pressure.
We did snatch a late consolation when Poeeeeeny walloped home a shot from a narrow angle but it was too little too late.
With the 4 sides around us playing each other and all drawing second place in the league is still very achievable and we still have the cup with a key game this Sunday against Epsom in the last 16 preceded by Surbiton in the league on Saturday. The big games keep rolling in.
Barnstormers 5 – 0 Crawley Masters
Barnies match report below but based on us having a 5-0 walkover. Not sure how this works…
As predicted the non-travelling team of Crawley once again stayed true to type and failed to gather enough old men to make the journey to the fortress that is the great OC’s for this Saturdays clash.
Unfortunately that means all the top class performance training (massages, conditioning, good eating and stretching) that I know each of the Barnies will have completed will go to waste on Saturday and instead will be replaced by curry’s, beers and lie-ins.
Having said that, congratulations to the front line for an amazing 5 goals. Brilliant performance by the defenders and Mikey in keeping a perfect clean sheet. Yongey, best team talk yet!
Another strong win as we keep rolling towards hockey greatness!
Top result!