From the start of the whistle, we played with high intensity and vigour, remembering to focus on our ball pace on a dry, sticky pitch in the sunshine. Great first half goals from Ella and Danni took us to 2-0 up at the whistle; we were happy but a little disappointed not to pounce on a few more ‘certain’ goals. In the second half, West Herts came back fighting, changing to a very high and aggressive press which put us under immediate and prolonged pressure. They then went on to score, however, after a lot of shouting, positive attitude and organising, we worked out a way to outlet better and Hattie opened up the gap to make it a 3-1 win for us at the final whistle.Thank goodness that away trek to Watford is now over for this season; bringing 3 points back with us felt amazing. What a team; much more to come from this great squad of women.
Hazel Lovegrove
MOM: Macy M and Hattie C
DOD: Ben R
Goal Scorers: Ella B, Danni J and Hattie C
Bath, a university team, are typically unpredictable. Their squad, young, quick, and feisty, were eager to prove themselves but were prone to errors, especially against our established and seasoned side.
Bath’s intent was clear from their first touch – an aerial from the centre spot leading to a 16, with Bath aggressively pressing full. The tone was set: a game of high pressure and close encounters. The university supporters made their presence felt, particularly targeting young Seth. However, he showcased his mettle, shrugging off the heckles as though they were water off a duck’s back. 
The first quarter saw relentless exchanges between the sides. While Bath made incursions into the D multiple times, the solid defence marshalled by Simmo, Seth, and LeftBackStone, thwarted them consistently. The OC’s built up well, earning a short corner. However, Bath’s defence was up to the task. In a swift transition, Bath counterattacked and won a short corner but it was equally well-defended by our goalie and club man, JD.
At the end of the 1st quarter, the scoreboard read 0-0. Coach Pies’s tactical insights during the break galvanised the midfield duo of skipper Will Phill and Matt Boote, leading to a more incisive second quarter. Though Bath remained a constant threat in the OC half, the young Bath forwards couldn’t break through the resilient defence, steered by the ever-reliable, Man’s-Man – Simmo.
Just before half-time OC’s persistence bore fruit. Aerial specialist, Borrmann, found Broe with a pinpoint chuck. Brosef deftly controlled and relayed the ball to Derik, our ‘Flying Dutchman’, who skilfully dispatched the ball with a reverse-stick shot. The OC’s went into half-time 1-0 up.
Post the interval, Bath began to stretch the play aggressively, trying to overload our defensive half. However, they were met with a sturdy OC midfield. As the game progressed, Bath’s inexperience was evident, with errors creeping in. The third quarter was goalless.
The final quarter saw Seth making a daring solo run, weaving through multiple Bath players and winning a short corner. As the clock ticked, Bath became increasingly desperate. Nine minutes from time JD, our goalie, retaliated to an elbow jab and was shown a red card. In a remarkable demonstration of fearless leadership, skipper Will Phillips slipped into the goalkeeper’s gear, making a National League debut between-the-posts that was as unforgettable as those memorable debuts between-the-sheets. What a bloke.
Seizing the moment, Bath took off their goalie, hoping to capitalise on numbers. However, this proved fatal. Borrmann, with another impeccable aerial, found JJ who effortlessly scored into an open goal, making it 2-0.
Despite being reduced to 8 outfield players in the dying seconds, the OCs held on. The match ended with a well-deserved 2-0 victory. By unanimous vote, the ‘Man of the Match’ award for outstanding leadership and a clean sheet on his debut in goal was presented to Skipper William Phillips. DoD should be pretty obvious by now.
The lads lead the National Division 1 league with 6 points and a healthy goal difference and return home this Sunday for a local derby match with newly promoted Richmond. Let’s get Fortress TD rocking! OOOOOO-CCCCCCCCC’s!
Today brought our second league game. Building on the strong start last week, we fielded a strong team with a ‘Chelsea esq bench’. Liz ‘the oracle’ Norrington lead an energetic warm up and predicted a 3-1 score line. Would her prediction become fact? Only time would tell.
We started strong with lots of 1-2 passing. We pressurised their D and challenged their goalie. Unfortunately a quick break by the oppo, led to a penalty corner. They were well drilled and the score was soon 1-0 to them.
We fought well for the remainder of the first half with the game fairly with both sides challenging the other in the D. They looked dangerous on the break but we remained calm and the 1-0 scoreline stood at half time.
The 2nd half saw a lift in our energy. We connected some lovely simple passes, were strong in tackles and put their defence under constant pressure. Their goalie was impressive and we knew we had to get creative. Our break finally came; following some lovely play down the right, Grace picked up the ball just outside the D and it was a textbook finish our coach, Adam, would be proud of. 1-1 with 30 minutes remaining and it was all to play for.
We were all over them, making lovely connections across our 3 lines. They didn’t give up but we retained our structure and we felt secure at the back.
Finally our pressure upfront payed off. Grace once again picked up the ball, and ‘gracefully’ entered the D. She dodged their defence with some great 1 on 1 skills and pushed the ball into the back of the goal with composure that goes way beyond her years. 2-1 to OCs. This game was ours.
We sustained the pressure upfront and remained confident in our defence. It was time for our newly appointed captain to make an entrance on the score sheet. With an abundance of team work, beginning with a superb pass up the line from Lea at left back, the ball was soon in the D. Alice picked the ball up and with the tenacity we have come to expect from her, the ball was soon in the goal. 3-1 final score.
Our Oracle’s prediction became our reality.
I asked an AI what it thought of our game. Here’s what it said.
‘Congratulations on your team’s fantastic victory! It sounds like a thrilling match with plenty of action and teamwork. Liz ‘the oracle’ Norrington’s prediction certainly turned into reality, and your team’s perseverance paid off with a 3-1 win. Keep up the excellent work and best of luck in your future games!’
Final Score 3-1 Win
Goal Scorers: Grace Redwood x2; Alice Pim x1
MOM: Ele Lyn
Men’s 2s 3 – 2 Men’s 3s
The battle at the fortress
As the working week draws to a close, the fortress prepares for battle and two squads from the C’s prepared to face off in a meeting like no other. General Roberts started the day collecting intel, ensuring the battalion has the correct supplies and preparing his men for mobilisation. 13:30 hits and his battalion 
arrives, some without the correct uniform but quickly resolved by the visionary leader. With the strategic map set out and mission objectives made clear, pre battle warm-up commences and is led by officer FRJ at the trusty church car park. With warm up completed we draw closer to battle and with enemy in sight the excitement increases. The whistle blows for conflict to commence, after battling hard, the people’s team go one nil up. With two penalties inside the D and short corners awarded we reach half time 2-1 down. Inspiring words and our spy mission codenamed meersy provided crucial words of wisdom which prepped us for the final part of battle. With emotions raging we lost general DR, officer FRJ and L’cprl Rhodes with a 2 min suspension. With another rocket propelled shot from the top by general Roberts and a goal from Cprl McCarthy it puts the people’s team in front. The final whistle brings the battle to a close with the final score being 3-2 to OC Men’s 2s.
Goals
General Roberts: 2
Cprl McCarthy: 1
POM
L’Cprl Rhodes
DOD
Cprl Barber
Cprl Rhodes
Cprl Lamb
Champaign
General Roberts
Ladies 3s 1 – 0 Barnes 5s
After battling the gorgeous Saturday morning traffic to our first away game, we all made it and with only 1 sub we were nervous. The game started slow with us all finding our feet but for the most part we kept possession and made it into our attacking 25 a lot the only issue was finding the back of the net .
With some short corner opportunities Manny fired some rockets but to no avail unfortunately. After an encouraging team talk that we were a much stronger team and shouldn’t be drawing nil nil, we decided we need to switch the play more and man mark our players better, so the second half saw us play the ballmore down the right wing with some great triangle passes. We wanted the win more in the second half and with some great teamwork we finally got a goal! Eva and Ailsa with a slow mo roll across the line. Goal Ailsa!!
POM-there were a few close runners (lily) but it went jointly to Michele and Eva for Michele‘s amazing saves throughout the game (she saved us 
) and Eva’s unreal dedication to team work and basically being everywhere on the pitch!
Men’s 4s 3 – 3 Epsom 3s
Shuffling the Sams
We started with two Sams, went down to one and ended up with two. Sam D was always nailed on but a hitch prevented Sam C I from playing but a Heathrow shuttle drive, following the incoming Canada Airlines arriving on time, by Howie C enabled Sam C II to reach the Epsom pitch 5 minutes before the start of the game. Roger Kuipers shook off his back problem to give us an unlikely large squad of 13, a good job as brother Guy K tweaked a hamstring and Sam C II found jet lag an obstacle towards the end.
This was a humdinger of a very competitive match played in exactly the right spirit between the two pace setters from week one of the league fixtures played in a good but competitive spirit with a draw the correct result. Ultimately it came down to a misfiring short corner routine from us, 0 from 12, and a slick routine from Epsom, 3 from 5, to enable each side to walk away with a point.
We started the better but came across another inspired keeper with his save from Sam D low down to his right as good a save as we will see all season. A poor patch in the middle third of the first half gave Epsom the initiative on which they capitalised converting their first short corner, a deflection by the Epsom player of the match, number 10, on our left post having tested Jake in goal with his making two important saves ahead of their first goal..
Emmers drew us level with an overhead smash as the ball looped up off the Epsom keeper and Oscar set up Knappy with a quite superb run down the left taking out two defenders and the keeper with his pass to leave the goal gaping. Not to be out done Epsom nicked a second deflected short corner, this time outside our right post to level the score ahead of half time.
Our failure to capitalise on our dominant second half pressure cost us as Epsom took a 3 – 2 lead through their 4th corner whilst we squandered our many second half corners. Ultimately we did find a leveler with Emmers squeezing the ball under their keeper from the top of the D to ensure the spoils were shared.
This was a great squad performance with Mooresy, the two Kuipers and Sam D snuffing out the home side’s attacks and providing excellent distribution that resulted in our creating so many chances. The juniors and new faces, Jake, Oscar, Millsy, Sam C II and Roger have fitted in seamlessly. The lively and skillful Epsom midfield and forwards found it very difficult to break us down and kept us in the game.
The man of the match votes were spread amongst the team
As always Epson provided 2 good umpires and perfect post match hospitality with our looking forward to the return fixture in January.
MoM Henry Emery
DoD Roger Kuipers – for various reasons and mainly due to his brother rigging the vote.
Scorers, Emery 2, Knappy 1
Ladies 4’s 5 – 1 Ladies 5’s
What better way to start the weekend than with a Friday evening interclub match. There was an air of friendly competition as players arrived alongside a fair few nervous players-it’s never easy to playing against team mates in a league match!
Both sides had teams who hadn’t all played together as a team before so who knew what was to come!
Our umpires, Grant and Malcolm stressed that they would be keeping a tight reign on the match, friendly or not!
The 4’s started strong with some fluid passing between the mids and forwards, & were rewarded with an early goal within the first three minutes. Throughout the first half our team worked well together, passes flowed and legs were quick. With 10 minutes until half-time the 5’s attacked hard and put our defence under pressure. We were glad to hear the whistle for half time as we needed to regroup despite leading 3-0 as we headed into half time.
Early in the second half the 5’s had a great run down the right wing followed with a beautiful cross into the D by Nicola to Rae, who, in a great position knocked the ball into the goal, taking the score to 3-1.
The 4’s fought back with some strong attacking play, great passes from the defence through to the mids & forwards. Poppy made a fantastic run down the pitch finishing with a successful strike at goal. The final goal for the 4’s was scored by Lily M who made a great run to position herself in front of the goal knocking the ball in from a cross. This took the score to 5-1.
Our quick and speedy mids & forwards proved to be a fierce team working together with some beautiful passing & movement. The defence stayed strong throughout, marking well & picking up the fast breaks from the 5’s.
Although Jasmine didn’t have a huge amount to do in goal she provided steady advice to the team throughout the entire game & made some great saves.
Our POM was Lily Mauleverer who held strong throughout the entire game. A special mention also goes to Poppy Bartles-Smith who was a fantastic midfielder.
Goals came from Lily Mauleverer (2), Poppy Protasiuk (2), Yasmine Weeks & Charlotte Stubbs
Ladies 5s 1 – 5 Ladies 4s
We arrived to our second match of the league full of energy and positivity leaving behind the bitter taste of the previous weekend result.
We arrive early and met for a pre-match chat in the changing rooms and walk to the pitch to start the warm-up with our playlist that is increasing slowly.
It was intense beginning with a prompt goal from the oppo. We were struggling with possession, every time we were getting the ball and being able to pass the halfway line we were losing the ball. Lots of saves from Nici plus good tackles and gaining the ball by the backs. A green card to one our defenders in an extreme Argentinian passion, left us with 10 players. Second goal of the oppo. We made some lovely transfers, counter attacks having more possession of the ball. Another goal and we go to half time 3-0. Half-time chat and made some adjustments and we go out stronger, we got our first short corner, we surprised and good shot to goal from Nicola but saved by the goalie. Second short corner and also a very good shot to goal, saved by GK. We were getting closer, we were more confident and we knew that the goal was coming. The ball started from the back from Lily who quick passed to Rachel that dribble and passed to Phoebe who send the ball straight to the D, Nicola received and slip to the left post to Rae standing in the perfect spot and yes the first goal! This gave an injection of energy and hope was back. We were having possession and arriving to the D more often, but a 4th goal was scored. We continued fighting, the match ended 5-1.
The result wasn’t great but the attitude of the team, fighting until the final whistle.
Almost all the team got mentions, Amanda, Phoebe, Nicola, Jenny, Nici, Frankie, Ami and Lily but the POM was for Rae who opened the score of the 5s this season.
incredibly hard from start to finish, Elle Steedman relentlessly driving the ball up the wing to cross into the D for a shot at goal. Unfortunately it just wasn’t our day for matching the 8 goals we scored last week. We certainly had the attacking game and some great possession of the ball. The opposition managed to strike at goal, the only goal of the match which was enough to win them the game. Injuries a plenty created a very stop start second half unfortunately, so a tough match all round, but a very friendly one. A great, hard fought match from the whole team.
Warriors 0 – 4 Cheam 2s
This was a difficult week. Two founder members of Warriors, Max and Jonty had flown the OC nest and were doing hockey trials (successfully) at their Universities whilst we also lost Grant to University (proud Dad) chauffeur service duties. Depleted, Dazza came to the rescue to play his “favourite” oppo Cheam.
Cheam turned up with a fit young squad with the majority in their early 20’s – Warriors average age was probably in the late 20’s….however the stats can be deceiving with significantly older and younger players comprising the team.
The game started with wave after wave of Cheam attack with the Warrriors defence working overtime to hold them at bay. Eventually we succumbed to another lucky finish at a short corner but fought back in to the game and had a good share of our own short corners, which if we had converted, would have at least put us back in the game.
HT -0-1
Second half and the break had recharged the Cheam wave machine. Despite the silky stick skills of our Zac and Joe in the midfield, Warriors were being out muscled by the Cheam 20 something contingent. Another short corner put us 2-0 down but we remained positive and competitive for the most of the half with our own chances to get back in the game. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be for another week with an attacking overlap and a goal mouth scramble making the final score flattering for Cheam.
MoM – Zac Hawes
This was always promising to be a deliciously competitive match with both sets of new captains wanting to prove themselves, along with their squads.
The 6s were rapidly out of the gate, pushing forward to try and score with plenty of running and using the width.
Fortunately, the 7s defence was staunch and resisted all efforts to breach. The first half was rapid stuff, the midfield firing well to try and shift the ball up, and the defence stalwart in denial, trying to push the ball up as far as possible. The forwards came back when required to help out, so they had plenty of running to do.
After a breathless first half which saw the score remain at 0-0 and fortified with sweets, we settled in for more defending against a barrage of an attack. Saved by great defending, blind luck and goalkeeping, we kept them out. The midfield and the defence linking up to keep the 6s at bay, with some clever running by the forwards somewhat further back than they would like to have been.
About 15 minutes into the second half, against the run of play, Darcie Waite, playing her second adult game, took the ball on a fantastic run. Swerving around several defenders in a beautiful slalom, she passed in the D to the evergreen Jane Taylor, who slotted the ball into the back of the net to give us the lead, against all expectations!
After an unfortunate clash of heads between two opposing players resulted in a delay and them both being substituted for safety, play continued with the 6s pressing for an equaliser.
Kate Codd was, as always, everywhere in defence, ably supported by Belle Sieger and Kim Lyle, with Amanda Jones player way back from her preferred forward position. Unfortunately, 15 minutes from time, Kate stopped a very hard cross from just a few feet away with her ankle, resulting in a final substitution.
Bringing Rae Knowles into centre defence was a saving grace, with Fiona MacPherson coming right back, and Annie Lee playing in defence to continue denying the 6s.
Stunning performances from Anna Neaves-Thomas in the right midfield and Lia Lorenzo on the left (like Darcie and Belle, playing only their second adult games) allowed us to stay ahead, even through short corners where none of us had any idea what we were doing. I had a busy game, and my iWatch kept warning me about the loud environment, mainly caused by my shouting!!!
Despite the barrage of crosses and shots, we managed to hold out until the end and took a very cheeky win.
Very very proud of the team and their strength, stubbornness and resilience. Thanks for all your efforts and you deserved the doughnuts!
Goal – Jane Taylor
Assist – Darcie Waite
PoM – Kate Codd
Golden Glove – Nicola Goldsmith
After a good lesson on how to play in this league by OGs last week, the Barnies pre-match chat before facing H&W was very much about abiding by the simplest of hockey rules – keep 11 players on the pitch!
Well, this logic and the new DOD hat that Tim, The Wall has fashioned and brought to the game, seems to have focused out thinking and our ability to play some great hockey as we got off to a fast start with slick passing and good movement. With our three pronged forward line of Poen, Quints and Gerry running around as if their lives depended on it the opposition started to struggle against our flying attack! Lucozade seemed to be the key for Quints who was vocal in his warm up technique. It obviously worked as our relentless play was rewarded with our first short corner. The request to slip the ball was met with initial concerns by some of over complicating but the desired result came as it produced a great poachers goal with Quints reacting quickest after Gerry slapped the ball into the keeper.
This spurred us on even more with the midfield dominating possession as Ritchie, Searsy, Lewie and Yongey all making some great passes around the oppo and strong runs forward. The consistent pressure resulted in two more goals in the first half, one from Gerry and another from Quints, both in open play. Can you believe it – Quints scored 2 goals!!The half time talk was relatively relaxed, being 3-0 up with 11 players still on the pitch. Energy levels were also high with us having a strong subs bunch – late additions on Friday evening helped with this so thank you to Lewie, Alan and Cookie who were able to join the cause.
Second half started as before, but with a slight blip early on as a short lapse of concentration led to a breakaway attack by the oppo and a rare mistake by The Wall giving away a goal. This didn’t last long as we stepped up a gear with more of the same. Special mention must go to our defense who worked brilliantly together and marshalled the back line well. Continual encouragement from Dougie and Toby in the middle helped the sometimes tiring midfield into the right positions. Dazzler and Ed supported well finding great space on the flanks and early ball forwards to the runs than Poen and Quints were making out wide. Further pressure led to another short corner where we again passed around and you guessed it, scored another – These short corner routines are easy!
Everyone was getting noticeably tired as the game headed for a finish, but not before a further great goal was scored by Gerry and a quiet sending off by Cookie for some innovative tackling. As this was his first game back and he wasn’t present at the pre match lecture we will forgive him for this one slight!
Match finished 5-1 with 2 goals from Quints and Gerry and a further short corner speciality from Ritchie. Yongey came away with MOM but this was really a joint effort from all the players for a well deserved victory.
Puritans 6 Southgate 2
The master of drumming up hockey teams, Greg Hutchins, waved his magic wand during the week and assembled 12 experienced players, not difficult when the total age of the 12 probably exceeded 750 years, who put Southgate to the sword.
Following last week’s heavy defeat to Indian Gym, with the loss of Andy Mac to an unnecessary and unacceptable hand injury as a by product, we needed a win.
2 early goals gave us the initiative with an open play goal from Knappy and a thumping short corner strike from Ravi that was backed up by a 3rd from Lee Martinz, both set up by the trademark Greg dummy before slipping the first to his right and the second to his left.. We conceded close to half time as we allowed their best player to run half the pitch with the ball before slotting home.
The second half took a similar course, another Greg dummy and slip right at a short enabled Ravi to score his second, they pulled one back when we fell asleep but there was enough time to score two more open play goals from Knappy.
A very satisfactory day at the office and one that righted the ship after last week’s duffing.
MoM Greg Hutchins for his setting up 3 goals.
Scorers, Knappy 3, Ravi Laly 2 and Lee Martinz,