OC Hockey Club

Ladies 4s  2 – 1  NPL

The Ladies 4s kicked off their season with an exciting and intense match against NPL Ladies 1s with a 2-1 win! The first half saw some great play, and Eilidh

opened the scoring with a fantastic goal that we weren’t even sure would go in – but it did! In the second half, Ella added to the score with a brilliant, clean goal. After drivin

g the ball up into the D, she slotted it perfectly into the goal. It was a textbook finish and an uplifting moment for the team.We glued togethe

r more as a team in the second half, playing with great cohesion despite being a newly formed squad. Some players had just returned from university, while others were new arrivals from different clubs and teams. Despite this, we all worked really well together and continued to press NPL hard, creating several chances that we deserved to convert.
Hannah James, our goalkeeper, was fantastic throughout the match, pulling off some incredible saves that kept us in the game. The defence stood strong, and Bella Perry’s efforts in particular earned her a well-deserved man of the match title. She never stopped trying and held the backline firm, ensuring we stayed competitive against a very strong NPL side. Though NPL managed to sneak in a goal from a short corner in the last five minutes, it was still a brilliant team performance. We showed real promise, and it’s only onwards and upwards from here!

HAMMIES  2 – 1  CHELMSFORD 

A fine body of men gathered on a sunny September Saturday at Fortress TD to demonstrate their agility, flexibility, mobility, dexterity and all round hockey prowess…but enough about them, this report is about an entirely different group.

As a result of cajoling, encouragement, a number of players arising from their sick beds and the threatened use of incriminating photos from previous Dutch tours, the Hammies managed to get a squad of 12 former athletes and Knappy to take on Chelmsford in the first Div 1 O50s match of the new season.
It’s fair to say there was a bit of rustiness in the first half, not helped by some of the subs deciding to change the team formation as they came on – their half time meal culpa including the phrase “I guess that’s what happens when you don’t take part in the pre-match briefing”. As a result, we turned around a goal down (Nige in goal to thank for us not being more behind) and the limited energy reserves significantly depleted…despite the oppo not having any subs.
The second half was a significant step up – we decided (reminded of CB’s mantra that “hockey hasn’t changed!”) to hold our formation, let the ball do the work, make the oppo chase us around a bit for a change and even to look to score a couple of goals. This we did and not even the author’s decision to trip himself up when the nearest player was 10 feet away from him (guess how I was awarded DoD) could do any lasting damage to the new found focus. (In fairness, the pitch was quite slippy and a number of other players managed to fall over at times…just saying.)
Tongy rifled home a P Flick to square the match and that was it, our tails were up and we worked hard to create the opportunity for another goal to take us into the lead. This we duly did through Knappy, about 5 minutes before full time – 2-1 ! What followed was a masterclass in ball retention and maintaining field position – at least that’s how I remember it – before Closey despatched a lengthy aerial downfield with 10 seconds to go. By the time that landed/ was retrieved from the woods at the back of the field, the full time whistle had gone and 3 points were in the bag !

Goalscorers – David Knapp and Chris Tong
MoM – Nigel Hawes

What a great way to kick off the season. It was hot and it was tough … and it was good.

Always exciting to roll out with a new squad, first game jitters and an afternoon heatwave (what?). Rusty on the ball, and slightly doubtful our bodies were ready for 90 minutes of this…   it did take a us a while to settle down and start to flow as a team – but when it came, those moments were solid.

We dominated for most of the first half and secured the first goal with a belter from Sarah Mann. Going to halftime we had lost our structure a bit, and Wimbledon came back strong and fierce. Wimbledon took their moment to score in the second half when a loose player got a clear shot on goal. Argh. After that, things were shaky for a bit, but we did get some lovely shots near-goal (including a dis-allowed goal in a short corner because it was higher than the backboard and a reverse lift from Sarah Mann that sailed over the top of the goal). Our second goal was a little scrappy but eventually Colleen slid it across the goal line. Phew! Wimbledon kept the pressure on until the final whistle. Our defence pulled together at the back, and communicated well to close down most of the Wimbledon attacks and Michelle provided some lovely saves.

Player of the match to Colleen Bohn for commitment and tenacity and all-round fabulous team play. With Freya Sunderland coming in as runner up, making some amazing runs up the pitch and getting oh-so close to securing another goal.

All in – a great first match against a tenacious team that demonstrated that the L5’s have the building blocks of wonderful team. Feels like it is going to be a great season.

Written by Tash

Ladies 7s  2 – 5  Berrylands 1s

15 minutes in and Sophia Carlino scored putting us in front.

L6  0 – 1  Mitcham 1s

First match of the season had a mix of nerves and excitement. We were playing Mitcham 1s, there were going to be some tough players on their team. Not having all played together before, we focused on making the easy pass, keeping possession and getting to know our team players.  Defence had a lot to do in the first quarter and Sarah Mckay organised the back line as a diamond approach, Emma Willson, Vanessa Baxter both back for their first match in a season and longer, along with Anne Foxon and Kate Chalkley, they held the opposition off brilliantly.  An unfortunate goal was won by Mitcham, our fantastic keeper, Liv Heard had made some excellent saves, but this one was quite a shot at goal.

We gained control for much of the second quarter, the last ten minutes of the first half we were making great passes through the midline with fantastic effort by our colts and Claire Wijewardene, who did receive many POM nominations, driving into the D with a couple of great chances at goal. Lucy Gilmour continually received ball after ball from the midline and along with a few penalty corner opportunities, we were so close at scoring a couple of goals, and Mitcham knew it.  None of our colts, Liv Dilworth, Mae Barnes, Ella Close and Kate Chalkley had played a Ladies league match before, the confidence they had was so promising to experience. One parent commented she had never watched such an exciting match. Our fighting spirit and determination didn’t quite win us the match, a super game nonetheless. Here’s to an exciting season for the Ladies 6s.

POM Mae Barnes

Score 0 – 1

First game of the season for the Ladies 3’s and with a new season always brings thoughts of hope and glory for promotion particularly with news sets of captains wanting to prove themselves, along with their squads. The intention has been set; 2024-2025 season will be the season the 3’s get promoted.
Energy levels were high going into the warmup, with some excellent tunes provided by our self-titled resident DJ Ailsa and supported by Eva on the speakers. Note to the DJ, it’s Charlie XCX not Charlie XX…
The game started slow due to a sticky pitch (typical Oaken Lane) in the baking sunshine however, there was some good play with plenty of transfers around the back. Despite this, Old Kingstonians came out strong, full pressing and were annoyingly first to score.
Down but not out, the first half ended with the score level at 1-1, with a great goal from Holly. After an encouraging team talk and fuelled by a lovely orange platter where it was all agreed that we were a much stronger team and should not be drawing 1:1 we were ready to fight with determination and intensity. The second half resumed with renewed intensity from both teams, plenty of running and using the width. We switched the play more with some great
triangle passes with both Elle ‘the gazelle’ and Eva relentlessly driving the ball up the pitch into the D.

Ladies 1s  2 – 3  Surbiton 3s

So the start of the league finally arrived for the Ladies 1s after some excellent pre-season friendlies and some very well attended Wednesday night performance training sessions. Of course, the first game up for OCs would happen to be against our next door rivals, Surbiton Women’s 3s. From the first blow of the whistle, the game was played with high intensity and vigour from both sides, each trying to set a high pace and tempo from the start.

Our defensive press began very well, setting a wall of flat sticks, keeping out waves of Surbiton pressure. As the match ticked on, OCs had the higher percentage of possession, and passes were linking very well; the type of passing game that was desired this season really started to appear. This lead to us being a goal up pretty soon after, with some excellent short passing through several players, for a tap in at the back post by Lolly. However, a dip in concentration allowed Surbiton to react and follow up with a couple of clinical counter goals before half time. A well needed, inspiring chat from new coaches Matty and JP followed, to set us up well for the second half.

Fired up from being a goal down from a great opening half, OCs kept the ball well again and a goal soon followed from no where, a quick turn over from an excellent press allowed for a pinched ball that ended up in the back of the net by Alex. However, not to be defeated, Surbiton pinched a winning goal late near the end of the match to make it a 2-3 loss to OCs. A great game to start the season, which really could have gone either way! Roll on the rest of the season!

MOM: Eve
DOD: Easy

14th September 2024

OC’s vs Reading: A Match of Olympic Proportions (Sort of)

Ah, what a way to kick off the season – under the brilliant summer sun, with the prospect of a gentle start. That was until Reading turned up with their traveling circus of GB and England internationals. It was as if we were playing our usual Saturday club game, but they had taken a wrong turn and accidentally showed up for a pre-Olympic trial. Casual.

The game had barely started before Reading casually slotted their first goal within the opening five minutes, as if they were warming up. We spent a good portion of the first half marveling at their slick passes and wondering if they had misplaced their medals. To our credit, we didn’t take it lying down. The lads put in a shift, with Dougie making a heroic guest appearance and Knappy providing some dazzling solo runs – though, at times, it looked like a one-man battle against an entire Olympic team.

Despite our best efforts, by full-time the scoreboard read 4-0 to Reading. We could almost convince ourselves that we kept it respectable, considering their pedigree. On another day, with a bit of luck and fewer internationals, we’d have shown them what OC’s are made of.

Overall, it was a glorious day for hockey, though mostly for Reading. Still, spirits were high, and the sunburns and cold post-match beverages will live longer in memory than the goals conceded. Season opener: done. A tough day at the office, but hey, onwards and upwards!

Goal scorers: Reading

DOD: Robin Sansom