The 2005-06 season was one the OCHC can look back on with satisfaction with all the sides performing admirably both on and off the field.

After three seasons of disappointment, the 1st XI finally ended a run of relegations and, had we started the campaign with more self belief, we might even have bounced straight back into regional hockey. We took only 10 points from our first seven matches, but the season turned when we defeated unbeaten league leaders Wanderers shortly before Christmas. From then on, we were the form team but we had too much ground to make up. In the second half we again held Wanderers and ended the strong challenge of Merton's South African-imported side. Frustratingly, our record against the top teams was much better than those in the middle regions of the league.

Hawes led by example, and was well supported by the ageless Vikki Mottram and Ros Pateman along with Sarah Mann. Julia Dann in goal played some blinders, often, unfairly for her, in an ultimately losing cause. Eds Copleston led the side from the front, finishing as leading goalscorer with 29 and showing that he had grown into the job. As ever, he received staunch support from veterans David Knapp and Will Stephens. In goal, James Robson was superb, keeping us in a number of games, but he was given more to do than might have been expected as our defence was too often brittle. In the midfield we were brilliant one week,mediocre the next.

It would be unfair to overlook our poor disciplinary record. After getting two red cards in 36 years of league hockey, we got as many again in three weeks. More importantly, we often aggravated umpires unnecessarily with the understandable result that we then found 50-50 decisions going against us. A meeting was held in April and a disciplinary committee will sit in 2006-07 (for all sides) and cards and poor behaviour will not be tolerated. Until recently, we had a very good We went on to win 3-2 reputation for fair play, and we are determined to regain that in 2007.

To end the 1st XI report on an upbeat note, we benefited from the presence of recent leavers Nick Lewis (who still maintains he did get a fine nick on the winner against Merton) and Rob Merry, although the latter was cruelly sidelined for the two thirds of the season by a freak injury. Copleston has recruited enthusiastically from the school and his efforts are now reaping their rewards.

The Ladies were always going to find things tough after a string of promotions. They stayed up thanks to their great team spirit (often they had more players at training than the entire men's club) and a refusal to know when they were beaten. It is a bit of a cliche to claim that league positions do not tell the real story, but in this instance it is true. At one stage they lost six in eight, four by a single goal and the others by two goals. They also suffered from other sides fielding ineligible players towards the end of the season. But under the inspirational Helen Hawes, they won four of their last eight to stay in Surrey Division One.

The Studio side, to all intent and purposes the 2nd xi, won the Surrey Open League Premier Division for the fourth time in five seasons, although it was not quite as easy as it had been. Under the spirited and motivational Billy Smart, we continued to be brilliant more often than not, terrible occasionally, but never dull. The overall philosophy was that we might ship goals but we would always score more, and Mark Selby and Tommy Sexton ran rings round all but a handful of defenders. Like the 1st XI, our wobble was early season, but we won all but one game after Christmas which enabled us to overhaul a five-point gap established by Surbiton. Henry Watkinson, Smart's No. 2, had his best season for a while, while Cato Choi dominated the midfield with his running, as did Neil Grimes without any such strenuous efforts. Stu Steele showed that weight gain and a complete lack of speed was in no way detrimental to his excellent defensive qualities.

The 3rd XI was taken over by James Armitage, and he inherited a team with eight wins in the previous three seasons and one who had been fighting permanent relegation battles for five years. He turned things round quite superbly, so much so that we went into our final game knowing a win would see us promoted. Although we fell at the final hurdle, it could not tarnish a remarkable effort which at one stage saw us lose once in 18 outings. The personnel remained largely unchanged, although the drafting in of the experienced Ian Tabor and expanding Tony Norris made a big difference. Sadly both retired over the summer - Tabor because of a long-standing knee injury and Norris because of a long-standing expanding waistline.

The 4th XI chugged on but found themselves at the wrong end of the table after only four wins in 13 matches. As usual, they brushed themselves down, won four on the trot to lift themselves to safety before going back to sleep at the end of the season. Aside from Steve Harmer's eccentric match reports, the most notable performances came from Dave Goodchild in goal and Louis Strover up front. Strover, a man who had never knowingly exercised, seems to get better ever year and still possesses one of the hardest and most accurate shots in the club. He is one of those players who keeps things simple, but does what he does very well. His class shone through when he was summoned to the Studio for their last match and looked the best player on the pitch.

Last but not least, the Veterans. Although the side has aged together and, in fairness, could do with a few younger faces, they remain a fun side and one which plays for the sake of it. Even though they are in a league, Andy Eve and Wade Pollard (joint captains who first took the helm when Margaret Thatcher was PM) spend much time calculating how to avoid promotion and the extra travelling that involves. They won about the same number of matches as they lost, and had Pete Shanks in goal to thank for sparing blushes on several occasions.

As ever, much work was done behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly and we are grateful to all those involved. We are beginning to look at replacing the Astroturf - it has already way exceeded its predicted lifespan - and while this will not happen for 2006-07, it will not be far in coming. The poor state of the pitch before Christmas was not the fault of the surface but was down to our friends at Thames Water who flooded the pitch in September. Why can they never get the water where it meant to be? Our problems stemmed from blocked drains and mud that resulted.

It was pleasing to see new faces from those who have just left university and we are always keen to see more, at any level. We would particularly like some more ladies as it remains our aim to start a 2nd XI as soon as possible. It might be worth noting that our subs and match fees are the lowest in the area (subs are less than half of those charged at Surbiton for example)!