Loveland Bowl snowed off

Unfortunately the second staging of the Loveland Bowl match between the OCHC and the School was cancelled after snow which fell earlier in the week failed to clear in freezing temperatures.

The news was a particular disappointment to the spectators who braved the weather to support the side. "Eds Copleston decided on a lie-in and forgot to let anyone other than the players know," said one unnamed OC who went home after an aborted snowball fight. "We'll make sure he pays in full at the OCCC Dinner this Friday."

Match reports - March 21, 2009

Although a Rory Alexander goal five minutes from time secured the 1st XI a draw with leaders Wanderers, it was not enough to put the league in our hands, and we now have to win our remaining games and hope they slip up. The 2nd XI thumped Reigate Priory 5-0, and the Ladies recorded their second win in six days with a 2-0 victory over Tulse Hill. The 3rd XI went down 1-5 to Reigate, confirming their relegation, but the goals rained in at Aldershot where the 3rd XI lost 6-10 and at Surbiton where the Vets lost 2-8.

Click here for this week's photos

1st XI 2-2 Wanderers
A great day, great umpiring and a great game of hockey which was by far and away the best game we have played in all season and doubtless the best since we played against Wanderers 12 months ago and drew 2-2 on that occasion too. Both sides wanted a win, Wanderers to seal the league with two games to go and us to keep alive our faint hopes of winning the league. The first game of the season against Wanderers was one which we felt we had let slip having been 2-0 up and losing to the last hit of the game but there is no question that Wanderers will be going back up the A3 wondering how they failed to win the three points today

We knew the first 10 minutes would be crucial as Wanderers would not want to allow us a head start like last time and so it proved to be. Wanderers tore us apart in the first 10 and could easily have been two, maybe three up. However their shooting boots had been left at home with only two goals from their shot count of 27. We made a series of big tackles and for all their pressure and shots Trickster had very little to do with the shots either being blocked or being shoved wide. As the game wore on we came back into it and in the final analysis made our corners count with two from 10 whilst the oppo converted none from 15.

David Knapp had a good chance after 15, picking the ball up in front of the keeper, taking it wide but hitting the post when he should have done better and Rory, who scored both, failing to convert Adair's cross following his best run of the season down the left. That would have made it 2 - 0 at half time Rory having put us one up deflecting home Eds’ sweetly-struck shot. Our corners looked dangerous their keeper dealing with two Hunter powerflicks with ease but Wanderers threw huge aerials that continually released the pressure and gave us plenty to think about.

1 - 0 at half time should have been made two by Eds from the top of the D, Cookiey who hurried and snatched at a spanking through pass from Gavin and then again by Cookiey two minutes later who tried a reverse stick strike from the bye line when we had two at the top of the D waiting for a pull back with the goalie and last defender out of position.

A couple of minutes later Wanderers deservedly equalised with a quick free hit that was rolled home by the striker as we stopped, argued and then looked at the umpire as an excuse - unprofessional for what was a perfectly legitimate goal. Five minutes later an uncharacteristic error by our man of the season thus far, Cato, gave Wanderers a 2 on 1 against Trickster and we were up against it. Shades of December 6.

Not to be outdone we forced a short corner and an intricate move that was not quite off the training pitch enabled Rory to tap in from a foot and it remained at 2 - 2 for the last five minutes. Wanderers were without a doubt the happier at the end with a point but to have won the league we would have had to thump Wanderers and then have two weeks of strange results.

We wish Wanderers all the best next season and they have definitely been the best side in the league for arguably two years. My biggest complaint is to question why they lost the play off last season thus resulting in our having to play them this season !!

All to play for in the last two games with two wins securing us second spot. David Knapp

Reigate Priory 0-5 2nd XI
A routine win over a side who started the day nibbling at our heels in which our defence remained unflappable against the huff-and-puff approach of Reigate. The first quarter was evenly fought, Reigate creating several half-chances, but a superb Ed Breton flick from a short corner gave us the lead midway through the half, and then Chris Valentine swept in a second on the stroke of half-time. The second half was scrappy with some indifferent tackling, and as we took our chances Reigate’s composure fell away, culminating in the their captain being yellowed for dissent. We continued the break down attacks while taking our chances, and could have had a sixth but for some generous umpiring when the keeper took out Paul Acutt.

3rd XI 1-5 Reigate Priory
Despite the scoreline, we were not overwhelmingly outplayed, but we gave away the ball too much, shipped some fairly tame goals, and failed to use our width. Three goals in seven minutes midway through the first half killed the game, and from then on it was fairly low-key stuff. The Reigate keeper’s clean sheet disappeared with the last hit of the game. The result confirmed the relegation we all knew was inevitable from before Christmas.

Aldershot 10-6 3rd XI
Report to follow.

Ladies 2-0 Tulse Hill
Report to follow.

Match reports - October 25, 2008

The 1st XI remained top of the table despite making hard work of beating Addiscombe 2-1, and for the second week running the 2nd XI had to dig deep to defeat Surbiton 3-1. The Ladies squandered a lead against Merton to slip to their first loss of the season, and the 3rd XI suffered their third straight drubbing, 1-8 at Goan. Goal machine Louis Strover made it seven in two games as the 4th XI beat Staines 5-0.



Addiscome 2-3 1st XI
Addiscombe always prove to be a sterner test than we think they should and today was no exception. We knew it would be a tough game and but for an inspired series of saves by Robbo in the first two minutes we could easily - and probably should - have been one down. As it was we found ourselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes, Knapp with the deftest of deflections and Cookiey slotting home when loose in the circle. From this point onwards from what should have been a routine victory we contrived to make hard work of the final 50 minutes with Addiscombe quite rightly finding themselves level five minutes into the second-half.

Both sides forced a series of short corners with the home side's far more threatening than ours and it was no surprise when one of theirs was squeezed home. Prior to half time we were guilty of missing a series of good chances to wrap the game up and the Addiscombe keeper began to make some saves that kept the home team in the game. As the game wore on the quality of his saves increased and one wondered if it was going to be one of those days. Five minutes into the second half another short corner was our undoing but at that stage Addiscombe were well worth the 2-2 scoreline.

The introduction of Chris Valentine settled our formation and he began to dominate down the right and when we played the type of hockey we talked about the chances came thick and fast. Eventually we scored from our last short corner of the game with Paul Acutt deflecting home a well worked move but instead of closing the game out we made some unforced errors and insted of coasting to a win it felt as if we were hanging on. A number of good chances came and went with more top draw saves by the Addiscombe keeper and it was with some relief that the final whistle blew.

This performance was better than the scoreline suggests with some excellent hockey and very good preformances from Ed Breton, Chris Brewer, Chris Valentine and man of thematch Ed Copleston. Four wins out of four is as good as it gets, but we had the same record last year before we went into a run of one point from nine. Our nemesis Bank of Boks are next up and we cannot afford anything but a win. Disappointingly our availability is again far from 100 % next week so a good opportunity for someone to grab a place and keep hold of it for future weeks. David Knapp



Ladies 1-2 Merton
This week the ladies played Merton, which give last week’s great result we had a lot of confidence to take the points in this game … but the thing about Merton is they are unpredictable.

With a full squad and pumped up we started the game hard and held the possession. Given our previous games against Merton this seemed to be slightly easier than normal as they only appeared to have a couple of strong players. In the first 20 minutes we took advantage of this, clearly taking the game to them and get a number of shots on goal. Eventually persistence paid off and from a cross from the right Steph mashed the ball past the goalie to take us one up. And while for the remainder of the first half we continued to hold possession, we allowed Merton to get a fluke equaliser as we failed to clear our back line. Bollocks!

So into half time it was all to play for … but there are times when things just don’t go your way, especially when you have no control over some things! The second half saw us loose some of our confidence and allow Merton back into the game. Things then turned slightly worse for Tux as Martin pulled out a green card (harsh!), for a dodgy tackle… this wouldn’t have been so bad but Mr and Mrs Tucker had turned up to watch their daughter for the very first time! Martin how could you!!

It was soon after this that Merton caught us on the counter and produced their second goal to take the lead… arse! Even though the final score remained 1-2 to the end the squad never gave up trying to get the equaliser but lady luck wasn’t on our side. The result leaves us mid table but with the league so tight at the top we can get straight back up there! Helen Hawes


2nd XI 3-1 Surbiton
The 2nd XI maintained their 100% record on Saturday evening, registering a third consecutive win against a poor Surbiton outfit. All in all it was a decent performance considering the amount of new faces that we drafted in, having lost Chris and Paul to the 1s. We could, and probably should; have scored at least two more goals to put a bit of gloss on the score-line but some wayward finishing meant that we found ourselves defending doggedly for the last quarter of the match.

After a sluggish start (no change there then) we began to grow in confidence and put together some fluid passing moves with Neil Grimes finding space and distributing effectively. Our defence also gave us a solid platform with new recruit Mike Grindy looking assured at right back. Another feature of the game was our movement and pace in attack with Bruce, Rory, Alex and Tissy interchanging regularly and giving their leaden footed defence a torrid time. Rory Alexander clinched our first after 20 minutes to give us a deserved lead. Although it should have been his second after one of the most inexplicable misses ever seen at TD (and there have been a few) just moments before. Confidence grew and we hunted down our second which came before the interval. More good work from Grimes set up a swift counter attack which culminated in Tissy cleverly squaring to yours truly to slot past the keeper - cue wild celebrations from me, which on reflection was a bit embarrassing, my apologies!

We began the second half on the front foot and dictated the play for extended periods with Bruce eventually applying what turned out to be the final nail in Surbiton’s coffin, his second in successive games. Surbiton, it must be said; were limited opponents whose attacking approach consisted of firing long balls in hope rather than expectation. They did however pull one back through a miss-hit short corner which cruelly wrong footed our keeper. The goal had a destabilising effect on the team and we lost our shape towards the end. But some no nonsense scrapping from Jon Heard (a rock all afternoon), Henry, Andy and Duncan ensured that we limited them to the one goal. By the end Surbiton's frustration boiled over and one of their players was sent to the bin by Sheriff Williamson (it was a pretty awful tackle and that’s coming from me) to confirm Surbiton's demise.

On to Spencer next week with a spring in our step, after a much improved performance. Well done lads!
Chris Porter


Goan 8-1 3rd XI
Report to follow ... or more likely not!

4th XI 5-0 Staines
This weekend saw the 4th XI take on Staines 5s at home. Tom Pollard re-appeared from university to make a welcome return to a defence that was missing Robin Crumbly; Nick Jocelyn returned from injury and Peter Shanks made his first appearance of the season for the 4th team.
The opening minutes of the fixture were evenly competed by both teams. We made a composed and solid start which, once we settled, allowed us to impose ourselves on the game and push forward in pursuit of the opening goal. Oxo and Bertie ‘Don’t blame the credit crunch on me’ Bance, linked well down the left flank, whilst Adam Justice battled tirelessly for the team in an unfamiliar midfield role.

The deadlock was broken towards the end of the first half. A free hit just outside the opposition area was struck hard towards the goal. Louis Strover stuck out a stick to get the all important touch of the ball before it struck the bottom right corner of the goal (1-0). Shortly afterwards, Smeer did well to connect with a similar drive (but from open play this time), deflecting it narrowly wide.
At half time, the difference between the two teams couldn’t have been more marked. As we discussed the first half there was an air of determination about the 4s who were clearly looking forward to play resuming. A glance at the other end of the pitch told an entirely different story. Staines were slumped in their goal and looked defeated already.

The second half picked up where the first half ended, with the 4s pushing forward. Oxo once again provided the drive down the left flank which led to three goals being scored in quick succession. Louis struck an early second goal with a typically powerful finish from inside the area (2-0), before Dom pushed in from close range (3-0). Louis then controlled a loose ball on the edge of the area, turned on a sixpence and smashed home a 4th (4-0). At 4-0 down, the opposition brought a previously unseen determination and aggression to their game and were clearly determined to get something back. This new found urgency was to no avail though as Grant Archer skilfully denied the Staines forward line any opportunity to settle in the area (one such occasion is shown in the photograph above).

Late on, Smeer capped a typically tenacious performance with a goal from close range (5-0), and whilst the game may be remembered for the five goals, the result was built upon a resolute defensive performance in which Steve Harmer commanded play as pivot, Grant Archer put in some memorable moments of skill as sweeper, Tom Pollard played as if he hadn’t been away and Darren Pouts made another strong display. Thanks must also go to Nick Aston who dragged himself out of bed with flu to take his starting place in the team.

The result leaves us second in the league and looking forward to a 2nd v 3rd place showdown with Old Reigatian 2s next weekend. Thanks to Duncan and Rosie for umpiring.

Club Day a roaring success

The Club Day on September 13 saw about 50 members and recent school leavers turn out at Thames Ditton to play hockey and to socialise. With a bouncy castle to keep younger family members occupied, a BBQ and pizza man serving food all day, the bar open, and a good dose of sunshine, the scene was set for a day to be enjoyed by all.

On the pitch, an all star over-25 side beat an energetic Under-25 side 5-1 and a six-a-side tournament was one by a team including Rozzy P, Armo, Nick Rippley, Adam Mcilroy and Nick Lewis. But the day will be remembered most for the fact that teams from across the club were able to integrate and to socialise together, something that bodes well for future socials. Reports indicate that all managed to stumble back to their homes without serious incident, a sure sign of a good day out.

Our thanks go to all those who helped to organise the day, including Alison Breton for making the Club house available and for organising the bouncy castle, the food and the beer; Eds Copleston and Rob Merry for organising the over-25 and under-25 sides respectively; Helen Hawes for organising the six- a-side tournament; and all those who came along and took part.

Eds Copleston gets engaged

We are delighted to announce the engagement of Eds Copleston and Sophie Cook in Mombassa at the weekend.

Eds, who succeeded Will Stephens as 1st XI captain three years ago, actually got engaged at the same venue used by his predecessor to pop the question to Katie back in 2001. The delightful Sophie runs the OC Ladies Netball club.

The rather alarming OC link doesn’t end there. The Serena Mombassa, the location of the engagements, is one of many hotels run by Abeed Janmoahmed’s father.
Janmohamed now becomes the bookies’ favourite to be the next high-profile OC to get engaged.

Match reports - March 1, 2008

The 1st XI’s promotion hopes were all but ended as we were held to a 2-2 draw at TD by Bank of England, a wondergoal three minutes from time robbing us of all three points; the Ladies came from behind to beat Wimbledon 3-1 and go within four points of top; the 2nd XI came from two down to draw with Merton and lift us out of the bottom three; the 3rd XI look set for relegation after a 0-5 drubbing by NPL, a result which leaves us needing two wins and then other results going our way; the 4th XI also suffered a big loss, 1-5 at Teddington, and now have relegation issues of their own. The Vets beat Cheam 3-2 thanks to a remarkable Tommy Trinder goal a minute from time.
1st XI 2-2 Bank of England (Click here for match photos)
After the feast of last week’s cracking game this week was not so much as after the Lord Mayor’s Ball but more like the hangover after the mother of all booze ups. Quite simply we were awful and although the fat lady is not yet singing she is certainly well into her rehearsals. Last week there was a sense of foreboding before we started but today we were off the pace in the warm up and looked jaded as we started the game against a competitive but very weakened Bank of England side. Indeed, they were short of arguably their three best players but we did little to capitalise. A lethargic first period saws us going in at half time one down, Bank being allowed to come into our circle unchallenged and roll the ball across the face of goal for their left attacker to tap home. We had bags of possession but created very little having only a couple of telling shots.

We knew the second half was going to be the defining 35 minutes of the season and somehow we scored two goals with Rippers sweeping home a Smudger cross and Knapp snapping up a loose ball from an Ed Copleston short corner strike that came off the keeper. At that point we should have closed out the game but it was not to be and B of B scored a wonder reverse stick goal that flew just inside the post through a crowd of players. We again faced a final two minutes to claw a win from the game and although the final move saw us with a four-on-two advantage the ball into Knapp from Smudger was on the final whistle and the goal bound shot was half way to the goal when the whistle went. Four seconds longer on the clock and we would have won the game.

Nevertheless a win would have masked our weaknesses and it really is a mystery how we can play the type of hockey that we played last week only to plumb the depths this week. Half the side – including myself – were not at the races today and mainly the players from whom we needed big games and so now a long spring and summer to lick our wounds before convening again for next season and the hope that any new season brings. David Knapp

Ladies 3-1 Wimbledon
This week saw us play against Wimbledon, who’s recent form of decent results was in stark contrast to when we met them at the beginning of the season and so this was a game where we couldn’t sit back and relax … if only we would listen to Jax’s words then things would haven’t been so nervous during the first ten minutes!

As the match started we seemed to lack any energy and this wasn’t helped by the pitch with its new layer of sand (which gets in everything!) and no rain which meant the ball was going at a snails pace and made for some sloppy mistakes. Having won the toss a second minute stumble (by myself) didn’t help things and let Wimbledon get a great counter-attack in play and a shot on goal … and all of a sudden we were on the back foot. However as we cleared our lines, through some stronger(!) defensive work and Katy’s quick keeping we slowly started to get our composer back together … that was until Wimbledon got a free hit outside the D that was pushed onto the stick of one of their defenders who was running through only for her to get a strike!
0-1 was not part of the plan and certainly Viks had obviously had enough of us prating around and within a few minutes of the restart had decided to take on a shaky Wimbledon defence in such a manor that earnt her the nickname Houdini… after dribbling the ball from the half way line she went round one player, then round another, round a third and may-be a forth (I lost count at that point as I was in ore) then through the keepers legs 1-1 (that’s better!). Right now to get a second … as we piled on the pressure with a renewed sense of purpose one of their defenders politely decided to give away a flick unfortunately Viks had momentarily lost her super powers and flicked it wide to leave the score 1-1 as we went into half time.
With the second half under way we set about getting goal number two and it wasn’t long in coming. From a 16 yard free hit we steadily built up a string of passes from the back through middle and eventually onto May’s stick. Her speed meant she had the power to get past her player with some ease and a strong from the right, just yards from the back line, skimmed past the Wimbledon deference and onto Anna’s stick who smacked it in for our second – phew. Even though we were ahead Wimbledon weren’t going to give up easily and had a number of opportunities on goal. However a Wimbledon short corner allowed us to get our third goal as they missed the push out which was picked Caz, through to Nikki, onto Vikks and then Nina smashed home our third.

If was at this point you thought Wimbledon couldn’t come back but a goal mouth scrabble meant that as the ball was cleared off Katy’s pads it hit a Wimbledon stick and then straight onto an OC players foot right on the line (yes it was mine!) … P flick. Cookie who hadn’t even intended to umpire was actually secretly enjoying the game as he awarded his second p-flick. However converting p-flicks was obviously a problem and Katy’s eyeballing of the Wimbledon player paid off as she softly push the ball which neatly caught under Katy’s pads … NO goal! With that we battled hard to final whistle and brought home the three points. Well played girls a great three points and if cut off and there is still a incy wincey chance we could get promoted but at least get a respectable place so lets keep at it! Big thanks to Cookie and Armo for umpiring much appreciated as ever! Helen Hawes

Merton 2-2 2nd XI
Except for the rather chilly breeze, I felt back home on Saturday. Having watched the 1st XI play Bank of Boks in the morning before turning up to play an all South African - bar one token Kiwi - Merton side riding high in the league whereas we languished third bottom in a potential relegation spot. We resolved to give it our best and enjoy it as any point would be a bonus, especially with poor Austin having to play as a high striker despite a pulled hamstring meaning he was outpaced by their keeper on a good few occasions.

Sadly we started sluggishly and sloppily, gifting them two goals on the break within 15 minutes. Perhaps earlier in the season we would have buckled, but some added niggle in the game - resulting in their centre-forward seeing yellow for raising his stick to the ever innocent Chris Porter - appeared to rally us as a team. Heartened by two wins on the spin, we improved vastly and actually looked the better side going into the break with Bruce, Mike and Paul all creating, but squandering decent chances.

The half-time team talk was brief but positive and soon had the desired effect with Paul drilling a reverse stick shot into the bottom right corner of the goal to make it 2-1. We pushed on and Chris made a rare foray into the opposition D where Mike slipped a deft pass back to him and the finish was calm and precise - the celebration the exact opposite with repeated gestures and whoops directed at any opposition player within 30 yards. 2-2 and again we looked the stronger side forcing a few short corners and Paul hitting the post from a tight angle, but it was Merton who earned a short corner on the final whistle after a scything player-and-all tackle from Chris. It had to be taken three times but the defence held firm. A loss would have been cruel, and somehow despite the pre-game expectation, a draw felt less than we deserved.

A superb performance considering we basically played with 10 (thanks to Austin though for playing wounded) with tireless running from Bruce and great performances from all which included games of the season from Mike, Tiss and Doug all playing in not their usual spots. The result means we jump up one place out of the relegation zone, but the other teams below us both won with a game in hand, and this result will count for nothing if we do not push on... Paul Acutt


3rd XI 0-5 NPL
In a game we had to win against the one team we could realistically catch, we were in reality never at the party against an NPL side who passed the ball well and always looked a threat on the break. We lost the battle in the middle and looked less than threatening up front. One down at the break, we went two down from a well-taken opportunists’ poach six minutes after the break and from then on there was only one winner. As has happened in several games, we shipped late goals to give the scoreline a rather flattering look, but there could be no complaints. We now face two bottom-end sides, but even if we win them both, we have to hope that NPL fail to get a point, and on the evidence here it’s not going to happen.
XX

Match reports - February 16, 2008

The 1st XI came from two goals down to thrash London University 9-2, and with other results going our way we can move into second place if we beat Wanderers next week. The 2nd XI leapfrogged Epsom with a 3-1 win in a relegation six-pointer, but the 3rd XIs woes increased as they went down 1-3 to Addiscombe. The 4th XI secured a 2-2 draw with Old Reigatians thanks to a scrambled equaliser three minutes from time.

1st XI 9-2 London University (Click here for match photos)
A game in which the score line does not tell the story in a game where our opposition were the team that started the pre Christmas rot. Against a side of 10 we started by playing some pretty hockey but were far from incisive, squandering a great deal of possession and two short corners. A double wake-up call put us two down five minutes before half time - the first from poor marking and the second from a crisp short-corner strike. A rapid change of formation however saw Smudger – the unquestionable man of the match – set up Rippers with the easiest of tap-ins and the Knapp latched on to a loose ball in the D to level on the stroke of half time.

London Uni could have scored in the first minute of the second period but Bruce cleared off the line and after that we upped the ball speed, used Smudger to emphatic purpose and he set up three goals from Gavin and one for Eds C and was instrumental in the play leading to ECs second and the short corner converted by Rippers. Arguably we could have scored more but the LU keeper made a number of fine saves and towards the end we made the wrong choice in front of goal. Good to have Gavin back scoring his goals and matching his pre Christmas strike rate of a 25% goal to chances ratio – sorry, 20%.

An added bonus came our way late on Saturday afternoon with the news that Bank and Wanderers drew which means that for the first time since November getting promotion is once again back in our hands. Next week’s game now takes on monumental importance. David Knapp



3rd XI 1-3 Addiscombe
We went down 3-1 in a hard fought game that could easily have gone the other way. Electing to play into the sun in the first half, Addiscombe pushed back to start the game off. Some early good passing led to some build up play, it took 10 minutes for either team to settle. It was Addiscombe that looked more threatening in the first ten with a deflection off Kelson's pads glancing the ball left of the goal keeping the scores level. We started to move the ball fluidly and as the game unravelled, Neil and Preston started to pick apart the Addiscombe defence with some clever skills. We started to pin the game in their half and it looked only a matter of time before we were to score. Preston actually got the ball into the goal … well, half of it, as it split in half as he hit it leaving the keeper bewildered, but it was disallowed. The keeper then pulled off two very good saves.

However, against the run of play, Addiscombe broke free and in a muddled clearance that was not effectively dealt with an Addiscombe player picked the ball of a deflection from the keeper with a lot of time and space, took the lead. The game continued with us pressing home against a technically weaker team however even with the ball going across the face of the goal on no less than four occasions and some good keeping, we couldn't take advantage. Short corners occurred however we just couldn't capitalise on our pressing advantage.

Half time came and a focus on a hard 10 minutes was nulled by a defensive communication break down and Addiscombe capitalising and putting a second in within a minute of the restart. With great credit, the team kept fighting for the game and a tireless effort by Chris and Andy in the centre and Chaz up the left kept attacks flowing. Although we once again were pressing the Addiscombe half, there were more breaks against us occurring with CD and Adam cleaning up as effectively as possible. Chaz's attacks combined with Preston and Neil leading the attack finally came to fruition and Neil scored to bring the game back into reach.

The game became tighter as Addiscombe defended in numbers and breaching this was becoming more challenging. A moment of 'surging' attack came from skipper Armitage who was unceremoniously taken out putting him on the floor but the nail in the coffin came where Addiscombe sent the ball into the D and a deft deflection past the keeper and two defenders took the game out of reach.

Although we fought on, with five minutes left and a tight Addiscombe defence to breach, the game concluded with a loss that could easily have gone another way. Four games remain, three teams are fighting to avoid relegation with two of those still to play, all to play for, nothing to lose! Man of the match, Chaz and some serious thinking to be had over the week. James Armitage

4th XI 2-2 Old Reigatians
A draw left us without a win since Christmas, but it could have been much worse but for a scrambled equaliser – deserved after ten minutes of incessant pressure – three minutes from time. We will play far worse and win, but although we controlled a good-spirited game and dominated the midfield, we were behind after 64 seconds when our defence was caught cold, equalised, only to go behind against 12 minutes from the end with a well-placed flick off a short corner.

Match reports - January 12, 2008

The second half of the season started with a good 3-2 win for the 1st XI at Walton, while the Ladies hammered bottom side Barnes 5-0. The 2nd XI enjoyed a hard 0-0 draw with Walton, while the 4th XI also drew, 2-2 at Reigate. But struggling sides the 3rd XI and Veterans both lost.



Walton & Weybridge 2 1st XI 3 The month of January is always an important month as teams can fall away or come up on the rails following a month of inactivity. For us the next six games will see if we have the character to force us back into contention. The current leaders UCL slipped up again before the break and with Wanderers and Bank of Boks to come early this half their season could similarly be decided. At the beginning of the season they caught both sides cold but one has the feeling that the previous results could be overturned.

On a fast and excellent pitch Walton and Weybridge were going to be a difficult side to beat having had a good first 11 games picking up dramatically from last season’s travails. The first few minutes saw us caught cold giving away an unnecessary short corner with W & W’S slick routine punishing us most emphatically to put us one down. We thought we were level five minutes later when Knapp swept home a quick free hit but Eds was deemed to have passed the ball with his foot – in our view it must have been a wooden and size 28 foot. Nevertheless by half time the lead had been gained, Paul marking his league debut with a tap in after Bruce’s reverse stick pass across the goal took the whole defence by surprise and Cookie using the space that was created ahead of him and using his pace to outstrip the defence and hitting a sublime shot into the top right hand corner – one of the best individual and team goals of the season. The move had started at the right back position and with three passes round the back and a sharp pass up field to find Cookiey we took the ball from one end to the other in a minute or so.

Having taken the lead we inexplicably tried to play a completely different game and lost our way somewhat having put together some wonderful hockey in a 15-minute spell in which we scored our two goals – something to take home and put right for next week.

The beginning of the second half saw us play another five minutes of good stuff but W & W were not going to lie down and came back at us strongly but against the run of play very unselfishly Cookiey set up Knapp by taking out the goalkeeper and slipping the ball across the goal for Knapp to have the easy task of popping the ball home.

Instead of wrapping the game up we missed a number of chances and allowed the oppo back in when a beautifully worked short enable the gap to return to one goal with seven minutes remaining. W & W certainly showed the benefit of having a well drilled short corner routine. The last few minutes were Walton’s as far as the first four were concerned with Nigel Smith making one good save and one top drawer save that enabled us to run out winners following a needless yellow card for chat that reduced Walton to 10 and took the steam out of their challenge.

Once again we had two umpires, Peter and the experienced converted player Ian Jolly umpiring us for the first time who worked well together and umpired very consistently. Another tight but must win game next week against Addiscombe to ensure we stay in the top section of the league.

Barnes 0 Ladies 5 Our first match back after Christmas was expected to be a struggle and we did take our time to find our stride. The pitch was half frozen and hard but playable. Our first goal came about halfway through the first half - a bit of a scramble in the circle and Vikki finished it nicely to put us 1-0 up. Katy, after one-hour’s sleep, was not having to do much at all in goal up the other end and Tux the centreback/forward was having a stormer with some great creative play bringing the ball forward and distributing it around. Muriel and Rosie as ever solid as a rock for us at the back. Nothing was really on for Barnes an before long Nikki had a scored a second goal after a taking the ball around the Barnes keeper and hammering it home. Supersub George came on up front and within minutes had an aerial shot on goal rebound off the cross bar! Her usual position being defence she was so busy admiring her shot we failed to capitalise on the rebound!! But a few minutes later George did manage to score her debut goal for OCs and all was forgiven! At half time the score was 3-0.

We came out hard in the second half determined to rack up some more goals. The forwards of Mez, Caz and Nina were doing their usual job of closing down the Barnes defence and creating scoring chances. The midfield of Sarah Hardiman, Nikki and Jax were again working hard and putting Barnes under pressure. We did concede several penalty corners which Rossie P and her defence defended solidly. Another goal came shortly from some great team play a cross into the D and Vikki fired her second goal past the Barnes GK who had no chance. It was all over for Barnes but we kept pushing winning a final penalty corner. Sarah Hardiman had the final hit of the game to smash the ball just over the Barnes keeper who had gone straight down on the floor, to convert our penalty corner into a fifth goal. The final whistle followed immediately and the OC ladies had started the second half of the season as we mean to go on! A good solid win. Well done ladies! Jackie Joyce

Simon Luckett gets engaged

Congratulations to Simon Luckett who has recently announced his engagement. The eligible bachelors are ever decreasing with money being placed on Eds Copleston being the next to take the plunge!

Marathon Men

Eds Copleston will be running his eighth marathon this weekend when he takes part in the London event. This time Eds is running with two work colleagues and has foolishly offered to pace them round – he reckons it could be five-and-a-half hours as opposed to his best of three hours 15. The trio have raised more than £8000 for Asthma UK but contact Eds at EC@credaris.com if you would like to pledge. In all, over the eight runs, Eds will have raised £40,000 for various charities. Nick Lewis completed the Paris Marathon last weekend in a time of three hours 50 minutes.

Knapp steps up as club captain

The AGM was held at TD on Wednesday, March 28 and a number of changes were made for the forthcoming season.

At the top, Christian Davies, under the pressure of impending fatherhood, has stepped down as club captain. I know everyone would like to thank CD for all his hard work, and he has taken the role so seriously that on occasion he has been spotted sober at TD on a Saturday. He wanted to hand over to a fitter and younger(looking) person, so David Knapp will take on the challenge.

The following officials were appointed for the 2007-08 season.

Club President Tim Cook

Club Captain David Knapp

Hon Secretary Dodie Khurshid

Hon Treasurer Martin Williamson

Hon Fixtures Secretaries Andrew Eve; Sarah Tucker

1XI Captain Eds Copleston

2XI Captain Abeed Janmohamed/Rob Merry

3XI Captain James Armitage/Richard Lawrence

4XI Captain Dom Tucker/Bertie Bance/Grant Archer

Vets Captain Wade Pollard

Ladies Captain Jax Joyce

Mixed Captain Rosie Marriott

A final message from CD – “I would also like to thank, on behalf of the club, Billy, Harmer and Hels for all of their efforts over the years running the 2XI (Studio), 4XI and Ladies respectively.” And we all endorse that.

Details about arrangements for the Summer League, subscriptions for 2007-08 and developments at the club to follow.

Marathon men

Congratulations to the three OCHC members who completed the London Marathon. First home, in his fourth run, was 1st XI captain elect Eds Copleston in a time of 3:39:31 and an impressive 4778th position; Tim Evans came home in 4:29:08 with Adrian White clocking 4:57:21.