Goals at the bottom end, draws at the top

The 1st XI were held 2-2 by Southampton in a cracking game, while the Ladies also held Purley by the same scoreline. There were goals galore at the bottom end of the club - the 3rd XI had the novel experience of handing out a drubbing as they thrashed Teddington 6-1, while the 4th XI made it 13 goals in two weeks with a 7-1 rout at Old Georgians. The Vets beat HAC 5-02, but the 2nd XI's woes continued as they went down 0-5 to the same opposition.


1st XI 2-2 Southampton 1
The hard work to achieve promotion and regenerate our first team was made all worth while when playing in games like that against Southampton on Saturday. We knew that they are going to be the side to beat this year being a young and efficient team and a large club. Indeed it was Southampton who condemned us to the drop 5 years ago and from all accounts were unlucky not to be in the A division of the league at the end of last season.

As with last week we came out of the traps fast but unlike last week Southampton were intent on playing a similar free and fast running game. We shaded the first 15 or so minutes and were rewarded with a Gavin Adair goal with his touching home a superb ball in from Eds, continued to press but found the opposition keeper in inspired form, making 3 or 4 top class saves.By half time we were 2 - 1 down with Southampton deserving their lead. 2 well finished goals follwoing a period of intense pressure. We could have been furtehr behind but a couple of chances went begging.

As the second half progressed our squad, well marshalled by David Cresswell dominated and it was no surprise when man ofthe match CV finished off one of the moves of a number of seasons that invloved most of our team and saw 3 crisp transfers of the ball from side to side. From here on it seemd as if there would only be one winner as we retained the ball well and snuffed out Southampton's midfield domination that had caused us problems in the first half. Not to be denied though, Southampton looked very dangerous on the break, forced a number of short corners and created chances that they could not take. Trickster made 2 good saves but it was the Southampton keeper who saved the away side a point and denied us 2 more. Perhaps we should have made more of the chances we had and there was a feeling of 2 points lost rather than one gained.

The match ended in controversy but respect to Sean who later held his hand up.

The biggest disappointment of the day was the lack of urgency on some occasions when Cressers called the subs which are called for a reason and at the correct time. The positive side was a good solid performance by new guy Dan Poulson, the Woods and Cato with Nick L putting in an excellent second half after being under pressure in the first and a strong OC second half performance with us taking the game to Southampton.

Arguably we could have nine points out of nine but equally Southampton may have an argument that had they taken a two-goal lead into the second half by converting one of their chances after their second goal they could have gone down the A3 with all three points. David Knapp

Purley Walcountians 2-2 Ladies XI
These days you hear so much about how motivational talks by coaches and managers before a game can inspire a team. With a tricky away game against an unbeaten Purley team everyone waited to hear what words would be used to get us ready - and were promptly told by goalie that he had “no faith” in us (sure we believe you when you claim you just got your words a bit mixed up...).

The opposition were full of fast young players and they used that to their advantage early on to score a breakaway goal. However, instead of letting our heads drop within two minutes we were level, some excellent play down the left-hand side saw the ball eventually break free to Katie in the area who coolly slotted the ball away. From then on we took the game to Purley and put them under immense pressure especially when we used the self-hit rule so effectively getting attacks moving whilst they were still getting organised. Jax was unlucky to hit the post with a shot. Eventually we were rewarded for our hard work a strong drive down the right and into the D by Snoops who crossed for Sarah Mann to score. As Purley looked to get back into the game they worked a quick 1-2 from a short corner and were back level prior to half time.

The second half was close, with both teams having chances, but neither managing to convert them. As the game went on more of the decisions favoured the home team, but everyone shrugged it off and got on with playing their own game. If it hadn't been for an excellent save from the Purley keeper we would have gone ahead. At the back the defensive line of Hels, Rosie, Lucy and Rewa dealt well with a number of Purley short corners which ensured they never got a clear chance from any of them.

Everyone played well and on another day we'd have got all 3 points, but to be truthful a draw was a fair result. Julia Dann


3rd XI 6-2 Teddington Oaks
With an early start to the game and only 11 on the pitch the first five minutes looked as if we had not yet woken up and we were lucky to keep it at 0-0. Nevertheless as the first half progressed we seemed to settle and started putting greater and greater pressure on our very young opposition. This pressure finally paid off with Louis Strover scoring a goal with his normal precision after about 15 minutes. This was quickly followed up by a second scored by Jamal to give us a 2-0 lead. We had our tails up and were really starting to play some great hockey. There were brilliant performances all over the pitch with the defence having a strong performance … with Jock Vickers moving back to sweeper where he is probably most suited, a big welcome back to Abs Janmohamed who really gave us a solidity which we had been missing, CD who seems to have made right back his position after today’s performance and Ollie who had got his focus back having his best game of the season so far. Unfortunately Ollie managed to pull a hamstring midway through the first half, but with the possibility of going down to 10 men he soldiered on. Towards the end of the half Teddington managed to pull a goal back with a slick move that had the defence and myself scratching our heads as to where it had come from. But on the upside we went into halftime with a lead of 2-1 and a confidence that we could go on and achieve our second win of the season.

At halftime we changed our structure to push Ollie up front up in order to protect his hamstring. The second half started well with the midfield staying really strong… Ross also had probably his best game this season, Dougie definitely proved that he is getting back to his very best, Preston despite being out of position made a big difference in the middle as the conduit between defence and attack actually existed today. We were able to put a lot of pressure on the Teddington defence even though their 11 year old keeper was doing some good work (yes I did say 11 year old !!!), They could not hold out forever and our latest makeshift attacker Ollie was able to take our lead up to 3-1. We did experience a number of scares and Teddington did get the score back to 3-2 with a well taken short corner. At this point Teddington did push hard and caught us out a couple of times but with a combination of well timed tackles by various members of the defence and a couple of saves from myself (even if I do say so!) we were able to maintain our lead. However eventually Louis was able to craft a 4th for us and at 4-2 we didn’t really look back. Before the end Jamal was able to add his second and Preston was able to slot a well deserved goal to make our tally 6. It has to be said that this was a great all round team effort as we concentrated on playing our game and used our experience to get the better of a very young, fit and skilful Teddington. I am extremely chuffed as, even whilst I don’t wish to admit this, having captained the side for a year and this being the start of my second season it was the first time that the team had won while I was playing. I personally blame the keeper!!! Hopefully we won’t have to wait so long for the second. Nigel "At Last A Winner" Hawes

Old Georgians 1-7 4th XI
This week, Mrs Amy Oxo provided the team with OC orange cup cakes after their match against the Old Georgians. The cup cake, like the 4th team, is having a bit of a resurgence. Back in the 80s they were very cool, but they have been overlooked for the last couple of decades. In 2009 they are definitely back.

The cup cake is sometimes known as a fairy cake. But there were no fairies on the pitch in Weybridge this week ... well other than the ever camp Harmer (maverick) and Archer (iceman). Both of whom had been caught singing to Girls Aloud on the journey to the pitch (Boyzone had been taken from the cd player out of respect).

The cup cake is made of flour, sugar and butter. The solid formation of the cupcake is provided by the flour. The central formation of the 4th team, Smith, Crumby and Harmer, Shakir started the game on a strong foot. With driving runs through the middle, one of which lead to a trademark roof breaker by Jemal to open up the scoring. It all goes it bit hazy after this point, I know Shakir got another 2, Bishop 1 and Dom 1, the others I forget.... - at half time it was 6-1

Any chef will tell you, if you want to make anything taste better, just add a bit more butter. And this is what the OCs did during the second half. By adding another goal to the tally from.....again I forget. With the Old Georgians rallying, it nearly felt as if they had more players on the pitch.

The sweetness of the cupcake is provided by the sugar. Our sugar daddies of Kevin, Crumby and Archer stood strong through the second half where Old Georgians started to make a number of attacks. Particular mention should go to Kevin for some fantastic tackles when he was the last man standing.

The final score stood at 7-1 and we move into a strong fourth position in the league. During post-match chat our captain this week, Grant Archer was overheard making reference to Diego Maradona's foul mouth tirade this week. "Today we are in the 4th place in the league, with help from nobody but with honour. To all of you who did not believe in us, and I apologise to all the women here, you can eat my cup cake and keep on eating." Mark Oxbrough Harmer, you're fired


HAC 2-5 Veterans
OC Vets followed up the glory of their "never-say-die" victory at Tring last week with an emphatic win away to HAC on an enjoyable afternoon played in great spirit in leafy Dulwich. This performance probably lacked the ‘derring-do / Guns of Navarone’ quality of the Tring triumph but was probably a more impressive overall performance. The outcome was never seriously in doubt and each time that HAC threatened to climb back into the match OCs found another gear and, more importantly, another goal. The 5-2 scoreline1 did not flatter the away side and this against a decent HAC side.

Graced by the classy and tireless Howie and the ever-menacing and powerful Gavin Rowlands this Vets performance was built around a strong midfield performance, the ball moving well through the middle of the pitch courtesy of another impressive display from Tommy ‘what-no-hat-trick-this-week’ Trinder. As ever the most effective passing proved to be the short ball in and out of the flanks and Jon Gray once again proved his worth, ever-dangerous down the right. At half-time OCs led 2-0, the second being a classic ‘fox-in-the-box’ effort from the sparkling Stuart Slemen following the all-important first goal, a short-range thwack by Tony Jones created by a neat pass from the aforesaid Slemen, surely a classic case of ‘poacher turned goal-maker’. . Jury service is clearly agreeing with him!

Half-time was interesting. Wade Pollard umpiring clearly had a plane to catch because he reduced the interval to just a few seconds. The shortened break proved long enough however for the HAC to neck a bottle of champagne between them – a magnificent moment and one that perhaps contributed to a level playing field given that a number of the OC team, having arrived rather earlier than expected, had ‘warmed up’ for the big occasion by getting comfy over a pint!

The second half was a roller-coaster. A powerful penalty corner strike from Andy Loates was deflected by Gavin to extend the lead, HAC nicked one back only for Andy Loates to touch a pass in after we had moved the ball around with four passes from a short corner to restore the three-goal cushion with a well taken goal. The team was served well at the back by Loates and Speers and Matt Olley in goal didn’t put a foot wrong notwithstanding the lack of clean sheet. In truth HAC’s second goal was the pick of the match, a Maradona style run half the pitch from their centre forward before a crisp finish that left our keeper no chance. We went immediately down the other end to seal the match with our 5th when Gavin Rowlands scored his second from a well worked short corner involving wall passes off defenders shins. Messrs Butcher and Eve meanwhile patrolled the left hand side to great effect. We even had the luxury of Osborn came off the bench in the second half to dazzle and help rub salt into HAC wounds.

We left the match in good spirits but with insufficient time for most of us to enjoy a post-match beer at the Greyhound, the lure of the evening Quins Toulouse game accounting for much of the team, another victory for an away side, but this one an unwanted result and no doubt reduced the OC Quins contingent to a bout of beer-based consolation! And anyway we can all reflect on a very satisfying afternoon’s hockey. It is official, OC Vets are now an a winning streak. David Burles

Match reports - March 14, 2009

The 1st XI did the business with a 3-0 win at Surrey Old Boys, while the 2nd XI left it late, Tom Merry scoring the winner two minutes from time in a 3-2 win over Barnes. The 3rd XI snatched their sixth point of the season with a 0-0 draw at Camberley, while four first-half goals, including a Louis Strover hat-trick, helped the 4th XI to a 4-2 win over Old Midwhits. The Ladies went down 0-1 at Guildford.


Surrey OBs 0-31st XI
On a pitch that traditionally is one on which we struggle this weekend's game against SOBS was no exception but an important win with another clean sheet.

One up in two minutes when Rory converted following a fluent move down the right, we perhaps thought the game would be too easy. We did convert a series of chances but SOBS looked dangerous on the break with our providing far too much space between our forwards and midfield and midfield and defence. The game turned on Tricksters save of a penalty stroke midway through the second half - no flick saves are easy although SOBS stroke taker made a hash of his stroke - the swig of water perhaps unsettling the taker.

Two minutes later the game was killed off, Rory again on hand to slot home a well-worked corner and Knapp had the easiest of chances at 2-0 to make it three and end the scoring. In between times we missed a stack of chances, yours truly deciding football a better past time than hockey on a couple of occasions, but win we did to go into next week's game with all to play for. Another solid defensive performance but slightly lacking at the sharp end. David Knapp

2nd XI 3-2 Barnes
After the high of the victory against the current league leaders last weekend there was always the danger that some complacency would creep in this weekend against mid-table Barnes. Despite unfortunately having only ten men for much of the game, it was a fantastic effort to come away 3-2 winners in a hard fought and bloody encounter!

We started brightly and immediately signalled our intent to move the ball around quickly. The control was rewarded early on with Ed Breton smartly finishing from close range after a unselfish and important pass from Preston Rutt. Unfortunately, it was to be Preston's final contribution as he was summoned to A&E after his little boy, Archie, had been taken ill. We
wish Archie all the best and hope he makes a swift recovery.

Having lost Chris Valentine to the 1st XI late on Friday, this left us reeling with only ten. Unsurprisingly the balance of the match shifted and a fine finish late in the first half from an almost impossible angle meant we were level at 1-1 at the interval.

We continued to struggle at the start of the second half and failed to pressure their goal. That was until Ed produced an almost carbon copy of his first goal. Drawing the keeper out before calmly slotting from close range, it was a crucial turn as we again prised a vital lead.
Barnes then managed to equalize, drawing level following another fine finish.

A couple of nasty head injuries left Barnes without the advantage of fresh legs but still with 11 men to our 10. We hope that the injuries are not serious and wish them both a quick recovery. It was only the arrival of Andy Eve, summoned from his sofa, that allowed us to return to 11 men, plug the gaping holes and maintain some sustained pressure. After a couple of mediocre short corner routines, we finally got the third, which proved to be the vital winning goal, two minutes from time. Again a fine Wobble by Ed and a well-timed pass alllowed Tom Merry to squeeze the ball in from a tight angle. Two goals from two games but fortunately this week the ball ended in the opposition net!

Barnes had chances to draw level again, notably when a shot ricocheted of James Robson's shoulder just over the bar. But a resilient performance ended in an important win that leaves us well placed to challenge for the league. More of the same next week! Rob Merry

Camberley 0-0 3rd XI
Report to follow

4th XI 4-2 Old Midwhitgiftians
This match produced a truly bizarre first-half in which Old Midwhits dominated the midfield, produced some slick passing moves, and found themselves 4-0 down at the break. They paid for failing to put enough pressure on the goal and also for giving the evergreen Louis Strover far too much room. Armed with a new stick after breaking two in as many weeks, he was back to his best and rifled in three goals from four strikes (we only had five in the whole half) in a crazy 12-minute end to the half. Good finishing and poor goalkeeping.

The second half was more low-key, Old Whits using their possession more effectively but floundering against a solid midfield and defence. Nige Smith was called on to make some good saves, Old Whits scored twice from short corners, but they never looked like clawing back the deficit.

Guildford 1-0 Ladies XI
We started the first match of a double-header weekend knowing we were in desperate need of a win to have any chance of staying up this season as well as for team spirit and moral. We started well and settled well, possession being fairly equal between the teams. We conceded a few shorties but also won a few. although neither team being able to capitalise on them. At half time the score was 0-0.

The match was pretty uneventful and Guildford eventually broke the deadlock with a conversion from a penalty corner (which we are not convinced was actually stopped outside the circle but c’est la vie). We piled the pressure on Guildford for the rest of the match and really took the game to them playing some great hockey but once again just being unable to put the ball in the back of the net. The score finshed 1-0 to Guildford. Thanks to Martin for travelling to Guildford to umpire for us. A disappointing result for us but not the end of our weekend…. Jackie Waite

Ladies XI 1-0 Wanderers

Our second match of the weekend saw us playing top of the league Wanderers who began turning up on mass early Sunday morning whilst the OC ladies were clearly fatigued from the late PB the day before (and possibly a few drinks the night before) and turned up in dribs and drabs. To make things worse our favourite umpire (usual umps for Merton) turned up to ump for Wanderers and our hearts sank (see match report from 14th Feb), it looked like it would be an uphill battle! Still we tried to stay positive as our pride couldn’t take a second loss of the weekend. The first 15 minutes were a bit scappy but we eventually settled and began passing the ball about well and pressing the Wanderers defense. We conceded a couple of shorts but defended them well. We had some good attacking breaks and eventually the deadlock was broken. We won a short with the Wanderers goalie deflecting a straight strike from Dor into the path of Manny with another strike deflected in by Ana. We were 1-0 up! We managed to comfortably maintain our lead into half time.

The second half was a bit more eventful. Wanderers came out hard and pressurised us well. We conceded a fair few shortees but defended them all successfully, Steph having to make some excellent saves both from the shorts and in open play. 10 minutes or so in saw one of our players yellow carded, which should have been a red although the Wanderers ump was very compassionate and allowed just a yellow with the consent of the Wanderers captain. We were down to 10 for a good 15-20 minutes and were in slight disarray, with several players out of position and already tired legs having to make up extra ground. But we were not going to lose this match it was ours and OC ladies never like to do things the easy way! We were definitely on the back foot and Wanderers had several shots saved by Steph in goal having a tremendous match and the whole of the OC ladies running our little legs off completely knackered but pushing on defending hard and getting the occasional break which saw a couple of near misses too! Eventually back to 11 we held on to finish the match 1-0. A well-deserved win at last to finish off the weekend on a high! Thanks to Heardy for umpiring and also to our supporters on the sideline!Jackie Waite

Record website traffic in October

The OC website did record traffic in October, with 18458 page views from 1745 unique visitors. The previous best for page impressions was 17110 in January of this year. The most searched player names were Abeed Janmohamed, Louis Strover, David Knapp and Chris Bents …

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.

Match reports - October 18, 2008

Another generally good week with a comprehensive win for the 1st XI over Walton & Weybridge Hawks (who have as much affinity to Walton or Weybridge as MK Dons do to Wimbledon) to go top; the 2nd XI beat a feisty/moaning UCL Academicals 2-1, while the 4th XI saw off a feisty/physical Barnes Beavers 5-3. The Ladies came back from Battersea with a 1-0 win over Wanderers, while the only blot was the 3rd XI’s 1-5 thumping by a classy Leatherhead side.


1st XI 4-0 Walton & Weybridge
Click here for match photos
After their previous results we expected a tough game against Walton and Weybridge, our nemesis two years ago. Ultimately our fears were unfounded after a clinical performance with a very effective second half in which we stifled the opponents.

We welcome Trickster Smith in goal after his outstanding performance last week at TD for the seconds and for the second week running he kept a clean sheet albeit with little to do other than in the last couple of minutes.

Walton had difficulties in picking our system early on but it was when David Cresswell changed the formation by putting Ed B in front of the back three that we began to create most of our chances. As so often the case we did not make our short corners count until Gavin Adair picked up a rebound from one and finished with aplomb to score what he described as the all important goal. 1 - 0 at half time became 2 - 0 after half time when Gavin's run opened up the Walton defence allowing Paul Acutt time and space to finish well with a dipping shot. We now began to dominate completely with the back four soaking up whatever was thrown at them, Ed B bringing the ball out of the back with good effect and Cato buzzing around in is usual way. As the game wore on we created a great deal more and could have scored on a number of occasions before Cookiey clipped home our third. We rode out our bad spell without allowing Walton any clear openings on goal with Trickster's one touch coming from a sharp free hit and deflection that came through a crowd of players but was dealt with in an effective and efficient way.

One minute remained on the clock as Nick Lewis finished off a well-worked move starting in the right corner of our half when Ed B beat two and slipped the ball up the line to CB, who fed Gavin, whose cross field pass found Nick in the clear, whose shot from the top of the D rattled the side board.

An efficient performance with Duffy the Man of the Match and a game that saw us missing Rippers, Bruce and Pies. Next week we are light of Pies, Lewis, Duffy, Trickster and Cato but such is our depth that we will be able to fill the gaps with selection becoming interesting when everyone is available. David Knapp




Wanderers 0-1 Ladies XI
Saturday saw us playing away against Wanderer’s 3’s. They had come down from the premier league and were joint top of our league, not having lost a match yet, so we were ready for a tough match! Our bench was loaded with subs so we went out hard knowing we had fresh legs available, and for the first 15 minutes the match looked pretty even with neither team really having any real chances on goal. We were playing well keeping possession, stepping up to the ball with some good attacking play which eventually won us a penalty corner. We failed to do much with it but only five minutes later a lightning quick run from May down the right side had Wanderers on the back foot. She passed it to Jax in the circle. The keeper went down and Jax pushed it passed her towards the bottom right-hand corner with May following it up and making sure it went in. We were 1-0 up after 15 minutes. We knew Wanderers were a good side so were by no means complacent. We continued to play hard with lots of subs to allow us to keep the pace high and rest when we needed. The midfield of Gayle, Vikki, Steph and Caz were doing a great job of supporting each other and passing the ball around with Tux having a stormer as centre back/centre forward, mopping up any loose balls and driving forwards, playing high and pressurising the Wanderers forwards. We held onto our lead at half time.

The second half again was evenly matched with both teams having some good attacking moments with Gayle, Sarah H and Nikki all seeing near misses and forcing the oppo to defend hard. At the same time Wanderers were fast on the break which saw our defence of Rosie, Lucy and Tux having to work hard to get back and cover and Muriel as sweeper having to step in and make some brilliant interceptions. The umpires both of whom supplied by Wanderers were firm but fair and I have to say many decisions seemed to go our way – which makes a change!!!! About half way through the second half we conceded our first and only penalty corner (again which makes a change from the previous matches!). Rosie running No. 1 and fearless (many may say kamikaze) as ever intercepted the strike and and Tux cleared the ball and the danger, for the time being was over. We were aware how close the game was and were keen to get another goal to secure the win. Our forwards of Nina, Liza and Snoops were working hard with lots of movement and supporting play when attacking but then also pegging it back to defend the Wanderers defence now playing high. With 10 minutes to go we nearly lost our lead, another break from Wanderer’s and saw us defending hard in our circle, Steph in goal having to pull off a save and the defence clearing an onslaught of shots from the oppo. We managed to scrabble the ball to safety and for the last five minutes the play was pretty much end to end with those on the side line barely able to watch as we hung on to our lead and secure a good 1-0 win which sees us climb to 4th in the league, and also makes us the only unbeaten team ……..not that I want to jinx us………..Well done ladies a well deserved three points! Jackie Waite


2nd XI 2-1 UCL Academicals 2
It is perhaps positive that despite beating one of the top sides in our league, who the previous week had put six goals past Merton, there was a collective disappointment at the end of the game.

The opposition started strongly and it was a good five minutes before we managed to string some passages of play together and give ourselves some breathing space. UCL generally played three men high which kept the back four busy throughout. When they weren't quite as high they also looked dangerous on the break. Whilst we defended well, aided by some good saves by Mike Norrington, we struggled to get the ball away at 16s - as UCL pressed right up the pitch. Andy Selby replaced Dodie in the middle at the back and grew into the role throughout, making some good tackles and growing more comfortable on the ball.

When we strung together passages of short passes we looked dangerous - Neil Grimes and Chris Porter picking up where they had left off the previous week - linking up well. Chris Tiss and in particular Chris Valentine began to cause their defence some trouble and a good run through by the latter created the first goal, a converted deflection of the post by the former. The pressure form UCL did not relent and eventually Mike was drawn out from goal to make a save. Rob Merry had sagged in to cover and was unable to prevent a shot from coming off his foot. The result was an undisputed penalty flick and slightly more controversial yellow card. As the skipper departed UCL slotted their penalty flick. 1-1 with a tricky 10 minutes before half-time...

We regathered whilst we had 10 men but were still under constant pressure. At half time we talked about getting strong on the ball, keeping our structure and keeping the passes short. Unfortunately the opposite was true for most of the second half. Ironically it was a crisply struck long ball from Tom Merry and an equally crisply hit strike from the top of the D by Bruce McNeil that broke the deadlock.

Some of the structure was lost by the changes necessitated by our two rolling subs. Unfortunately we then descended into some of the indiscipline that we saw in the friendly. Constantly questioning umpiring decisions and berating team-mates rather than concentrating playing hockey. However, there was no lack of effort and we eventually managed to see out the game, despite a very tense last minute with UCL in our D.

They say that the sign of a good team is to win even when not playing well - we have a stronger squad than last year, bolstered by some new comers, and we should be confident in improving our performances, whilst maintaining the winning habit. Out thanks go to Martin for umpiring and Dave Cresswell for turning up to the game and coaching. Rob Merry




3rd XI 1-5 Leatherhead
Firstly I would like a apologise if my memory is a little hazey (I blame Nige for letting me know after the game that I was writing the match report) . When we arrived I think we were all shocked to hear that we had 16 players, some who I won’t name (Ollie) looked a even more relieved than the others as he was suffering from a serious hangover. This week we had a tough fixture playing Leatherhead who had not lost point so far in the season.

The game started with Leatherhead moving the ball very nicely. Our defence - Tim, Stu and Stefano - all putting their fair share of tackles in. We were not passing the ball as well as them and only had a few breaks. With mounting pressure we conceded. Leatherhead came straight back at us and soon slotted a second. After this a change in midfield we started to move the ball, with Preston holding the ball up well and Rich Dave making some good runs.

Unfortunately we let in another couple before half time, with two goals that left Nige helpless, and Nige unfortunately injured his ankle on the stroke of half-time. I remember a shout coming from the sidelines “Stu, Nige is down can you give him a hand you can’t miss him, he is that big orange thing lying on the ground”.

With obviously another good team talk, we looked like a different team. The midfield held strong by Rory distributing the ball to CD, Armo and Chaz. This led to opportunities. We eventually got a short corner. Rory finished is well with a good strike pass the keeper right hand side, but Leatherhead continued to move the ball round well and slotted a fifth past the crocked Nige near the end.

“We would be doing much better in the league if it was only the second half that counted towards the result,” observed the captain at the end. Chris Bents

Barnes Beavers 3-5 4th XI
Dear reader, hot footing it back from its fitness training camp in the UAE, Harmer’s column has returned to bring you the highlights of the Mighty 4th team’s frightening and bruising encounter from the Surrey Open League this week. Frightening and bruising, why is that? You may ask. Well let me tell you dear reader, there is nothing as frightening as a bleach blonde or muscular shaved beaver going straight through you at pace and knocking you backwards on your arse. Just ask Robin Crumby or Grant Archer.

Most of you will know that I am talking about our second least favourite team in the
league, that’s right the pink clad Barnes Beavers. For those that have not played them before their players fit into two categories either they are muscular, aggressive, heavy set, bald bruisers. Alternatively and this only really applies to their centre forwards, they are bleach blonde midgets with an alarming orange aura (poorly applied San Tropez tans) and seem to be closely related, if you get my drift. We nicknamed this pair of prats ‘The X Factor rejects’ but that’s probably being too kind!

Our previous encounter with the Beavers at Dukes Meadow in Chiswick back in 2006 was christened ‘The Battle of the Duck Poo Pitch’ which was due to some genius pumping Thames river water onto the water based pitch, it had become a rancid, algae infested surface from which Captain Dom’s white shorts have never quite recovered. As you can imagine the Mighty 4ths were looking forward to playing on this pitch as much Guy Richie used to look forward to his macrobiotic dinners and kabala sessions with Madonna. Thankfully a new pitch has been laid we all looked forward to another dazzling encounter at Dukes Meadow.

As per normal the OC pre-match preparation was fraught as a number of players struggled to find the pitch in time but thanks to Helen Hawes AtoZ, Nick Aston and our new recruits Seb and Richard found the pitch. Special mention has to be made to Robin Crumby who was admitted to hospital last Sunday with a serious kidney infection, spent most of the week in bed but not only turned up to play this week but cycled from Wimbledon to Chiswick to do so. What commitment to the cause you will cry out loud and we all cried on the pitch ‘Robin Crumby….what a guy!’. Alas there is always one cock-up and no one cocks-up more that Bertie ‘Don’t blame the credit crunch on me’ Bance with his cryptic e-mail to our beloved captain regarding his match availability. However that, as they say, ‘Is a story for another time’.

As you can imagine with the Barnes Beavers lining up, OC players arriving late, a poor warm-up and a very bouncy pitch to boot, we were all a little nervous. We needed a secret weapon, we needed someone we could get behind, and we needed a hero to show us the way. Come’ith the moment, come’ith the man. Now some say, that he keeps his aging body supple by sleeping at night like Madonna in a plastic airtight body bag and covering himself in an anti aging cream worth £500 a pot. Others suggest that his lighting reflexes come from intensive training with Bruce Lee and when he lifts his stick to strike the ball, it is energized by the ‘Power of Grayskull’ itself. Frankly, we don’t believe in any of that crap but all that we do know is that his name is Louis Strover and he is a GOAL SCORING MACHINE! Blessed with the presence, muscle, ball retention and lay offs of Emile Heskey but thankfully with a nose for goal like Wayne Rooney, we knew we would have the upper hand. It was time to bash some beaver!

Now dear reader enough of the foreplay and lets strip off these well crafted pros and get into the action. For the first 10 minutes after the pushback the OC’s struggled to find a rhythm as the new water base proved to be a bouncy as Jodie Kidd’s chest in Strictly Come Dancing. With limited ball retention we struggled to control the quick moving beavers from trying to get round the back of us and pounding our box with crosses. It could have been suggested that Grant Archer (our left back) was struggling somewhat, as the birth of his first child ‘Bethan’ has caused him to drop his four hour a day Madonna-styled fitness sessions. Grant would argue that he has never been fit, so two weeks of sleep deprivation has made no impact on his at all.
Just as the OC’s started to find rhythm and ball control a breaking beaver streaked down the right flank and unleashed a cross that our defence was just unable to repel. One of the X factor rejects, let’s call him Gareth, nipped in at the back post to push one past Nige. At one down we did not panic and got back to the job in hand, in fact it almost acted as a spur for our team. As the midfield four started to find their feet the passes began to flow like wine and soon we were running like a well oiled engine. Smooth interplay down the right and left wings started to ask questions of the Beaver’s back line which frankly they did not want to answer. Before long, the beavers cracked and gave away a penalty; the resulting short corner saw slick interplay between Strover and Oxo, which ended up with Louis firmly striking the ball at the goal which pounded the back board. At 1-1, we started to take the Beavers apart and it was not long till Louis got his second after some sweet passing between Seb and Richard gave him space at the top of the D. Before half time we got our third with a cross that skimmed the goal line from the left which found Captain Dom unmarked who swept it into the goal.

So at half time, the Mighty 4th’s were on the front foot and the Beaver’s were fuming and frustrated at being placed firmly on the back one. At the start of the second half it was clear that the beaver half time talk concluded that they needed to take the battle to us by fair means or foul. They obviously chose foul as they attempted to intimidate us physically but dear reader the fourth team are not Sunday School teachers and we taught the beavers as lesson in focused aggression. While the OC back line of Nick Aston, Crumby, Archer and Harmer were dumped frequently on there bottoms by Beavers trying to bash there way through us. All that happened was that the defence released the ball to the midfield who powered up the pitch. On one such occasion the ball was released by Archer, to Oxo, who slipped it into the middle to Seb, who in turned released it to Strover who found Richard with a short pass on the left wing. As Richard showed a clean pair of heals to the Beaver right back, Strover made way into the D. An inch perfect pass from Richard gave Louis the time to turn and strike the ball past the petrified keeper.

Our fifth and final goal came from a similar break down the left with Oxo and Harmer displaying some great interplay that ended with a ball being caressed into the D to find the ever present Strover lurching behind a bald beaver. You know what happened next and it just ended up with the Beavers becoming more frustrated. The ball obliterated the back board and we did not only have daylight but frankly a whole lunar cycle between the Beavers and us.

In the final 10 minutes the Beavers resorted to pounding our D with long range passes for their forwards to run onto which our defence of Nick, Robin and Grant dealt with showing grace and aplomb. Even though both Archer and Cumby were upended by both the of X-Factor duo after they realised they could not win the ball so tried to go through our defensive line. It started to get nasty and the Beavers brought out their handbags to take out their frustration out through limp wristed aggression. Although they pulled two goals back in the second half we knew that we were home dry even with Robin Crumby attempting to do a decent impression of an Ashley Cole back pass by playing in beautifully one of the tango tanned twosome. Thankfully the hockey gods were smiling on Old Apple Crumble as Grant dived to save the Beaver’s shot and managed to step on the ball, which stopped play for a short corner. Crumby although relieved held his head low and wished the pitch opened up and pulled him beneath to escape his team mates demanding ‘Why did you do that?’

At the final whistle we had dispatched and bashed the Beavers 5-3 in a match that we all felt proud to have played in. More importantly we had learnt that if you want to bash a beaver use a Strover and Madonna is one weird lady! Led by Captain Dom this victory lifts us into second place in the league with a game in hand. The ginger revolution marches on! Next week Staines. Steve Harmer

Match reports - October 20, 2007

1st XI 1 UCL Academicals 0 Click here for photos An ugly win but a very important one. The game was extremely scrappy with neither side creating any really clear cut open play chances in the second half with in the final analysis the number of yellow cards we received being the talking point.

UCL complained they were 5 short including 2 New Zealand internationals so more fool them for missing such an important game. We too were 5 men short taking into account Smudger, Rippers twice, Duffers and Knappy so all in all an even encounter.

We took the lead somewhat against the run of play when a slick move down the right enabled us to attack the back line and set up Gavin Adair who tucked the ball away with a difficult finish. Again, excellent use of the advantage by the umpire allowed the move to continue when a number of umpires would have called the play back. The ensuing 15 minutes saw us play our best hockey and some incisive passing and running into space enabled us to create a number of chances that were not taken. Meanwhile at the other end Robbo dealt very effectively with all that was thrown at him. Our deficiency was the way we kept giving the ball away with UCL putting us under pressure which made us hurry and force the ball too much – a distinct lack of using our experience.

This was always going to be a tough match and our cause was not helped by a flurry of yellow cards – 4 in all for us – and yet none for UCL whose goalkeeper told the umpire for 34 minutes of the second half what he thought of him. Fair to say that the UCL vociferous crowd were very good at calling the decisions which the umpire followed to a T. The game should have been wrapped up in the 50th minute when we were very fortuitously awarded a stroke for a stick tackle when a short corner would have been a better decision but Knappy gave the keeper an east save with a very poor stroke. Surprisingly the UCL player stayed on the pitch unlike 2 of our players who received yellows for less innocuous tackles.

Nevertheless our dogged determination and Duffy’s ability to crack the ball off the end of the pitch when needed – something we have lacked for many years – saw us run out winners, the defence dealing capably with the eight or so short corners we needed to defend.

After four games we now find ourselves three points clear at the top Merton losing to Bank of Boks who have at last emerged from their slumbers. In fact, that match must have been like playing in Cape Town with their doubtless enjoying their country’s deserved win in the world cup final. As the league stands at the moment after this coming weekend we will have played the top four so a win would put us in a very strong position.

Merton next week at home which is another must win game.

2nd XI 3 UCL Academicals 0 The first win of the season came at the fourth attempt and it was a well-deserved victory, even if the margin rather flattered. UCL had much of the early possession but failed to do anything with it, producing only one on-target shot all match. Jon Heard and Dodie Khurshid, down from the 1st XI, marshaled the defence with veterans’ skill and broke down attack after attack, and we were dangerous on the break. We went one up on 17 minutes, very much against the run of play, but after the goal the same was more even. A defensive mix-up and some hockey bagatelle produced goal No. 2 seconds before the break. UCL huffed and puffed with little to show for their efforts, and a third goal, well taken from a route one ball, sealed the points.

4th XI 5 Staines 1 The IV team put the double shock of Bertie Bance’s arrest in South East Asia (yes, Interpol finally caught up with him) and John Mulholland’s turquoise Peugeot cabriolet behind us to notch our first league win of the season with a strong away performance against Staines V, deservedly winning the game 5-1.
Louis Strover struck a fine early goal high into the net, setting the tone of a half which saw us pile on the pressure against a Staines team doggedly packing their area. Chris Bents and Rob Jonker linked well and at pace down the right flank whilst John Mulholland set the pace of the game from midfield, ably supported by Steve Harmer’s incisive tackling. Continued pressure culminated in a goal from Steve Harmer [note to editor - insert Steve’s six-page thesis on his goal here]. Staines pulled a goal back shortly afterwards, giving us a 2-1 lead at half time.
Staines opened up after the break, allowing Louis Strover to do what Louis Strover does, slotting home two more goals to complete his hat-trick, either side of a well taken debut goal from Smeer. Thanks to Peter Shanks for stepping in for us at short notice! Dom Tucker

Ladies 0 Old Georgians 0 Stalemate at TD but a cracking game nevertheless, with excellent skills on display from both sides even though there were not many clear-cut scoring chances. Georgians enjoyed the lion’s share of the first-half, failing to get more than a couple of shots on target despite 16 short-corners, including nine in succession. The second half was more even as holes began to appear as legs tired, but even thought we finished stronger a draw was a fair result. What the game did show was that without Dora we lacked enough firepower up front.

Summer baby boom

The OCHC summer baby-boom continues with Will and Katie Stephens producing Abigail Olivia on June 16, followed two days later by Tomas Jay to Paul and Tanya Barr. On May 22, Louis and Julie Strover had a second son, Justin Jon.

Females now outnumbering males following the arrival of Alice Rosie Tabor at 4.44pm on Wednesday August 6 (5lbs 13 ozs). Proud father Ian reports that she took the the stick like a natural. "She certainly likes to practice her dribbling though her ball (or should that be bowel?) control still needs some work. It's hoped that she will be available for the start of the 2004/05 season." Her mum, Tikki, hopes to join the ladies squad soon having completed her move from Barnes before the transfer window closed.