Ladies' awards wrap up successful season

On Friday, April 9 the ladies celebrated the end of season in style with a small gathering of 16 lovely ladies and one male coach in Surbiton. As you can imagine Goalie was in his element! Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed including shots for every single player for fines and positive reasons.

The highlight of the night was the Whetherspoons race. This involved each member of the team, being time, running, high heels and all, out of the bar down the road to Whetherspoons buying a jager bomb and sprinting back. Initially times were quite lame - about six minutes - but then it turned serious and the tactics started. Ana was our overall winner with a superb time of 1 minute 19 seconds, anyone would think it had been life or death.

There was a serious side to our night with words said from both Sarah and Goalie and a few Awards given out and were as below;

Players Player - Rosie Marriott

Most Improved - Emma Varley

Coach's Player - Jackie Waite

Most Goals - The retired Vikki Mottram

Also on a very sad note the ladies said goodbye to a brilliant player who has been with the club for 14 years and produced some outstanding hockey. Vikki Mottram aka Gadget you will be missed.

As a leaving gift, Gadget was given a little pressie, two mugs with her name, number and the OC crest on them (one for home and one for work) and a pink umpire shirt. Gadget quickly picked up on the hint and made it clear the shirt would be worn but not on the pitch as she refuses to umpire. In response to her gifts Gadget produced from her pocket an A4 sheet of paper and recited a poem which she had created and in honour of her here it is:

The season's over, time for me to go
But first I wanted to let all of you know
Playing for the OC's has been a ball
I want to thank you one and all.

Starting back in 96
We were still playing with banana shaped hockey sticks!
Mel was captain, Ladies OC founder too,
And in a moment of madness asked me to fill the captains shoe.
I wore the armband at all times with pride
But if I said the job was easy, I must have lied

Finding an umpire could be quite hard
And you never you knew if Martin would show you a card!
A few greens we've had a long the way
And I think a few yellows, well, what can you say!
We always play with the aim to win,
Even if it meant time spent in the sin bin
We've had cuts and bruises, bloody noses, black eyes too,
But we wear our OC shirts proudly - the orange and blue.

And a huge thank you to Hels, Jax and Manny too.
Captains past and present, we'd be lost without all of you.
You've built this team up to be a team to fear
and I have no doubt of you getting promoted next year.

And thank you our Coaches – hubby Dunx and Goalie too
Where would we be without both of you.
You always put up with our constant chat
But you had our full attention, I promise you that.
Even when we were discussing Strictly Come Dancing
You got us to listen at the fourth time of asking

To thank you all would take too long
And I'm sure you've had enough of me waffling on
So I'll stop now and please raise your glass
A toast to The OC Ladies – a team of pure class.

A new best for Rosie

Congratulations to Rosie Marriott who finished the London Marathon in 3:23.11, improving her time of 2009 by 12 minutes and ranking as the 324th fastest female competitor.

It's not too late to sponsor her by clicking here.

Rosie runs another marathon

It’s London Marathon time, and now that Eds Copleston has admitted he is too old and unfit, the mantle of representing the club rests again with Rosie Marriott who is running to raise some cash for Help For Heroes. Last year Rose ran the event in 3 hours and 35 minutes, and we wish her well this time.

If anyone would like to sponsor her, please click here.

Match report March 27 2010

The 1st XI gained the point needed to secure the league title, beating Andover 3-2 to give retiring captain Eds Copleston back-to-back promotions to end his tenure. The Ladies bade farewell to Vikki Mottram with a 7-0 drubbing of Tulse Hill & Dulwich, Vikki and Jax Waite both scoring hat-tricks, while the 2nd XI clinched their own league place with a spirited 4-2 win at Oxted. Only the 4th XI spoilt the party, going down 1-5 at Aldershot.

1st XI 3-2 Andover
Click here for match photosEnd of an era at TD with Eds possibly playing his final home game for the 1s and David Cresswell his last as coach before he cuts his Cranleigh links in readiness for the new challenge at Radley but a day that heralded another win and the securing of the league title. Southampton drew so we are now a huge 8 points ahead with a game to play. Eds said just after the break that we had to continue to win as others would drop points but none of could have envisaged Yateley and Southampton dropping so many so quickly.

Although not a vintage performance it was enough to excite Mani Kochar next year's coach watching us for the first time and we did just enough to see off a spirited challenge from struggling Andover. This time round their keeper did not produce the heroics that kept us at bay last game but equally we did not produce as many clear-cut chances. Andover did look dangerous on the break, which is how they caught us out twice in the first half, on each occasion to draw level.

We were a little depleted with Gavin looking and feeling very off colour, Cookiey seemingly unfit but at the 11th hour indicating he could have played and the Woods away in South Africa but still had enough to win the three points on offer. In the first half we were extremely disjointed, but from our first corner Knapp rolled home only for Andover to draw level when we were caught high up the pitch. Rory deflected home Eds off-target shot to put us 2-1 up, but before the break Andover scored the goal of the game finishing off a four-touch move that carved us open.

Having quite rightly been told by DC that we looked like a bunch of spoilt bickering school boys we played with greater patience in the second half, knocking the ball about and eventually scoring via a fierce CV shot from a right slip at our last short - the correct move that had been called ahead of our last three shorts in the first half. Although less troubled by the swift counter in the second period, Andover did have a couple of half chances at 2-2 albeit our squandering a series of chances.

A 10% increase in our fitness levels will more than likely increase our playing ability by 20% and provided we set out a clear plan and strategy from late June onwards we should be confident of being able to challenge the top teams in the league above next season.

Thank you David Cresswell for your coaching that has brought successive promotions but more importantly to Eds who seven years ago took over the captaincy as we slid down the leagues, wore his heart on his sleeve for those seven years and has been rewarded with skippering two promotion sides, and thus far an undefeated side in this season's campaign. A fitting end to his leadership will be to win the last game on April 10 v City of Portsmouth and be the first OC hockey skipper to lead a league side that remains unbeaten for the whole season. David Knapp

Ladies 7-0 Tulse Hill & Dulwich
Click here for match photos
Although there was nothing at stake – we were guaranteed third place before the start – the side was as up for this game as any during the campaign, wanting to round off a superb season with a win as well as give Vikki Mottram, retiring from full-time hockey after two decades (sorry Viks) an appropriate send-off. And that they did, in some style.

Tulse Hill must have wondered what on earth was going on as they found themselves six down within 17 minutes, on the receiving end of some of the best passing hockey seen at TD all year. Jax Waite, pushed up front for the day, scored a hat-trick in four minutes, and either side of that Vikki signed off with a hat-trick of her own. Her third goal was so typical of the skills that had made her such an outstanding player, a mazy dribble that left defenders floundering and then a rifled shot past a bewildered keeper.

Tulse Hill, to their credit, kept fighting and as Goalie made constant changes – only one forced on him when Emma departed with blood flowing freely from what turned out to be a minuscule gash on her nose, another as punishment for Sarah Mann for one reverse flick too many! The defence held firm, Rosie Marriott as utterly commited as she has been all season – she has cuts, scars and black eyes that would leave Knapp wincing – and Helen Hawes determined if slightly hungover. But credit to Hels; with her husband and Zac sent away, she enjoyed a night on the tiles, a 2am fishfinger sandwich, a 4am wake-up having poured water all over herself and her bed, and yet she was still there before almost anyone.

In the second half we again dominated and could have added another dozen, but Tulse Hill’s keeper pulled off some good saves, Snoopy, Hels and Vikki fired wide from close range, and the only addition to the score came from the patched-up Emma, while Tux and May caused constant problems with their running. All in all, a delight to watch.

At the end a tearful Vikki was presented with flowers and was hugged into submission by team-mates. We have to hope her promise to play the odd game if needed will be utilised more than she has planned. She's simply too good to spend Saturdays at Tescos.

A final note. I have umpired close to half the girls’ games this season and I would like to say what a pleasure it always is to do so. Relegated last season, its was always going to be tough, but under Sarah and Goalie they have played some exquisite hockey, the occasional period of horrible stuff as well, but have always been cheerful and friendly, and their commitment to training and socialising puts the men to shame. All in all, they are a real credit to the club. Martin Williamson

Oxted 2-4 2nd XI
We finally cast aside any lingering threat of relegation with a spirited victory away at mid-table Oxted. Aside from the first five minutes in which our customary slow start saw us go one down, we actually turned in one our best performances of the campaign and ended up comfortable winners.

We went into the game with a brand new front line consisting of our youngest OC, 15-year-old Giles and Cooky (welcomed back with open arms from 1s duty), who gave us a real edge in attack. Cooky with a brace and Giles with a calmly taken penalty stroke. Our midfield was also bolstered thanks to new HR-and-recruitment-manager Tom Merry who brought in Tom Quy and the ginger Ferret. Ferret, although short of match fitness, was a clear asset, controlling much of the game either in central or the right side of midfield. He will be kicking himself for not getting on the score sheet himself after a couple of clear chances.
Thankfully we scored immediately after Oxted and were 2-1 up by the break in what was a fairly tight first half. The only other key incident to note in was an awesome hissy fit between myself and Selbs. I’m embarrassed, olive branch offered and accepted, we move on.

It was crucial to score the next goal after the break and we did after, dare I say it, a slickly-taken short corner, deflected in by Ferret. With confidence rising we started to play some pretty attractive stuff in parts and managed to pick up a fourth after a sweeping move through Cooky. To be honest if we had attacked more down the flanks we probably could have had a few more goals given their best defender was doing a fairly good job of blocking us off down the centre, but I am nit-picking. The more pressure we applied the more unstuck Oxted became and their frustration boiled over near the end with their key playmaker receiving his marching orders for sustained petulant chat. Tut tut.

We did concede towards the end which was unfortunate as we defended for the most part pretty well – especially when you factor in the nutter who was playing up front for the oppo – scary stuff I tell you. So once again well done to Jon Heard and the brothers Merry.

All in all a very good display, with our league status confirmed we must now start looking ahead to next season and what we need to do to be more competitive in this league. If we can hold on to some players and bring a few new faces in then I don’t see why we can be in the top half of the league next year.

Men of the match = ferret/giles/cookiey

Dicks – me for the hissy / Nick for getting sent off meaning Tom only got the 10 minutes under his belt. Chris Porter

Aldershot & Farnham 5-1 4th XI
An overcast day in Farnham saw the fourths struggle to find their groove. A tactical change saw Robin "usually central defense" Crumby moved to centre forward to mix things up a bit.

The first half saw the "Shots" score 2 well worked goals on the break. The second half saw injuries to Howard's ankle and Oxo's head (he hit himself in the forehead with the ball leaving a Harry POtteresque scar).

Three more goals on the break followed with only Dom managing to get a consolation goal for us. Not a great day for the fourths but all credit to a well disciplined opposition. We will contemplate our remaining fixtures whilst enjoying an easter egg or two over the break. Back to the defense for Mr Crumby ...

Match reports November 21 2009

The 1st XI remained top of Surrey/Hants 2 with a stop-start 4-3 win over Southampton Uni, but the 2nd XI went down 1-4 at Merton. The 3rd XI romped to an 11-0 win over Surrey Old Boys and the 4th XI won at Addiscombe by the only goal of the day. Despite the 3rd XI’s goalfest, the performance of the week came from the Ladies who played some sublime hockey in a 3-0 win over Reigate. The Vets went down 1-4 at Oxted.Chris Valentine fires the 1st XI into the lead against the students
Click here for this week's match photos

1st XI 4-3 Southampton Uni
A cracking game and all credit to Southampton Uni for making it such an entertaining match.

We knew it was going to be a tough one and that the league table did not prove to be an accurate indication of the University's ability.

The early exchanges went in our favour even though we did not create as many chances as we should have with our failing to capitalise on the territorial advantage that we had. However we did take the lead following a good save by the Uni keeper saw the ball come out to CV who just squeezed the ball home for us to take the initiative. The advantage lasted two minutes when the Uni countered and caught us on the break with sloppy marking allowing an unchallenged run into the circle with the resultant cross deflected home on the near post.

Cookiey restored our advantage clipping home the ball after a good move set him up and so it remained until half time following Trickster making a number of good saves.

At this point we should have made our experience count but instead we played ping pong with the vibrant Uni side and were pulled back conceding a well worked short corner 10 minutes into the second half. As the half progressed we did put the oppo's defence under pressure but were thwarted by a super performance by the Uni keeper and our not making the most of the chances we created. Hunter restored our lead with a flicked short but a minute later we were undone by a carbon copy of the second goal with 10 minutes to go. Our short corners were dire in comparison with the Unis that was well drilled.

Marshalled by their skipper at centre half who was outstanding and certainly the man of ther match Southampton looked dangerous each time they broke and at that point the game could have gone either way but as it was a liong aerial from Wobble enabled Rory to dart into the D and finish well with five to go. We held on to run out winners and gain three valuable points in what may prove to be a vital win.

As with all Uni sides they will improve as the season goes on so the next match in March is eagerly awaited. David Knapp

Ladies XI 3-0 Reigate
The Ladies will win games by bigger margins but rarely will they play better. The result against a side level with us in the table was pleasing and the victory was never really in doubt, but the slick passing play, rock-solid defence and two sublime goals will take some bettering.

We were one up in five minutes with a quite superb goal, starting in our own 23 and finishing second later with a cracking strike from May after some lightning-fast one-touch passing. We continued to press hard but the second didn’t come until six minutes into the second half when May tucked home a poorly-defended short corner, and Anna notched a third midway through the half which was almost as good as the first.

It’s almost invidious to single out individuals from such a great display, but Rosie Marriott was quite outstanding, her tackling and distribution almost faultless. Vikki Mottram, who has had a new lease of life since the arrival of Diesel, was also tireless in her running at the opposition, causing no end of panic even if her tackling remains interesting.

The parenting award goes to Helen Hawes who set a fine example to young Zac with a bout of toddler-tantrum stick lobbing when green carded and followed with an “oh f*** there’s no-one there” when she swept a pass from the halfway line towards her own defence only to find nobody keeping Julia company in her own half. In between she was as solid as ever.

Merton 4-1 2nd XI
Report to follow

The 3rd XI after their romp

3rd XI 11-0 Surrey OBs
There are some weeks when the match report pretty much writes itself even though the events were too many for me to be able to remember the sequence I at least have a record. The day started with confusion all over the place with regard to umpires - we had had three potentials laid on the night before but as SOB had stated that they had an umpire we had stood down our two spares. Unfortunately then SOB’s day did not start well as they actually turned up with 10 players and no umpire. Thankfully the umpire for the next match was good enough to stand in for them and they at least didn’t play with nine.

This was not to say that their day was going to improve at any time soon. We were looking to extend a five-match unbeaten run and had recently played so well but without our just desserts and were hungry to grab the advantage and make hay whilst the sun was shining (yes it did appear for five minutes!!). The game started at an unusually frenetic pace and there was some brilliant passing hockey being played with good runs off the ball being made all over the park.

Very soon we were 1-0 up and this was the way that the 1st half was going to progress. During the course of one of the best 1st half displays that I have ever had the pleasure to witness ( being in goal I had plenty of time to watch, especially seeing as I did not touch the ball in the whole half). After an extreme pummelling of SOB we went into halftime at 8-0 up. As you can imagine our halftime talk was mainly about just keep up the good work and let’s not let them score etc, etc. all I asked was that I wanted my team to ensure that I didn’t touch the ball in the 2nd half either. SOB’s halftime talk seemed to be a touch different as I don’t think I have ever heard quite so much grunting, growling and hyping up from an opposition goal in my life.

With us providing SOB’s umpire for the 2nd half we didn’t seem to get anywhere for the first 20 minutes of the 2nd half maybe all of the grunting had worked at half time. It must have been this as it definitely wasn’t because we were missing Armo who was umpiring for 15 minutes. SOB’s did seem to be attacking better and I have to say I was very disappointed in my defence in that I had to touch the ball once in the 2nd half during SOB’s only short corner of the match. Nevertheless we finally got going and managed to put another three goal past them before the end.

The goalscorers during the match (as I said I have no idea what order??) Preston 4 (a great return to prolific goalscoring), Doug 2 (a nifty display from centre Mid), Andy (a great first half and supplier of a number of assists), Ross (solid solo effort with a sweet strike just inside the D), Ed (This is becoming a habit from the new boy), Chris (OMG we can’t believe that he has finally scored – the time taken must attract fines of some sort at the next team drinks) and finally Armo (who now owes Chris drinks and also how do I keep scoring when I should be in defence?).

As I have already covered the goalscorers may I also commend the others who played their part in our epic pummelling Stuey, Tim, CD and Rich (our rocks in defence i.e. a defence which has pretty much stopped conceding goals ); Tissy (with this type of trouncing I can’t believe he didn’t score or get carded) This now put us up to third in the league and only one point off second. With the top two playing each other next Saturday … watch this space! Nigel Hawes

Addiscombe 0-1 4th XI
There were a few team members (esp. Crumby),who were worried about interacting with the Croydon population, so it seemed a poor omen when during our warm up Steve (bless him) asked one of the Addiscombe players to “flash us your top”, then proceeded to carry out some dynamic stretching that didn’t help our manly image (“ponsy” was a comment I heard!).

This aside the match started well, with us forcing five short corners. Nick J managed to convert one of these which was fortunate as this was the only score in the match.

The rest of the time, although there was good build up work, we couldn’t get the final shot lined up or on target. I think Dom was stunned when an Addiscombe 16 hit went across their goal to his stick. His shot on goal was stifled by the onrushing keeper. Dom’s excuse .. “He was so big!”

Addiscombe didn’t put us under sustained pressure, but always looked able to snatch a late opportunist score. So all in all a deserved win but hard fought – we must get the free hit rule clear as many good positions were lost through technical infringements.

Cakes were an issue for me as after dismissing my wife’s help, I made brownies without eggs!! – Flat and sticky. So, ever resourceful, it was down to Waitrose for additional backup. Strangely the team seemed to tuck in to the lot without a care. Anyway after an increasingly high set bar for the cakes there has to be a downturn at sometime.

To Crumby’s and others relief we managed to finish before it got dark and it was back onto the tram (?) before the vampires rose. Kevin Smith

Rosie's Marathon effort

Congratulations to Rosie Marriott on an excellent performance in the London Marathon.
Rosie stormed home in a brilliant time of 3 hours and 35 minutes, finishing 5103th overall and 695th out of the females.

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.