Epsom 6s 3-1 COWHC 3s
20th October 2012
Match Report
Ah Epsom, somewhere that COWHC third team seem to not enjoy
travelling to. Last season a hot day,
losing one player to injury and another to a yellow card, plus our brave
captain Mike Dawson stepping boldly into goal lead to us putting in possibly
our worst performance leading to a 3-0 loss.
So this we rock up this time round and, while watching the 1st
team give us an example of how to play hockey (?) a quick headcount revealed we
had 12 outfield players available, which was good. What wasn’t so good is that as time went on
we began to realise that one rather crucial element was missing – a
goalkeeper. A quick phone call revealed
that somehow there had been a breakdown in communication and he was at work…
Never mind, we’ll see if the 1s keeper fancies playing
again, or at least leaving the kit behind…
Nope, he has to get back, and the kit belongs to the school
and has to be returned that afternoon.
This does not bode well.
The decision is therefore made to play with 11 outfield, so
we line up on a rather unfamiliar 4-4-3 formation. Initially the extra man in midfield led to
perhaps a bit of confusion over marking shortly into the first half an Epsom
central midfielder slips through and scores with a strike from the top of the
D. Not a great goal, and certainly one
that any keeper would have easily stopped.
Slowly we began to get used to our unusual formation and
began to create some half chances of our own.
The defence was holding pretty firm, Pete Speddings urging us to press
higher up the pitch, John Grimsdale picking things off behind him. Out wide Chris Maundrell, to quote Radders’
half time talk “had the right winger in his pocket”, while the guy Alex Hannah
was marking seemed to want to climb into his pocket in a rather more literal
fashion. Fortunately he was subbed off
before we could point out that Alex is a (retired) cage fighter…
Sadly we didn’t make the pressure count and Epsom scored a
second, very similar to the first.
Still, heads didn’t drop, even when Epsom went 3-0 up
following a scuffed 16 which went straight to one of their players. We kept pressing and got our reward when
Speddo, following his own advice, ghosted in at the back post to tuck the ball
away.
3-1 at half time, and oddly I think we were the happier
team.
The second half started and we settled back into the rhythm
we had found towards the end of the second half and were certainly making Epsom
think. There were chances at both ends,
two Epsom ones cleared from close in by Chris Maundrell. As the game wore on it began to get more
stretched, but we were enjoying the lion’s share of possession and our passing
game was more telling than Epsom’s. We
spent much of the last 7 or 8 minutes in their half, but the closest we could come
was two half chances, one cleared by the keeper and one off the line by a
defender.
So a goalless second half meant the score sadly remained
Epsom 3 – 1 COWHC. But the result could
have been much worse, and I think we had them worried towards the end.
POM went to John Grimsdale for his sterling effort at the
back, although there was a 4-way tie in the voting at one stage as it was an
excellent team performance.
Sanderstead 3s 0-8 COWHC 3s
27th October 2012
Match Report
Two weeks after the derby match against Trinity Mid-Whigiftians,
our second lot of neighbours – Sanderstead – arrived at a rather chilly Oasis
Academy.
For the second week running we were playing after COWHC 1s,
so were able to take heart from their battling victory as we warmed up. Following last week’s minor hiccup on the
goalkeeping front we did at least know we were without our regular keeper for
this match. So a big thank you must go
to James Cornwall for donning the padding and stepping between the posts. I’m not sure what he was expecting, but it
probably wasn’t how the match actually played out!
Our opposition had turned up with only 10 players, and
before long it was apparent that this was effectively 9 given that their centre
forward was obviously struggling with some kind of injury and was practically
immobile. Not only did this enable us to
play our normal passing game the extra space meant we were including some
excellent switches of play from one side of the pitch to the other with
relative ease. Furthermore, we were able
to play the game mostly in the Sanderstead half, in fact left back Chris
Maundrell was playing like Ashley Cole minus the Twitter account! (and fitness,
and money…). Even centre backs Pete
Speddings and John Grimsdale were rarely pushed further back than the halfway
line in the first half.
The first goal duly arrived, with Nick “Radders” Radford
drilling a cross in from the right side of the D and Qaz Khokhar deflecting the
ball into the roof of the net (amazingly he went on to say that this wasn’t
intentional!). The pressure continued to
tell with further goals coming from Dave “Foz” Forsdyke, Andrew Gray, poking
the ball in from about 2 inches after good work by Jim Swift, and Laurence De
Souza.
So, 4 – 0 up at half-time and looking good, or so we
thought… But Radders had other ideas and had a go at us in his team talk for
losing shape. It has to be said he was
spot on, weak opposition and extra room meant there was some ball chasing going
on and often no width across the middle of the pitch in particular.
The second half started and we seemed to heed his words,
because the width remained and we looked fairly comfortable. Sanderstead did manage a couple of half
breaks, and Corny had to touch the ball once, a deft pass to yours truly, who
had managed to get back to a more normal left back position at that particular
point.
However, the traffic was again mainly one way. A fifth goal was added before something of a
collectors’ item arrived. A Chris
Maundrell goal! Yes, a few minutes after
having one of the biggest “swing and misses” of all time, when totally free at
the top of the D, I made no mistake when the second opportunity arose, tucking
the ball away from just above the P-spot past 2 scrambling defenders. First goal in at least 5 years I think…
Two more goals were added before things were wrapped up by
the umpires. Although we didn’t quite
make it to double figures, although one goal was disallowed for someone calling
“Mine” in the build-up and Speddo narrowly missing with a strike from a short
corner, the final reckoning saw a hat-trick from Qaz, two goals from Foz and
one a piece for Andrew, Laurence and Chris, bringing a nice +8 to our league
goal difference.
POM went to Andrew, more for his tireless running and great
positioning than the poacher’s finish.
Aldershot & Farnham 4s 8-1 COWHC 3s
03rd November 2012
Match Report
According to Wikipedia “Aldershot is a town in the English
county of Hampshire”. Unfortunately for
us, they appear to have combined themselves with Farnham and so play in the
Surrey league. Even so, it’s a bloody
long way to travel on a cold November morning!
They ran away with SOHL Div 5 last year losing only once and drawing
only once all season. Although they
haven’t had things all their own way so far this season in Div 4, we knew we
were going to be in for a tough game.
The distance we had to travel and the relatively early start time didn’t
help our cause either.
With our regular goalie still absent through injury and a
number of key regular players missing with work and other commitments, we lined
up in an unfamiliar 4-4-2 formation. AJ
had volunteered to don the pads and take up station between the posts. Chris Maundrell moved from his usual left-back
spot into the centre of defence alongside John Grimsdale, with Joe Hendry left
and Martin Burke right. Mike Dawson also
made the move from left to centre, lining up alongside Nick Radford in
midfield, while youngsters Akira and Matt took up very unfamiliar half-back
positions, leaving Bob Stephenson and Trevor Marsh up front.
Unfortunately, against a well drilled, disciplined
opposition we were soon being cut apart by good pass and move hockey… the kind
we usually play when everyone is in their normal positions. But needs must and we tried hard to match our
opponents, creating a couple of half chances during the first half. However we were all also guilty of giving the
ball away cheaply, and the Aldershot players were pretty clinical. They rarely crowded the D, instead opting to
pass the ball around recovering defenders and by half-time we were 5-0 down.
The half-time team talk was generally positive though, just
reminding players to keep it simple and not panic. In terms of skill level, the oppo were not
that much stronger than us, so we came out ready and raring to take them on.
Sadly, before too long, we had conceded again. A short corner was slipped back to the
injector, who managed to put the ball in about the only spot on the goal line
that wasn’t covered. Still, were felt we
were holding our own slightly better and managed to work our way up to the
other end and win a short corner, which was converted by Akira, slotting the
ball home under the foot of Croydon old boy Chris Kinal in the Aldershot goal.
6-1, five more and we’d be back on level terms…
Sadly an Arsenalesque come back was beyond us as we shipped
two more goals and were grateful to AJ for giving an Aldershot player the evil
eye as he lined up a P-flick late on, making him put it wide.
So a disappointing 8-1 reverse, all but wiping out the boost
to our goal difference that we gained last week. Still, to paraphrase a rather famous film –
Next week is another Saturday.
Roll on Epsom!
POM went to Chris Maundrell, although it was close and
personally I think all I did was live up to my tour nickname of “Mouthy”!
Epsom 5s 4-3 COWHC 3s
10th November 2012
Match Report
To borrow a cliché, there are no easy games in SOHL Div.
4. However after our humbling at the
hands of Aldershot and Farnham last week we were hoping that a game against
Epsom’s 5th team (one of two sides the club has in this division)
offered us an opportunity to get back to winning ways ahead of a run of matches
against the top 3 teams in the league.
On paper we had a good, strong squad available, albeit with
three Mikes – B(owling), C(halk) and D(awson).
Not too confusing then… This week
Martin Burke was taking up station between the posts with Paul Fennell still
crocked.
Unfortunately we didn’t get off to the greatest of
starts. A long ball from the heart of
Epsom’s defence came up our the left side towards Chris Maundrell. Unfortunately I had left my brain somewhere
in the car park and let the ball run past me.
The Epsom centre forward was on it in a flash and had a clear run on
goal. John Grimsdale and Pete Speddings
tried to scramble back and cover, but Martin was left exposed and Epsom were
1-0 up.
The teams were evenly matched though and we were creating
chances ourselves, including a short won by Radders when his shot was blocked
by a defender’s shin. However we went
2-0 down when another move down our left resulted in a cross being half blocked
by me, but the bouncy pitch saw it skip up and enter the D, where an Epsom
player reacted quickest to slot the ball home.
One thing that can be said about COWHC 3s though is that our
heads don’t drop, and we got ourselves back into the mix through a combination
of Mikes. Mr Bowling took a free hit,
which he ended up drilling into the D, where Mr Chalk was on hand to deflect it
home. 2-1 and we were back in the game.
The half was far from over though, with time for both sides
to score again. Epsom struck first from
a short corner, which was played back to the injector, who managed to find a
gap and score a well taken goal, his second of the game. Once again though, we managed to narrow the
deficit and again it was a Mike scoring.
This time Mike B took a free hit to himself, strode through the D and
tucked the ball in.
So, a one goal deficit at half time, and a game we felt we
could get something from. A few choice
words from the experienced heads of Mikes B and C about combatting Epsom’s long
ball game, while also opening up a few options for ourselves by narrowing the
midfield and allowing the full backs, Joe Hendry and Alex Hannah more space saw
us ready and raring to go. The tactics
worked, with supply cut off to the Epsom centre forward we were gaining more of
a hold on the game and frustrating the opposition. So much so that one of their players received
a yellow card for kicking the ball away, almost hitting Speddo in the head,
after conceding a free hit.
Fortunately we were able to capitalise on having the extra
man and before long we were on level terms.
A good build up down the right saw the ball get through to the P-spot
where, Mr Dawson made it a hat-trick for the Mikes by sweeping it into the
bottom corner.
The game was now very evenly poised, with both teams making
the opposition work. Sadly for us there
were two stings in the tail to come.
Firstly Epsom took the lead again from another short corner. This time with a strike from the top of the D
that was well struck and shot past everyone into the net. But perhaps the most painful sting was the
one right at the end of the match.
Excellent work by Bob Stephenson on the left meant he found
his way into the D near the base line, his cross was converted by Akira. We were back on level terms… for all of about
3 seconds. Loud appeals from the Epsom
defenders saw the goal disallowed for a foot in the build-up, much to the
distress of Bob, who was adamant that he had made his way into the D legally.
The decision stood though, and we ended up narrow losers.
POM went to Alex Hannah by a landslide, with his commitment
and energy an example to us all.
Old Georgians 3s 3-2 COWHC 3s
17th November 2012
Match Report
A tough run for the 3s began this week with the arrival of
the table-topping Old Georgians at the beach (a.k.a. Harris Academy). However, we were boosted by the return of our
regular goalkeeper, Paul Fennell, and the fact that when the match started we had
12 players available to the opposition’s 9.
We started very brightly, the extra men on pitch counting as
we created quite a bit of pressure.
That’s not to say Georgians were completely pinned in their own half,
but we were looking good, playing lots of nice triangles. However, we couldn’t make the pressure count,
despite creating a few chances.
Sadly things unravelled slightly when an extra Georgian’s
player turned up about 10 minutes into the first half. Suddenly they had an outlet up front, and a
quick one at that. A long ball from just
inside their half was tipped on by the new arrival and he out accelerated the
defence to end up one on one with the keeper.
Paul closed him down, and looked to have created enough of an angle to
make life difficult, but the shot flicked off a pad and found the corner of the
net.
We still had the lion’s share of possession, and I was able
to push forward from central defence to add to the pressure from midfield. Unfortunately this left John Grimsdale
isolated against the new arrival and another long ball was taken in almost
exactly the same fashion as the first.
This time Paul had enough time to come to the edge of his D to close the
striker down, but none of the defenders were able to get back quickly enough to
cover behind him. 2 – 0 down, and, in my
opinion, both against the run of play.
I think our heads dropped a little after this as Georgians
had a bit more of the play at the end of the first half, forcing a short
corner, which Martin Burke deflected across the goal and wide.
Fortunately, half time swiftly followed this and we were
able to regroup. A slight tactical
reshuffle saw me drop a bit deeper (I should never have got so high in the
first place, those nosebleeds are a killer!), meaning that the Georgian’s
striker now had two defenders to deal with – first John, then me – a
combination few are able to get past, and this guy was no exception. We were able to keep him quiet and began to
exert the same pressure on the opposition as we had at the start of the match.
This time we were able to get our reward as the ball broke
to Akira on the left side of the D, who cracked home a great strike into the
opposite corner.
In our push for an equaliser though, we lost a touch of
positional discipline and Georgians scored a third from a sideline hit on the
left. We were still trying to organise
who was picking up which player when the hit was taken. It was worked into the D, where I got a half
tackle in on the Georgian’s striker, the ball broke, getting slightly airborne
and Paul managed to get a touch to it.
Unfortunately the Georgian’s striker was quickest to react and managed
to poke it home to complete his hat trick.
Shortly afterwards he left the match to go and play something called
“football”…
With the opposition back to only 9, and their only real
attacking option gone, we were again able to push forward. This time John took the role of rampaging
centre back and from his quickly taken free hit he slipped the ball to Radders,
who scored his third “top-of-the-D” goal of the season.
3-2 and there was plenty of time for us to get at least an
equaliser, if not actually win. Sadly,
our “cow’s arse & banjo” malaise struck again (ask AJ) and despite creating
several chances we were unable to convert any and, for the second week in a
row, went down by the odd goal.
The positives though were that we played some excellent
hockey and held our own against the top team in the league. Even though they were short a couple of
players, I think we would have pushed them hard had they come with a full
complement.
POM was Akira, not just for his goal, but also for his
energetic chasing and closing down up front.
Cheam 3s 4-1 COWHC 3s
24th November 2012
Match Report
The 3rd team’s mini slump continued into a fourth
week, although to be fair there was only one of those matches that we could
reasonably have been expected to win… and this wasn’t it.
We haven’t played Cheam for a couple of seasons, but most of
us have played them in the past and know they’re normally a very good side, who
work hard for each other. They also seem
to be quite good at something called “training” as they were aware of where
everyone was on the pitch and did the simple things in terms of moving the ball
around and closing down the opposition (namely us). Most of us actually felt that the T, R, A, I
and N should be replaced by C, H, E, A and T ;)
Seriously though, Cheam were sitting in second prior to this
match, so we knew we had our work cut out. Starting the match with only 10 players on the
pitch therefore was not the best way to start!
Sure enough, Cheam cut their way through midfield and won a short corner
which was dispatched in an excellent manner.
The striker at the top of the D found a gap past our two runners to
another player who deflected the ball into the roof of the net.
Shortly after we were up to our full complement, and the
tireless running of James Mayhew and Akira Swami upfront was causing their
defence a few problems. Sadly another
Cheam counter-attack brought them another short, and their second goal. This time the ball was played back to the
injector, who finished despite Martin Burke moving to close him down.
Cheam kept attacking in numbers and keeper Paul Fennell was
called into action a couple of times, while the defence did their best to stem
the flow. Midfield were able to relieve
the pressure occasionally and once we got the ball to the forwards they were
able to create some chances. In fact the
Cheam keeper had to pull off a few saves before finally we got the
breakthrough, with Mike Dawson striking for his second of the season.
With the deficit halved we tried to push for the
equaliser. But Cheam weren’t about give
up their lead and, despite our best efforts, they managed to extend it before
half time. Again the goal came from a
short corner, an attempted drag flick only getting partially airborne, but with
enough pace to hit the backboard rather than be cut out.
So 3-1 down at half time, but the team talk wasn’t downbeat
given we had managed to get on the score-sheet and, even though we knew we were
up against a good team, there were some good elements to our play.
The second half sadly followed a similar pattern to the
first, with Cheam having the lion’s share of possession. The defence of Joe Hendry, John Grimsdale,
Chris Maundrell and Martin held them at bay, with Paul again pulling off
several good stops. The Cheam keeper
also had some work to do as, on the few occasions we were able to break free,
we did manage to get some shots away.
Nothing seemed to be wanting to go in though, and unfortunately the dam
at the other end was breached one final time.
A sideline hit was taken while we were still trying to
organise the marking (most unfair of the opposition to do that!) and Cheam worked the ball into the D. It was half cleared, but when it was played
back in a Cheam striker managed to scramble the ball home despite the close attentions
of Paul and Chris.
There was still time for a couple of chances at both ends
after this, including one where Paul had to stretch his right leg about as far
as he could to deflect the ball away from the goal, an action which left him
walking off the pitch slightly gingerly at the end of the match! But which also (in addition to his previous
exertions) saw him walk off as POM.
Surbiton 8s 4-2 COWHC 3s
01st December 2012
Match Report
I
deliberately delayed this match report hoping that Newcastle United would give
me something to say about us being in good company with our run of defeats. But
sadly the Toon went and won on Monday, so the best I can say is that we're like
Man City in Europe (sorry Radders!)
Surbtion
have been around the top three in the division for most of the season, so even
being at home meant we were in for a tough game – and so it proved. As in previous weeks, our display was far
from bad, indeed at the end of the match some of the opposition were overheard
saying how much they’d had to fight for the victory.
We
had a strong squad available, including 3 substitutes, although Surbiton had
two of their own meaning we wouldn’t have as much of a “fresh legs” advantage as
we’d hoped. The opposition started the
game quite strongly, getting something of a grip on midfield, helped by pushing
their defence high up the pitch. This
meant things got a bit cramped in our half, so it was no surprise when that
Surbiton won a number of short corners.
Again,
as in our last couple of matches, these were our let down. Surbtion’s first and second goals both came
in this manner, the first a very sweetly struck shot from the top of the D
which whistled into the corner. That had
us a bit worried as it was so well hit we wondered if that would be the story
of the match. In a way it was, as more
often than not Surbiton took a direct strike at goal. Fortunately for us, the striker’s radar was
never quite as accurate as that first time. The second goal actually came from the ball
being played back to the injector, who tucked it home.
All
of that said, we managed to get our own back with a short corner goal of our
own. The ball was worked to Laurence De
Souza, who buried the ball in the back of the net. Surbiton were still controlling most of the
play, but we were holding our own and able to break out on occasions,
particularly with James Mayhew and Alan Johnston’s tireless running.
Only one goal down at half time and, although we could
perhaps have improved our performance in certain areas, we were just about
holding our own.
The second half started perhaps slightly more evenly
matched, with our marking having improved from the first half. This meant Surbiton’s options were slightly restricted
compared to before, but they had one main outlet down their right. A very tricky, skilful player who wasn’t
afraid to take players on. It was down
this side that their third, although it came from a side line hit, that was
played to one player who wasn’t closed down quickly enough. He hit the ball into the D, where Alex Hannah
managed to get his stick to it, unfortunately this wasn’t quite enough, and the
ball got through to a Surbiton striker who was able to tuck it away.
We were still able to create some pressure of our own, and
won another short corner – which worked almost to plan, as the ball eventually
found its way to Radders, who almost scored.
By almost, I mean that Akira got the final touch as the ball was
crossing the line, so has claimed the goal!
With the difference back to only the one goal we tried to
push for an equaliser. Surbiton were a
bit too strong for us though and they themselves got yet another short
corner. They converted this one when the
player the ball was slipped too wasn’t closed down quickly enough. He was able to play the ball across goal
where another Surbiton player got to it just ahead of John Grimsdale to make it
4-2.
POM went to Paul Fennell for the second week running.
Leatherhead 2s 2-1 COWHC 3s
08th December 2012
Match Report
Does
anyone know a 20-goal-a-season striker that fancies joining us? In fact even 10-a-season might do, because at
the moment we’re making Fernando Torres look prolific!
Yes,
sadly our bad run continued at Leatherhead, in what was certainly the most
frustrating match of the season so far and possibly one of the most frustrating
I’ve been ever been involved in. This
match was a story of missed opportunities combining with a cruel sting in the
tail to leave us placed fourth from bottom and finishing this half of the
season on a low note.
A
late work call meant that regular ‘keeper Paul Fennell had to postpone his
attempt to win a hat-trick of POM awards until the New Year. Martin Burke therefore donned the pads for
the second time this season. In a
concerted effort to protect him as much as possible we started the match with a
high tempo, pushing forward at every opportunity and restricted Leatherhead to
very little in the way of opportunities to get into our D. Conversely we were creating lots of pressure,
and some real chances. One of the best
came mid-way through the half, following a defensive re-shuffle leading to
yours truly, Chris Maundrell, moving into the centre. Good work down the left side of the pitch saw
the ball reach Trevor Marsh. Seeing a
big gap in front of me I ghosted into the D and Trevor played the perfect ball
in to me. Unfortunately I then showed
why I don’t often get into these positions, by not quite getting enough
elevation on my attempted shot to clear the grounded Leatherhead ‘keeper. It then proved almost impossible to dig the
ball out from underneath him, and sadly we couldn’t make the resulting short
corner count.
Further
chances came as we were able to find quite a bit of space in the opposition
half (note to the Leatherhead player who at one point spotted me free and
called to a teammate “watch the runner” – I’ve never been called a runner
before, so my threat in that position was limited to say the least!). Jon Gadion in particular, in his first match
for a while, was causing the opposition plenty of problems. However, the
breakthrough only came towards the end of the first half when another move down
the left ended with a ball into the D being converted by Andrew Gray.
A
slight lack of organisation at the restart almost saw us undo the good work,
but we were able to work the ball away and headed into half-time in the
unfamiliar position of being in the lead.
The second half started in a very similar vein, with us
putting a lot of pressure on the Leatherhead D, but never quite seeming to get
the rewards. Either the final ball
didn’t quite come off, or the extra touch was taken when it perhaps wasn’t
needed. Leatherhead would occasionally
break out, but generally John Grimsdale, Alex Hannah and Joe Hendry were able
to keep them at bay.
Sadly our inability to make the pressure in the final third
count came back to bite us when, on one of their breakouts, Leatherhead won a
short corner. The initial shot wasn’t
particularly well hit and Martin dived forward to push it away. Unfortunately the clearance went straight to
another Leatherhead player who managed to find the gap past my left foot and
into the corner. Most irritating!
There was still plenty of time and we kept pushing to regain
the lead. Jon had one shot saved, and couldn’t quite bundle the rebound
home. Other chances went begging too
before the real kick in the teeth came.
Almost at the end of the match John took a 16. Was the Leatherhead player fully 5 metres
away when he stopped it? Did he control
it with his body as he entered the D?
Sadly neither question matters much now as the umpire didn’t give either
and the player was allowed to continue on and place a fairly tame shot into the
corner of the goal.
Time had, by then, almost run out for us. I think we managed one more effort to salvage
the draw, but in the end walked away having snatched defeat from the jaws of
victory and with a very bitter taste in our mouths.
Jon Gadion won POM, proving he’s lost none of his skills or
effort in his absence from the team.
Leatherhead 2s 0-1 COWHC 3s
12th January 2013
Match Report
They say that revenge is a dish best served cold, and Oasis
Academy was certainly cold enough for us to harbour dreams of getting three
points from the visit of Leatherhead. A
quirk of the fixtures computer meant that only two weeks after being cruelly
beaten at their place we had the opportunity to get own back.
Initially it looked as though that chance might be taken
away from us as at the official push-back time there were only 6 Leatherhead
players at the pitch. Slowly, however,
their numbers swelled, with the final 3 players arriving around 10 minutes late
and we were able to start.
From the start it was apparent that we were really up for
the game, and although we didn’t have it all our own way, for much of the first
half we kept the opposition at bay, restricting them to a few half chances and
nothing more. At the other end Dave
Forsdyke, Trevor Marsh, Akira Swami and Qaz Khokhar were keeping the
Leatherhead defence occupied, and the opportunity to regularly switch, with one
able to take a break meant their fresh legs was a useful advantage.
I may be biased, but I would argue that we probably looked
the more likely team to score during the first period and the goal duly came
towards the end of the half. Yours
truly, Chris Maundrell, intercepted a Leatherhead clearance just inside their
half. I took the ball forward before
playing it to Qaz on the top of the D, he then moved it out to the right and on
to Alan Johnston. He took the ball
towards the byline before playing it in to the middle, where Foz wanted the
ball more than the Leatherhead defender, nipping in front to tuck the ball
away.
The half time team talk consisted principally of reminding
us that we had been in the same position before Christmas and ended up
losing. The hope was that if we kept it
simple, played good, possession hockey, then we wouldn’t be in the same
situation.
Unsurprisingly, Leatherhead came out strongly in the second
half, pushing an extra man forward in an attempt to get back into the
game. The pressure brought them a couple
of short corners, none of which were converted.
Otherwise a defence marshalled loudly by me held firm, with opposition
players being marked tightly, shepherded down blind alleys and tackled solidly.
That’s not to say it was one-way traffic as we were able to
counter-attack on a number of occasions, with just the final touch missing, or
maybe the final ball not quite getting to the right spot.
In the end, a superb team performance saw us through, and
the hard won 1-0 victory saw us achieve back-to-back wins for the first time
this season, what’s more, both with clean sheets.
POM went to Chris Maundrell for the second time this season,
although in my opinion anyone on the pitch could have taken the award.
Sanderstead 3s 3-1 COWHC 3s
09th February 2013
Match Report
After a couple of weeks of inactivity thanks to the weather,
COWHC 3s had continued their winning ways with a hard fought victory over
Epsom. On the horizon though was a local
derby away at Sanderstead, which always makes for a tricky match.
Things were looking a little dodgy when, on arrival at the
pitch, one corner was covered in ice!
However, with both teams pitching in and a little improvisation this was
cleared and the pitch underneath was perfectly playable. Game on!
The corresponding fixture in the first half of the season
had seen us run out 8-0 winners, but both captain Mike Dawson and vice-captain
Nick Radford warned against complacency.
We started the match well and scored a quick goal, Mike coming in from
the left of midfield to finish a move that had been built down the right. Unfortunately this may have caused us to
relax slightly, possibly thinking we were heading for a similar score-line as
before.
This enabled a couple of the better Sanderstead players, who
hadn’t made the away trip, to stamp their authority on the game. We kept them at bay for much of the first
half, and created a couple of further chances ourselves, one each for Mike and
Nick in particular, which both went just wide.
But the equaliser came towards the end of the half. A short corner was, perhaps slightly harshly,
given and finished with a well taken strike.
1-1 at
half time and the team talk was not one of the easier ones we had had to listen
to this season.
Despite our best efforts in the second half, the two key opposition
players were still able to dictate much of the play. The second goal duly came with an aerial
being played from just inside our half.
It landed on the edge of the D, perfectly placed for a Sanderstead
player running from the right wing to take a touch past the onrushing Martin
Burke (kindly filling in in goal) and finish into an empty net.
This sparked some life back into our side, but sadly we
conceded a third before we could really get going again. A free hit inside the 25 was played back to an
opposition player who drilled the ball into the D, another Sanderstead player
was able to get enough of a deflection on it to get it past defenders and
Martin.
From the restart we were able to finally keep hold of the
ball and started playing some good hockey again. Another chance was created for Mike, but he
ended up coming off second best in a collision with the keeper. With Mike now hobbling upfront, we had to
reshuffle our line up slightly, but were still able to create a couple of
opportunities that didn’t come to much.
Unfortunately time was running out for us and a promising
move involving Chris Maundrell bringing the ball out from defence and playing a
one-two with Pete Speddings down the right was cut short by the full time
whistle.
A disappointing loss all told, but we’ll pick ourselves up
for next week and the visit of Aldershot and Farnham.
POM was Nick Radford for his sterling efforts in the centre
of midfield.
Epsom 5s 2-0 COWHC 3s
23rd February 2013
Match Report
So another cold Saturday and another match at the
über-exposed Harris Academy pitch. Who
was it that decided hockey was a winter sport?
After watching the ladies show us how to play the game
properly, we lined up for the return fixture against a strong-looking Epsom 5th
team. A little bit of goalkeeper musical
chairs meant our regular keeper was unavailable, so skipper Mike Dawson bravely
(foolishly?) stepped into the pads.
From the pushback it became clear that we were in for a
tough match. In particular the Epsom
midfield were not allowing anyone time on the ball and breaking forward in
numbers at every opportunity. We were
able to keep them at bay for a while and made some incursions into the
opposition half ourselves. However Epsom
were creating more half and clear chances and the pressure told when, midway
through the first half they finished a good move with a well hit strike that
left Mike with no chance.
More opportunities followed, with Mike making some good
saves and Chris Maundrell stopping one shot just short of the line. It wasn’t quite enough though as a second
Epsom goal came, brought about by something else they were proving very
effective at – closing down the options at our 16s. Our hit out made it past the first ring, but
not the second and Epsom broke forward quickly down their right. The ball was crossed to the top of the D and,
although Chris tried to close down the Epsom player in time they were still
able to get away another well struck shot, this time on the reverse.
The 2-0 half time score was probably a fair reflection of
the game so far, but after a few inspiring words from Mike and Nick Radford we
came out raring to go. We stepped up the
intensity slightly and were now matching Epsom in terms of commitment. As a result, we were able to get the ball
forward more and created some good opportunities, one of which brought a very
good save from the opposition keeper. If
that had gone in, would things have been different? Possibly not, as the game was actually
opening out slightly and Epsom were still creating chances themselves. However, despite both teams’ best efforts no
more goals were scored, leaving the final score as 2-0.
POM went to Mike Dawson, after a very close vote. His willingness to go between the posts as
well as the saves he pulled off winning the day.
Old Georgians 3s 3-0 COWHC 3s
02nd 2013
Match Report
It might just be me, but it seems as though a lot of the
teams we’ve played in the second half of this season have been very different
to those we played in the first half…
Anyway, I digress. St
George’s College is a pretty impressive venue, and Old Georgians look to be a
club that can match their surroundings.
They’ve been towards the top of the table all season and looked a decent
outfit when we played them at Harris Academy, although we pushed them close in
a 3-2 defeat. The score in this return
fixture doesn’t accurately reflect the fact that we did so again, and had our
current non-scoring malaise not affected us once again we could have got
something from this match.
We had a reasonably strong line-up available, however it
maybe that the late push back (15.30) affected us slightly as we were sluggish
to start and conceded the first goal relatively early on. And, if we’re honest, it was quite a soft
goal as a Georgians midfielder was allowed to run through almost unchallenged
to the edge of the D and place a shot into the far corner past a desperate
lunge on the line from Chris Maundrell (who may or may not be writing this
report…).
That woke us all up and we started to play the way we
can. At times our passing and movement
was causing the opposition some problems, however things sadly fizzled out
around their D more often than not. One
move saw a side-line hit from Chris being deflected by Qaz Khokar into the path
of Andrew Gray, who took the ball on to the Georgian’s D but couldn’t quite
find the final ball.
The pitch was playing very quickly and we soon realised that
the opposition’s main tactic seemed to be to use this pace to drill balls into
our D and hope for a deflection. And
surely enough their second goal arrived via this option, the ball finding its’
way just past Chris to be diverted into the net past Paul Fennell.
Once again we found ourselves 2-0 down at half time, despite
not having been outplayed in any way.
During the second half we began to create some more
opportunities ourselves, the cutting edge the only thing stopping us from
getting back into the game, and maybe even onto level terms. We were also getting the hang of the pitch
and cutting out many of the long balls that Georgians were trying to play
through us.
That’s not to say we were dominating and it was all one way
traffic. Georgians were still creating
some opportunities themselves with their better fitness levels enabling them to
break quickly and the hit the post a couple of times.
Unfortunately our defensive resistance couldn’t quite last
the duration of the half and the opposition notched up their third goal… coming
from a long ball into the D! For once
not as well struck as previous ones, meaning it bobbled a little on its way
through to the Georgians’ striker, who was just able to poke it through Paul’s
legs as the keeper closed him down.
So another frustrating day on the pitch left us wondering
where the goals will come from over the remaining couple of games this season…
Answers on a postcard please!
POM, as with the last couple of weeks, was a close vote, a 4
way tie at one point eventually going in favour of Nick Radford for a
particularly dominant display in the middle of the park.
Surbiton 8s 4-1 COWHC 3s
16th March 2013
Match Report
OK, so I admit writing a match report nearly 1 month after
the game itself does mean that my memory of events may be a little rusty. I was hoping to utilise “helmet-cam” footage
to boost recollection, but I’m assuming that keeper Paul Fennell has realised
how horrific the film is and deleted it instantly!
So here goes – It was the final weekend of the 6 nations,
the day before some festival where everything apparently turns green for the
day, and we had been chosen to play the late slot on Surbiton’s water-based
pitch. Lucky us… well, I say that, we
were playing the league leaders, were going to miss the start of the England –
Wales game, and had (I think) only 10 players.
The match started and it soon became apparent why Surbiton
were top, and they were definitely making the most of their extra man. We managed to keep them at bay for a short
while, although there was one nervy moment when Chris Maundrell deflected a
strike from outside the D wide of our own goal (I knew exactly where it was
going, even with my eyes closed…). The
first goal for the opposition duly arrived, although it took a while for most
people to realise. A shot was half
cleared from just in front of the goal line to just outside the D, sadly
straight to a Surbiton player who put it straight back in. There was a touch from another Surbiton
player inside the D and a faint “thunk”, however the ball still seemed to be
outside the goal, albeit just on the line.
Paul and one opposition player then engaged in something of a private
battle to keep the ball out/ in, while others stopped believing it was a goal,
and indeed the umpire duly gave it.
A second goal came from a quickly taken sideline move, where
the extra player was made to count as the ball was shuttled through a couple of
players into the D and finished with aplomb.
Things remained at 2 – 0 until half time, and as we took our
break we reflected on the fact that we were doing reasonably well at keeping
the opposition at bay given we were a man down.
The second half was roughly similar, with a lot of Surbiton
pressure but also us able to make some breaks out. Nick Radford in particular was able to assert
some dominance in the centre of midfield and the energy and tenacity of Jon
Gaddion also making an impact.
However it also followed the first half in terms of the
opposition scoring two goals. Their
third goal even we had to admit was very well worked, with again the use of the
extra man proving key as they moved the ball quickly past us, before being
finished by a player ghosting in at the back post.
I don’t remember much about the fourth, other than I think
it was scored by the same player who had got the previous three!
We gave ourselves a brief glimmer of hope when Chris
intercepted the ball on the 25 and worked it forward through Radders and
whoever was right half (sorry whoever that was!). They played the ball towards Trevor Marsh up
front, however it was slightly too strong and ran through to a Surbition
defender. Trevor kept running though and
put the player under enough pressure that he mis-controlled and the ball ran loose. On it like a flash, Trevor took the ball into
the D and finished with a reverse stick shot.
Sadly it was too little too late for us and we couldn’t pull
the remaining 3 goals back.
POM went to Mr Gadion for his third of the season – one per
game he’s played!
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