COWHC 3s 0-5 Purley Walcountians 5s
05th October 2013
Match Report
A relatively warm October afternoon saw the arrival of our
first league match of the season. Most
of the team had managed one or two pre-season friendly matches. Some (who shall remain nameless) had managed
to avoid them, and boy did that end up showing!
This match was very much a case of men versus boys, with the
majority of the PW side looking as though they would be out past their bedtime
had the pushback been any later.
Unfortunately, this youthful exuberance was in stark contrast to our
line-up, where only Akira was younger than 30.
That said, we were all seemingly up for the match and started well with
a good solid pushback.
I think that was possibly as good as it got as things went
steadily downhill from there, with no obvious reason why. OK, so we weren’t helped by some, shall we
say, dubious umpiring decisions, which were sadly made at the end we were
defending. This enabled PWs to build up
quite a bit of pressure which we were never fully able to relieve. As a result, they won a couple of short
corners and managed to convert two.
The first was a rather unfortunate conversion, given that
Mike managed to get out quickly enough to close down the strike. He didn’t quite get enough on it though and
the ball deflected up into the air and past Chris on the post. The second, I really thought I had covered on
the post, yet the low strike managed to somehow find a gap between my stick and
my foot and ended up in the back of the goal.
Maybe it’s my age, but I can’t remember whether the third
goal came before or after half time, but suffice it to say it did. I can vaguely recall two goals in the second
half. One where a PWs youngster managed
to dribble his way to the backline before pulling the ball back to an unmarked
teammate who was able to tuck the ball away and another where the ball found
its way to one of the older PWs players at the back post. Paul tried his best to keep the shot out, but
unfortunately in the end the player was just able to lift it over him and
score.
I’d love to be able to put some sort of positive spin on
things and say that we actually were kept from matching PWs score only through
the brilliance of their keeper, but sadly I don’t think he actually had that
much to do. We did manage to break into
the opposition 16 on a few occasions, but for various reasons the moves broke
down and we were frequently having to defend counterattacks from those pesky
kids!
The result probably flattered PWs somewhat, but we were far
from at our best and they did deserve the victory.
Still the one thing that age brings is the experience to be
able to move on and look forward to next week… and also the bad memory to
swiftly forget days like this and pretend they never happened.
POM went to Speddo, presumably for managing to stem the tide
of PW attacks rather than verbally abusing one of their players in the second
half.
COWHC 3s 1-4 Epsom 6s
12th October 2013
Match Report
After last week’s humbling at the hands of an exceedingly
youthful PWs team, we rolled in to Epsom for our first away match of the season
and found ourselves facing yet another lot of pesky kids! Fortunately this year we actually had a
goalkeeper with us, as opposed to last season’s mix up at the same venue which
saw us with 11 outfield players instead.
Epsom started the game slightly brighter than we did, must
be something to do with that youthful enthusiasm I’ve heard about, and were
able to build up some pressure that we could only occasionally and temporarily
relieve. Having said that, it wasn’t all
one way traffic and we did create one or two half (OK, quarter) chances of our
own.
The opposition had a number of short corners, which they
were unable to convert, a couple thanks to excellent challenges from the first
runner, either Speddo or Martin, and one due to an excellent save from
Paul. But the pressure eventually told
and towards the end of the half Epsom scored when a player was able to cut
through to the backline and pull the ball into the centre to a teammate, who
duly converted.
We managed to regroup somewhat at half time and started the
second half reasonably positively, but once again Epsom were able to build up
more of a head of steam than we could manage.
They won a string of short corners, some of which were rather fortunate,
and converted one fairly early into the half.
The initial shot was partially blocked, but unfortunately fell to an
Epsom player close in, who was able to put the ball away.
Epsom’s third also came from a short corner, again it was
only partially cleared allowing one of their players to put the ball back into
the middle. Via a deflection it found
its way through to someone just off to the right of the P-spot, who but it back
across goal and into the corner.
The fourth goal came from some sloppy defending from yours
truly. I didn’t close down the Epsom
right winger quickly enough and he was able to put a cross in too easily. The first of the two strikers unmarked in the
middle couldn’t control it, but his deflection fell kindly to one of his
teammates, who scored from close range.
Surprisingly the game became quite stretched after this, as
we managed to make a quite a few breaks into the Epsom 25. Many came to nothing, but we did manage to
chalk up a few promising free hits and short corners, converting one. AJ played the ball back to Radders, who had
injected, and he was able to flick the ball in.
Unfortunately, the remaining 3 goals remained elusive and we finished
4-1 down.
I would say we might have managed something if it hadn’t
been for those pesky kids, but I fear we may still have lost. That said, the performance was an improvement
on last week, so fingers crossed for the future.
POM was John Grimsdale, his sterling work at the back
keeping the score down.
COWHC 3s 2-1 Aldershot & Farnham 4s
19th October 2013
Match Report
Week 3 of the season and we were at home to Aldershot &
Farnham, home of former Croydon player Chris Kinal. Although it’s normally good to welcome back
ex-teammates, we’ve not normally had the best of luck against this particular
side, being on the end of some pretty heavy defeats in the past 2 seasons. Given that our first two league games this
year had not gone well, there could have been an element of trepidation ahead
of this match.
We had a bare 11, which fortunately wasn’t as much of an
issue as it could have been as the opposition were in the same situation. The match started quite well for us, and we
created a bit of pressure, with a couple of half chances, although any shots
that came were far too close to Mr Kinal in the Aldershot goal. Gradually the game became more even, and then
swung slightly in Aldershot’s favour.
They too created a couple of chances, won some short corners and then,
sadly, scored.
The ball was worked out to our left and their player was
able to put in a well hit cross just before he was closed down. The pace on the cross was enough that as it
reached the centre of the D another Aldershot player just managed to get in
front of Alex Hannah and get the deflection into the goal past Paul
Fennell. From that moment until the end
of the first half, they probably shaded things, although a great work rate and
some solid play from our midfield and defence kept Aldershot at bay.
At the start of the second half it became apparent that
Aldershot had changed their formation slightly, presumably in an attempt to get
more out of the game than they had previously.
It took us a few minutes to sort ourselves out and get used to it,
meaning they were able to win a short corner.
However, things didn’t quite go to plan for them as excellent running
from Mike Dawson and Alex saw the ball not only cleared, but worked to Alex
Steele on the left side of midfield. He
broke forward and, after a 1-2 with Trevor Marsh at the top of the D, fired the
ball through Chris Kinal’s legs and into the back of the net!
Back on level terms, we were able to build some momentum,
with the defence not allowing Aldershot to settle on the ball and the midfield
working tirelessly up and down the pitch.
The pressure told, and a short corner was won. The initial shot was partially cleared to the
right corner of the D. Andrew Gray, who
had spent much of the first half off the pitch having been clattered on the
ankle, shook of the effects of that knock and chased the ball down. He managed to then get the ball back across
the D to where a grateful Radders was stood in front of an open goal, which
soon had the ball nestling in the back.
That brought a predictable response from Aldershot as the
pushed forward in search of an equaliser.
There were a few hairy moments as balls flashed across our D, and a few
moments when we managed to counter-attack into the space they left at the back,
but couldn’t quite find the final ball.
In the end we held firm for a very satisfying victory.
POM was yours truly, although it was a close run thing as it
was an excellent team performance.
COWHC 3s 1-0 Reigate Priory Pilgrims
26th October 2013
Match Report
A day before the “Great Storm of 2013” was due to hit we
made the trip down to Reigate to play their Pilgrims.
With our usual keeper missing, Martin Burke volunteered to
step into the breach. A slight line-up
shuffle also saw Mike Dawson starting at right back and Alex Hannah pushed into
the centre forward position. The first
couple of minutes were fairly even, with both sides creating a few half
chances, but nothing particularly clear cut.
And then came the turning point of the match. Alex Steele played a superb ball from around
halfway to the edge of the Reigate D. It
was worked through to Andrew Gray on the left, who managed to get to the
by-line before turning back inwards.
From a narrow angle he then fired in a shot, which beat everyone to end
up in the back of the net.
That really brought the Pilgrims forward as they pushed for
the equaliser. Martin saved well from
one shot, I diverted a cross behind at the near post and their centre forward
managed to put one shot from a bouncing ball over the bar. It wasn’t all one way traffic, however our
midfield had been pulled pack to help out with the defence a bit too much, so
we were resorting a bit too much to long balls.
With the pace we had up front these were more often than not chased down
by one of our players, but too often they were left slightly isolated.
We held out until half time and, after a break and a few
choice insights from Radders, lined up again for the second half.
The oppo had come into the game off the back of two defeats
in their opening two games, similar to ourselves prior to last week, and it
quickly became apparent they didn’t want to make it three in a row. The tactic appeared to be to go for broke, as
we soon found that all four of our defenders (me, John G, Speddo and Mike) were
marking. With Speddo unable to step in
to cut things off in the middle of the park as usual, the pressure built at the
back. We conceded a couple of short
corners, but fortunately excellent running by Mike and Speddo meant these came
to nothing.
However I think the moment, in my mind, that summed
everything up and made me realise we would hold firm and it might just be our
day came midway through the second half.
I deflected a Reigate shot towards an empty goal, a matter of maybe half
a yard from the line. Showing footwork
akin to something I’ve probably subconsciously picked up from Strictly Come
Dancing, I managed to keep my feet out of the way and flick the ball out just
as it touched the front of the line! Fortunately there was no opposition player
following up and the ball was cleared.
Martin made a couple more saves, but from that moment on,
even with the rain coming down, we were able to keep Reigate at bay and also
created a few opportunities of our own.
I’d like to say that we blew the opposition away (sorry), but in the end
we ground out a 1 – 0 victory that was down more to the defences of both teams
than anything else.
That said, POM went to Andrew for the decisive goal and his
tireless front running.
COWHC 3s 0-0 Cheam Hunters
02nd November 2013
Match Report
It’s been a while since we’ve been to the beach, sorry,
Harris Academy! I think we had one match
there last season, and this week we took our buckets and spades to the first of
two Cheam teams in the division – the Hunters.
We were coming into the game on the back of two victories,
but our opponents could go one better having won three from three in the league
so far. So although confidence was high,
we knew we were in for a tough game, and things didn’t look any better when the
opposition turned up with 13 players, while we appeared to only have 10… or 9.5
given that Radders was apparently suffering from the plague.
That said, we started with a very high intensity and it
didn’t really look as though we were a man short. We created a number of half chances in the
first couple of minutes, but nothing particularly clear cut and gradually Cheam
began to get themselves into the game.
The won the first short corner of the game, I think almost
mid-way through the half, but nothing came of it and this kind of set the tone
for the rest of the match.
Cheam had maybe two further chances, one which was scrambled
behind by a combination of Paul and Chris, but in the same way as we hadn’t
really troubled their keeper, there was nothing to unduly worry our back line.
We had, by now, got up to a full complement of 11 thanks to
Waqas turning up, and that made a difference as we were able to even things up
on the pitch. We were playing some of
the best hockey that I’ve seen us play for a while, with some great quick
passing and some excellent movement up front from Waqas, Trevor and Angus.
The second half was much the same, although we probably
shaded it as Cheam were getting pretty frustrated that they weren’t able to create
anything and we managed a couple of shots that just went wide and also won some
short corners.
Sadly we appear to have been afflicted with the same malaise
that we had for much of last season, in that we simply can’t score. We could have been made to pay for our
profligacy when one of Cheam’s players broke through late on to be one-on-one
with Paul, but our keeper was always favourite and rushed out to clear the
ball.
In the end I don’t think either team can be too upset with a
point from what was a very hard fought, yet fair, match.
POM went to John Grimsdale for the second time already this
season, for his excellent work at the back and also a couple of driving
up-field runs through the centre of the pitch.
COWHC 3s 2-2 Addiscombe 4s
09th November 2013
Match Report
After our sandy excursion last week our beach theme
continued with an away trip to our home ground of Oasis Academy. It lived up to its name, with one end under
what seemed to be at least an inch of water!
We actually started the game with only 9 men as yours truly
and Trevor Marsh turned up just as a delayed push-back was being taken thanks
to some serious traffic issues on the way.
However it was mere minutes until we were at full strength and attacking
the pond end with some gusto (although no paddles!). We had the majority of the play during the
first half, with some good chances being created. But, as has been our failing for some while
now, conversion was the thing that was missing.
Admittedly the pitch conditions didn’t help matters, with the ball
slowing up quite a bit and some of our players finding it hard to keep their
footing properly (naming no names, Andrew…).
We won a couple of short corners, one which was delayed
while the Addiscombe umpire changed his whistle for one that could actually be
heard by everyone, not just the local dogs.
But injecting the ball through a river isn’t the best way to open up
chances and the came to nothing.
At half-time the score was 0-0, and the rain was easing up.
Addiscombe didn’t ease up though. They started the second half with a real
urgency, which possibly caught us a bit by surprise. We were defending the deep end and had spoken
at half time about trying to play a high line to keep the ball away from the
water. But while we were still getting
used to the conditions we conceded a fairly soft goal. I think two clearances didn’t clear the
water, and two opposition players managed to get small touches to the ball in
front of our defenders, just as the ball was slowing up. Through this, the ball got to a player a
short way out who was able to slot home.
It was a very disappointing goal to concede, and fired us
up. From the restart we pushed up to the
other end and began to create some real pressure until only a few minutes after
going behind we were back on level terms.
A sideline on the right was worked into the D and, although it was
cleared out to our left, the ball only made is as far as me just outside the
25. I played the ball back into the D,
where Andrew was able to take it, turn, and fire the ball into the far
corner. An excellent finish, but it was
of course all about the assist…
The game then opened up, more so than in the first half, and
both sides had a couple of chances before Addiscombe again took the lead. Once again, it was a sloppy goal, where we
were again caught out by the pace of the ball, or lack thereof.
2-1 down, but far from out of it, we again levelled soon
after going behind. This time the goal
came from a short corner. The ball got
to Angus at the top of the D, who worked his way past a couple of players before
getting the pass away to Andrew, again in the right place at the right time, to
finish.
After that, we probably again had the better of the game,
and indeed missed a great chance to get the victory late on when Mike just
failed to convert a cross from Radders.
A disappointing result in the end, from a game where we
probably should have been out of sight by half time were it not for our lack of
cutting edge.
That said, POM went to Andrew, the 2-goal hero and man who
gives us the energy up front.
COWHC 3s 0-1 Epsom 5s
23rd November 2013
Match Report
After our gap week, in which I’m sure a few niggles were
nursed and batteries recharged, we headed out to Epsom for our match with the
second side they have in our division.
We always have a tough game against this team, and although
we had a reasonably strong outfield squad, our usual keeper, Paul, was
missing. Fortunately Ciaran Pell
volunteered to step in and duly padded up.
From the off Epsom seemed to have an extra player, as they
pushed forward in numbers. We held them
at bay, even when a couple of dangerous balls made their way across our D. Slowly we managed to get a small toehold on
the game, but were still feeling the pressure.
Midway through the half Epsom did manage to get the ball in the net, but
it was disallowed by for a high stick by one of their players, who had actually
ended up on the floor with a cut above his eye.
It seems in his efforts to get to the ball he had collided with Ciaran with
face meeting helmet and coming off worse!
We remained just about in the game, helped by the pace we
had up front, particularly from Andrew, who managed to bring a great save from
the Epsom keeper as he looked to keep up his goal scoring run. That was as good as it got for us though, and
Epsom themselves brought a great save from Ciaran later on.
At half time we decided that in order to combat the extra
space that the opposition seemed to have in the middle of the pitch we would
change from 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2. However
Epsom started the second half like they finished the first, playing with a high
level of intensity and still seeming to have a man spare whenever they came
forward.
We held firm though, with some excellent tackles being put
in by defence and midfield, and the forwards offering something of an outlet
when we could actually find them (I think most of our passing radars were being
temperamental!). Epsom were restricted
to trying to play the ball across the D from wide areas, enabling either Ciaran
or the defence to make the clearance, or often watch the crosses go safely off
the back line or the other side of the pitch.
As the game went on it looked as though we were going to be
able to frustrate the opposition and pick up a hard earned point, much as we
had against Cheam 3 weeks earlier. But
then came the sting in the tail… from a side line hit in our back left corner,
with about 5 minutes left on the clock.
It looked as though we had them contained with the only clear way out
being for them to play the ball backwards.
However they managed to get a cross through, which somehow managed to
get through Martin and Ciaran and this time Epsom had a player in the right
place to score probably one of the easiest goals they’ll score this
season. Disappointingly this was
probably the softest, scrappiest chance of the whole game and it was our
undoing.
We didn’t have enough time to get back into any sort of
rhythm and, although we saw out the remaining minutes well, had to accept a
bitter defeat.
I got POM, however I do think that Ciaran in particular
deserves an honourable mention for his efforts in goal.
COWHC 3s 1-3 Leatherhead 2s
30th November 2013
Match Report
This week was a match very much about numbers... Early start
(10.30 pushback, away), full strength opposition (12 players), under strength
COWs (1 keeper missing, 9 players to start rising to 10), four goals registered
(only one for us) and one ghost goal.
Going into the game Leatherhead were below us in the league,
although to be fair baring the top two the division is pretty tight at the
moment. But starting any match 2 players
short, and with our regular keeper Paul having been “appropriated” by the 2s,
we were probably facing a bit of a struggle.
Martin had stepped into the breach in goal and we lined up in a 3-3-2
formation.
We started, naturally, under a bit of pressure, but seemed
to be just about coping. That,
bizarrely, changed when our 10 man, Pirate, turned up. The extra man seemed to confuse us and we
lost all positional discipline, particularly when it came to picking up and
tracking runners defensively. As a
result Leatherhead scored twice in reasonably quick succession. I don’t remember the exact build up to the
first just that a shot came in from the top of the D, which I managed to get a
bit of my stick to. However that only
succeeded in deflecting it up and off the top of one of Martin’s pads into the
goal.
The second came down our left, where I faced a two against
one that soon became a three against two as Mike came across to help out. Unfortunately the ball got through to the
spare man who was just inside the D and fired a pretty unstoppable shot into
the far corner.
Some pretty harsh words were said at half time, first by
Radders and then by Pirate. These seemed
to be the kick up the backside that we needed and, although Leatherhead
probably just shaded the first couple of minutes of the second half, we
gradually began to push higher and higher up the pitch. Our passing was better, our movement was
better, and we began to play the way that we know we can.
With Pirate and Radders pulling the strings in the middle of
the park, we were creating a number of chances.
Aided by the chasing of Andrew, Bob and Trevor up front. The reward came probably mid-way through the half
when the ball found its way to Pirate at the top of the D. He drag-flicked the ball into the corner of
the net and the game was now on.
More chances were created, and we had a couple of short
corners that didn’t quite come off, but we were pinning Leatherhead inside
their own half. However, pushing as high
as we were in search of the equaliser did mean we were at risk of being caught
on the counter attack. And that is
precisely what happened.
The opposition had threated to catch us once before, but
held on to the ball too long and enabled us to get back. We should have learned from that, as they
certainly did. The next chance they got
the passed the ball sooner and released their winger to run in on Martin
unchallenged. Initially it looked as
though Martin might have done enough in pushing the player wide and to the back
line, but he managed to get his cross in and, although Mike got to it the ball
flicked upwards and into the path of the supporting Leatherhead player, who had
the simple task of playing it down and into the empty net.
There was a final twist in the tail though. Right at the end of the match, we played a
ball in from our right towards the area.
It went right through everyone except the Leatherhead keeper, who got a
touch on it before it went into the back of the net. The umpire seemed to signal for a goal and
the end of the match at the same time, which confused everyone. It wouldn’t have changed the overall result,
but would have helped our goal difference marginally. But, Fixtureslive is showing it as 3-1, so
that must be official!
POM went to Bob for sterling work up front.
COWHC 3s 3-2 Trinity Mid-Whitgiftian 4s
14th December 2013
Match Report
So, the last game before the Christmas break… and this
report is actually being written with the help of Helmet-Cam footage, as I
managed to forget to do it until January!
A slightly bizarre start against our local rivals as Paul
was delayed on his way to the game, meant we actually played the first couple
of minutes with 11 outfield players.
Yes, that’s right, we actually had a sub, compared with two weeks
previously when we couldn’t get a full complement out on pitch.
The first half was fairly even, although we were possibly
guilty of giving the ball away a bit too much.
We created a number of chances, including several short corners, but
unfortunately, as has been the case for quite a while, they were not converted.
Mids were also creating their own chances, and we were doing
a pretty good job of keeping them at bay.
That was until about halfway through the first half a quickly take free
hit just inside our 25 caught us off guard and the Mids striker was able to
turn me on the edge of the D and fire his shot past Paul.
So we were 1- nil down at half time, but far from out of
it. However, the low winter sun would be
in our eyes for the second half, which could have made life tricky. Indeed, it did for Helmet-Cam, so I may have
some of the details of the second half slightly wrong…
Again things were fairly even, and a quick counter attack
saw us win a short corner. Radders
injected and received the ball back from AJ.
His shot was blocked on the line, but only as far as Andrew who had the
simple task of slotting home. With the
scores evened, and Mids’ heads looking like they might be dropping, we started
pushing for the lead.
But, we let them back into it. They worked the ball down the right and into
the middle, before getting it from the top of the D back over to the right
side, where an unmarked player flicked the ball just past Paul’s outstretched
hand and into the corner of the goal.
We were behind again, but our heads definitely didn’t drop
as we were frustrated that we’d given them the chance and worked hard to get
back at them. To be fair, we did go
through something of a scrappy phase, before equalising. Speddo somehow found himself out on the right
wing and his ball into the D was converted, I think by Angus, but poor memory
and the sun interfering with the video mean I’m not sure…
Our third goal showed the merits of playing to the
whistle. Mids won a short corner and
their shot was stopped by Paul. As he sat
on the ground, with the ball between his legs the opposition appealed for
another short while Speddo played it out to AJ.
It was then worked up our right wing, into the D and the back of the
net. I think this goal was Andrew’s, but
I may have the scorers of goals 2 & 3 the wrong way round (sorry lads!).
There was still time for Paul to have to pull off a couple
of good saves, including a double stop from a Mids’ short corner, plus one of
the moments of the season so far. A
break left two Mids players clear through on Paul. As he rushed out to meet the one with the
ball he called out, leading the opposition player to panic and put his pass
behind the support runner, who would have had an open goal had the pass reached
him.
That was probably the last moment of note in the game, and
we managed to eke out our third win of the season.
POM was Andrew, for again weighing in with the goals where
it matters.
Summary of the season so far – mixed. We’ve had some good results, particularly the
win against Aldershot, some unfortunate losses, and too many games where we’ve
made life difficult for ourselves. Our
New Year’s resolution is to find a goal scorer and turn some of the close games
into victories. Fingers crossed…
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