Finally!

COWHC 3s 3-0 Cheam Clarets

22nd March 2014

So, the penultimate game of the season arrives and we at last get our first win since Christmas!

Cheam Clarets had cried off pre-Christmas, so we went into this game a bit unsure of what to expect.  However a strong line-up and 13 players meant we had hopes of getting something out of the game.  James Mayhew playing at the top of the diamond was probably the biggest change to normal, and he gave us some stability and an outlet higher up the pitch that we had been missing in previous games.

Right from the start it was clear that we were all up for the game as the whole team pushed forward and kept Cheam in their half for long periods.  They did occasionally break out, but John, Speddo and, when it got that far Paul, were able to mop things up and re-start our attacks.  However we had the lion's share of possession, particularly helped by the fact it seemed like AJ had a magnet in his stick, with almost every 16 Cheam took on our right ending up with him.

With Andrew, Trevor and Angus taking it in turns to have a breather from being up front it meant the two on pitch could run hard and they were keeping the Cheam defence on their toes.  We were also playing some nice passing hockey, and made progress into the opposition D on a number of occasions.  So it was only a matter of time before the first goal game.  I intercepted a speculative ball forward from Cheam, but was struggling to get it out of my feet to control it properly and just managed to scoop it back to Speddo.  He played it out right to AJ and a series of quick passes led to Andrew (I think) taking a shot.  The keeper managed to get something on it, but was only able to deflect the ball into the path of James following in, who was left with the simple task of putting the ball over the line.

We kept pushing, knowing that 1 goal probably wasn't enough, especially with Cheam doing their best to get forward.  We managed to extend our lead a little while after scoring our first, and again it came from good, crisp passing with (I think) Trevor playing in the final ball for top-scorer Andrew to convert.

The opposition kept us honest though, and managed to win themselves a couple of short corners.  Most of these came to nothing, although one squeezed through Paul and deflected across the goal and wide off my stick, not that I knew much about it as it happened so quickly!

At half time the instruction was to keep doing the simple things, because that was what was getting us most success.

In fact the second half became a bit more stretched than the first, although we were still creating the majority of decent chances.  Unfortunately, as has been the case all season, they were always just the final touch away from being converted.  We may have been two to the good, but wanted more.

Eventually the third goal arrived, with Andrew taking a long corner to himself, dribbling out to create the angle and putting in a great cross.  Mike timed his run to perfection and swept the ball across the keeper and into the far corner.

We could have had a fourth too, as Qaz made a great run through the middle, rounded the keeper and shot, only for the ball to be stopped by the keeper's stick, which he had thrown in desperation across the D.  A flick was given and, having won it Qaz took it.  He claims he was caught in two minds as he stepped up to address the ball, and it was a fairly limp shot that the keeper saved comfortably.

We were able to see out the final few minutes with no real trouble and when the final whistle were happy to have the win.

POM was AJ, whose magnetic stick in the first half and availability as an outlet all through the game helped immensely.

Get out of Jail Card played!

COWHC 3s 2-2 Leatherhead 2s

15th March 2014

Match Report

Spring had definitely sprung in Croydon this weekend, the sun was out, the temperature was up and so a trip to the beach was in order.  Yes, we were at Harris Academy.

Leatherhead are one of those particularly tricky teams where you often finish the game thinking you should probably have got more out of it than you actually had.  In the away match they beat us 3-1, but a lot of that was down to us being a couple of players short, the 3rd goal actually coming while we were pushing for an equaliser.  However this week we definitely got out of jail.

As has so often been the case this season, we had a mixed team of mostly regulars, but a couple of extras, in particular Ciaran filling in for Paul in goal and Pirate joining us for the first half.

I don't know whether it was the weather or what, but we started the match pretty sluggishly and were soon made to pay.  Passes were going awry and, after only a couple of minutes, one bad one led to the opening goal.  I tried to play the ball inside to Radders, but got no power in the pass and a Leatherhead player was able to nip in first and start the move that eventually lead to the opening goal.

Even though they moved the ball quickly up to our D, we still had one or two occasions where we could have cleared it.  Somehow, however, the ball always seemed to end up with a Leatherhead player and eventually one managed to get a good enough shot away to beat Ciaran.

Gradually we started to wake up though and, cheered on by a couple of the ladies who had stayed on after their game, managed a couple of half chances.  And midway through the half we were back on level terms.  I tackled a player just inside the opposition half and fed the ball forward to Radders.  He played it wide to AJ, who drove forward a bit before playing the return pass to Radders in the D.  His shot was crisp, into the corner and gave the keeper no chance.

Sadly that remained the most fluent move we were able to put together in that half and again we were punished.

Mike did well tracking his player back towards our own goal down the left and managed to make the tackle in the D.  Unfortunately his clearance ended up with a Leatherhead player at the top of the D, who shot through a crowd and Ciaran, unsighted, was just unable to keep the ball from going in.

The second half saw the opposition really seem to start pushing forward and only an inspired display from Ciaran was keeping the score down.  As time ran on however the game became more stretched and we began to win a couple of short corners.  We couldn't keep the pressure on though, and every time we seemed to get up to the opposition D the move broke down and we were soon back defending.

However, we didn't capitulate and, with just about a minute to go, we won another short.  The initial shot was blocked and in the scramble that followed Qaz managed to poke the ball home with the very last hit of the game.

Relief all round on our side, particularly given our run of results since Christmas.  Let's hope we can take the fighting spirit shown at the end of this game into next week!

POM was, without any doubt, Ciaran.  There would have been no way back into the game for us had it not been for his heroics.

Next week can't come quick enough...

COWHC 3s 0-9 Epsom 5s

08th March 2014

Yes, I'm afraid you read the scoreline correctly.  We lost 9-0.

Things got off to a bad start when Mike told us that he'd had two late pull-outs, one of which unfortunately was Paul, which isn't great when you're playing a team who like to hit their shots in the D early.  We also had no umpire, again not ideal, particularly when it was our home game!  So Mike bravely (/foolishly) decided to pad up and Martin, after frantically ringing 90% of the club for extra players, picked up his whistle.

Being short does have a tendency to make life difficult, particularly as we actually started 3 players down as Angus hadn't realised he was playing and so got to the pitch just after we started!   As a result we started with a slightly unfamiliar line-up, particularly given that Trevor gamely filled in at right-back until Angus was ready.  The lack of players did mean that we were quickly overrun.  Any time we did manage to make an interception or tackle and get the ball away it was only for a temporary respite as it swiftly came back to us.  I can't fully recall the details of the 4 goals that were scored before half time.  I think the 3rd came from a break through the middle that left a 2-on-1 against Mike, but otherwise they all sort of blurred into one.

Just before half time we saw the results of Martin's phone calls with Finny arriving to take over umpiring duties and Foz turning up.

So, the second half started with us actually up to full numbers, although we cunningly decided to stick to the idea of mixing up the positions and put Martin out on the left wing!  Unfortunately this fresh tactic didn't work and Epsom maintained their dominance.  Again, the goals have kind of blurred into each other (I was tired alright! I'd been travelling all day on Friday and been chasing shadows for the previous 35 minutes!), there was one that came from a short corner, which I think may have been the occasion when Mike decided to hit Alex on the head.  Suffice to say they scored 5 more and only some good stops by Mike kept the score from becoming double figures.

POM went to Radders for fighting gamely to keep himself afloat in midfield while being swamped by runners from all sides.