Ladies 1s

L1s had one to forget today. Missing captain Fish we set off early doors in miserable weather to Ashford. We started swiftly with a fab effort from Philippa Leguen De Lacroix putting us ahead in the first few minutes. Unfortunately that was our peak and I’m not really sure what happened after that. There were some glimmers of smart one twos but we gave it away too much and they put three past us. Final score 3-1 to Ashford.

MoM Lucy Butcher for being a hero

DoD George for breaking a chair

Men’s 1s

W 7-5

Ladies 2s

Waltham Forest Ladies 2s (2 -1) Brentwood Ladies 2s (written by D)

This morning was dreary and rainy but I knew better than to message anyone asking about the status of the game. I kept all thoughts about the weather firmly locked in my mind! The last time I woke up to a match in this weather it earned me Pillock on the Pitch (POP) before I had even left my front door!

We arrived in Brentwood where the temperature was a little colder but the rain had eased off to a heavy drizzle as opposed to a significant shower. We thought we had lost a member of our team (Anne) but she arrived as we were making our way to the pitch. We had a team talk, warmed up and prepared to (metaphorically) ‘fight’ for a win. With the beginning of the first half we realised that this week’s opposition was probably one of the tougher sides we had played in several weeks. They were fast, sometimes physical and hungry for the victory – and so were we (minus the physicality). One of their players was even given a green card for barging!

In the first half we managed to get a goal due to some lovely play by our forwards and we held our heads a little bit higher. Michelle worked hard in goal and was like a woman possessed by a ninja wearing goalie kit. Our team work was evident and we played some solid, simple hockey which is the basis of working towards a victory… As defenders, we obviously wanted to involve her in the game a bit more than we had done in previous weeks…

Unfortunately – a little after our goal Brentwood managed to equalise off a short corner which we have to admit was struck very well. We had a couple of short corners in the first half, with one of their defenders taking the brunt of Fi’s hit on her foot…ouch! As we approached the second half I am not sure what happened! I was watching our forwards advance, passing the ball to one another, into the D, at some point it was passed to Lynsey and the next thing it was in the top left hand corner of the goal! Genius!! It put us back in the lead as we went to half time.

We were upbeat at half time but were under no illusion that this game was not yet over. We fought hard and started off with a fair bit of pressure in our defensive half for the first 10 minutes or so. We decided that was enough and pushed the pressure back to their defence but struggled to get any more balls in the back of the net, despite a few more short corners and shots at goal. Everyone was really passionate and playing for each other, running hard and working hard to keep the ball and try to widen the gap. Fi ran so hard at one point that she almost took out one of their defenders but managed to put her arm round said defender and stop her from what could literally have left her feeling like she had been run over. Did I mention that this is the same defender whose foot Fi almost took out in the first half? I will say no more…

We were put under pressure again in the last 7 minutes or so but fought to keep the victory. Michelle made some cracking saves in goal and kept us ahead of Brentwood with her ninja moves. She was literally throwing herself on the floor, making sure that ball did NOT go in the goal.

Everyone played well and we held onto our lead until the end. This was a whole team victory if ever there was one! Well done to everyone and we should hold our heads high.

Today we went up from 6th in our league to 5th and next week, if we win, we could move up to 4th. Let’s keep our head in the game and keep playing simple hockey well. It really is a case of onwards and upwards! We can do this!

MOM went to Michelle and POP went to Emily for forgetting her hockey shirt! We look forward to delicious “nut and seed free” freshly baked goods next week, Emily!

Thanks to Daniel, Finn, Seb and Kiesha who are our ever failthful supporters (mascots?) – whatever the weather. And Gary joy for standing in the rain to support!

(** We are playing at 2:30pm at the Academy if anyone wants to come cheer us on. All supporters welcome – as long as they are cheering for us! Lol!**)

Men’s 2s

Mens 2s match report.

We played top of the table Wapping, they came out 5-1 winners.

Lots of positives for us to take out of the game, also a few lessons learnt. Jon scoring our only goal from his own miss trap off a shortie, who seemed very surprised it went in.

Special shout out to Horace and Vinay for stepping up for us today, both played very well and put a good shift in, top effort guys!

Mom yogi making multiple saves so well deserved mate!

Pop went to Matt pop O’Hara, turning up late and being named O’Hara went against him.

Ash of the week goes to…..Ash for multiple meals before the game and his massive swan dive trying to intercept a pass and missing it.

On to next week!

Ladies 3s

Like the rest of the club, the L3s played Brentwood today. In the drizzly foggy evening, we started strong and fought hard throughout the whole game, particularly in defence. However, a stop on the line led to a flick for Brentwood, sending us 1-0 down. Despite a lot of energy and several promising breaks, we conceded another, putting us 2-0 at half time.

A much stronger second half led to more breaks for us and a short corner, but sadly we conceded two more, putting the final score at 4-0 to Brentwood. However, I’m really proud of the way we played today – tenacious and fierce. Well done and thank you ladies – the wins will come.

MOM: Almost everyone was nominated, with special mentions for Nicky Yates and Charlotte Harris, but deservedly went to Katie Barraclough.

Men’s 3s

Not a great day for the men’s 3s against Brentwood, for large spells of the game we were the better team. In the first half Brentwood had two chances and they scored from them.

We started the second half strong and their keeper made a number of good saves, but they grabbed another 2 goals to finish the game 4-0.

Special mention to Daniel whose silky skills on the left gave the opposition right back a torrid time.

MOM – Shared between James and Rob for their none stop work in midfield

POP – Chucker for gifting the opposition 3 goals

Ladies 4s

What a morning to play hockey

Ladies 4s played against East London L6s this cold, wet morning. We played some great hockey and by half time were only 2-0 down, (should have been 2-1 but the umpire decided to blow of a short corner just as we scored). The second half saw them score a third goal quickly but a few minutes later our very own flying forward Kwai got us one back. They took advantage of some chances which paid off for them.

The final score 8-1 to East London.

Not bad really considering they’re top of the table, have won all 8 of their games now and only had 2 goals scored against them (one being Kwai’s today). All in all a really great effort from a great bunch of ladies on a not so great day and on an even worse pitch. Well done girls x

Men’s 4s

W6-4

Men’s 5s

L4-1

Otters

An even contest against London Royals ended in a 2-0 defeat as we failed to turn attacking opportunities into chances. Ahmet turned in a solid performance at the back, and Euan and Alastair were industrious as always in midfield, but Man of the Match was Andrew who made positive interventions all over the pitch and whose pace provided a constant threat on the counter-attack.