| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 26/1/08 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
|
1st
XI |
v Taunton Vale |
H |
Premier 1 |
2-2 |
Roper Hancock |
|
2nd
XI |
v Lansdown |
A |
North Div 1 |
1-2 |
Haslett |
|
3rd
XI |
v Weston-Super-Mare II |
A |
Avon Div |
3-2 |
Haynes J Nichols G Walkey |
| Wanderers |
v Bristol UWE II |
H |
Br & NW Som Div1 |
1-0 |
Millman S |
| Wizards |
v Somerset Gryphons II |
H |
Br & NW Som Div 1 |
3-2 |
Harris Dave Dawson Sparks |
| Warriors |
v Somerset Gryphons III |
A |
Br & NW Som Div 2 |
1-2 |
Palmer M |
| Widgets |
v Firebrands VI |
H |
Br & NW Som Div 3 |
0-2 |
|
| Match
comments |
|
1st
XI: The first team shared the points with 3rd place Taunton Vale
in a 2-2 draw. The firsts are still in 4th place. |
|
2nd
XI: The seconds fell to a 2-1 defeat against Lansdown.
Village continued his scoring run. |
3rd
XI: The thirds won on their trip to Weston-Super-Mare.
The team lost a player who had to go to A&E and without a sub
on the bench they then had to play with ten men. Add to that Will
Jones was carded. Somehow they managed a 3-2 win with goals from
James Haynes, Gazza and Nathan Walkey. |
Wanderers:
A 1-0 win keeps the Wanderers in touch with the top of the table.
The only goal of the game was a flick at goal from Tufty, and by
all accounts it was brilliant one. The Wanderers remain in 4th place
in the table and they opened up a bigger gap against today's opponents
Bristol UWE, who are one place below them, with this win. |
Wizards:
The Wizards at long last turned in a winning performance against
Somerset Gryphons. Gryphons opened the scoring, but the Wizards
hit back to equalise only to see Gryphons regain the lead. A second
Wizard's goal squared the game. With both sides were pushing for
a winner, but it was the Wizards who came up trumps with the goal
that gave them a deserved 3-2 win. Bomber, Tim Dawson and Sparky
were the scorers. |
Warriors: The
Warriors played Somerset Gryphons at Clevedon and found themselves
ahead from their only visit into the home D in the first half. A
good move engineered down the right by Dave Ratcliffe, was continued
by James Bladon. Jamie's pass into the D was cleverly tapped on
by Pete Thomas and Martin Palmer ended the team's six game run without
a goal by slamming it home. (The last goal was against the same
opponents). JJ was in brilliant form as usual in goal, one brilliant
save from a short and a double save showed how well he has taken
to this goalkeeping 'lark'. Gryphons equalised before half time.
The defence played exceptionally well and Gryphons, who were the
slicker side couldn't create many clear cut openings. The Warriors
had one second half shot, but Jez Longden's short corner was saved.
Gryphons got a goal in controversial style. A Westbury attack saw
a home defender bludgeon the forward's stick out of the way, took
the ball and four passes later it was in the back of the Westbury
net! Gryphons played the better hockey, but once again there was
100% effort from the Warriors. However, too many ill judged passes
prevented them from being any further threat to the home goal. Brain
Nichols earned the 'hospital pass' of the day award. A long back
pass went straight to a Gryphons forward. The square ball to his
team mate was brilliantly saved by JJ. Brian was also named man-of-the-match. |
Widgets: The
Widgets held Firebrands to 0-0 until agonisingly in the last 5 minutes
of the game the visitors snatched two goals to win the game. |
| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 19/1/08 |
|
1st
XI |
v Team Bath Buccs II |
A |
Premier 1 |
2-4 |
Roper Thomas J |
|
2nd
XI |
v Leominster |
H |
North Div 1 |
6-1 |
Moon 2 Colquhoun Small Haslett Crill |
|
3rd
XI |
v W Glos II |
H |
Avon Div |
10-2 |
Walkey 4 Woodward 2 Nichols G 2
Alger T Haynes J |
| Wanderers |
v Bristol Univ IV |
A |
Br & NW Som Div1 |
pst |
|
| Wizards |
v Firebrands V |
A |
Br & NW Som Div 1 |
1-5 |
Holmes |
| Warriors |
v Robinsons V |
H |
Br & NW Som Div 2 |
0-3 |
|
| Widgets |
v Robinsons VI |
A |
Br & NW Som Div 3 |
3-3 |
Money 2 Ratcliffe P |
| Match
comments |
|
1st
XI: The firsts fell to a defeat at Team Bath Buccs. They found themselves
2-0 down and worked hard as a team to pull it back to 2-2 with goals
froma Shads and Joe Thomas. Buccs scored to take a 3-2 lead and
Westbury pressed hard again for an equaliser. In the closing minutes
Buccs scored a fourth goal. |
|
2nd
XI: In the howling wind and stinging rain, the
2nds found their best form for many a year to commandingly beat
the travelling Leominstonians by 6 goals to 1. Playing with purpose,
structure and to a well conceived game plan, we dominated possession
throughout the match and adapted to the wet conditions like ducks
to water. Our defence was strong, the midfield
worked harder than ever and the forward line attacked with style
and speed. A sextuplet of glorious goals gave the brave, soggy crowd
something to cheer about with TC, Limbo, Joe Crill, 2 for the Moondog
and Village all scoring. Man-of-the-Match went to Joe Crill who
played superbly in his second team debut.This
great team performance moves us into 3rd spot, just a point from
2nd. |
|
3rd
XI: The first half performance by the thirds was
brilliant. The passing, movement and control was outstanding. Chewie
swept in the first goal, Nathan Walkey quickly got a second. Then
came two quality goals. First Gary Catchpole skillfully attacked
the D from the right cut in along the back line and delivered for
Nathan to score. A similar attack, this time by JPS finished with
Gareth Nichols smashing the ball home. Tom Alger made it five against
our local rivals. W Glos did get a goal just before the close of
the first half when the ball flew in the air in the D and the visitors
pounced first when it landed! There were five more second half goals.
Nathan got his hat-trick and then his fourth (a clever shimmy left
past the keeper and a reverse stick into the empty net. James Haynes
who drilled in a great pass for Nathan's goal struck one himself.
Chewie snapped up his second and Gazza made it 10 with another well
worked goal. W Glos managed to grab another late consolation goal.
Everyone in the team played well and deserve credit for the quality
of their play. |
|
Wanderers:
|
|
Wizards:
The Wizards found Firebrands in goalscoring mood and lost 5-1. Will
Holmes, who had a good game scored the goal. |
|
Warriors: It
was good to see Jon Bower back after being knocked off his bike
last year, when he gets the rustiness out of his system, he can
begin to build some play for the Warriors. Yet again there was lots
of hard work put in by the defence and Robinsons could only score
three goals. The first was hotly disputed! Jez Longden was unlucky
not to score from his short corner strikes, and we did have a spell
when we pressured their D early in the second half looking for the
equaliser. Martin Palmer had the chance to get the team's first
league goal for ages, but his penalty stroke was saved by the keeper
who guessed the right direction. |
|
Widgets: The
Widgets were 1-0 up against Robinsons, but fell behind 2-1. By half
time the Widgets had moved into a 3-2 lead. Dave Money scored twice
and Peter Ratcliffe got his first goal for the club. Robs scored
an equaliser not long after the break. The home team looked the
more likely side to win and there was a lot of excellent defending.
Brian Nichols pulled off a brilliant tackle to deny a home forward
a good scoring chance on the top of the D. Dave Money had to play
a lone role up front as the Widgets managed to hold out for a draw. |
| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 12/1/08 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
|
1st
XI |
v Marlborough |
H |
Premier 1 |
11-2 |
Roper G 4 Frost J 2 Blake S 2 Poulsom
Richardson Thomas J |
|
2nd
XI |
v Cirencester |
A |
North Div 1 |
3-3 |
Haslett Moon Dawson |
|
3rd
XI |
v Marlborough III |
A |
Avon Div |
4-1 |
Puetz Woodward Nichols G Walkey |
| Wanderers |
v N Somerset |
H |
Br & NW Som Div1 |
5-1 |
Harris Dave 2 Millman S 2 Rickard |
| Wizards |
v Bristol UWE II |
H |
Br & NW Som Div 1 |
0-6 |
|
| Warriors |
v Frys |
A |
Br & NW Som Div 2 |
0-6 |
|
| Widgets |
v Yate III |
H |
Br & NW Som Div 3 |
1-3 |
Money |
| Match
comments |
|
1st
XI: The first turned in a record breaking score at home to Marlborough.
The previous best Premier result was a 5-0 win against W Glos in
1989-90. Shads led the way with four goals. Stuart Blake and Frosty
grabbed two a piece. Psycho and Joe Thomas scored once. Neller flew
in to Bristol Airport and arrived at half time with Westbury leading
5-1. he came on in the second period and scored once himself. This
result pushes Westbury up to 4th place. |
|
2nd
XI: The seconds came back from Cirencester with
a point after sharing 6 goals with the home team. Village and Moonie
scored. The third goal was scored Tim Dawson. The seconds are in
3rd place in their division. Village felt at pains to point out
that he had had his second (perfectly good) goal disallowed in successive
games! |
3rd
XI: Griff writes: A great performance with the
thrids flowing hockey moving the ball from left to right and vice
versa and working neat triangles down both wings. At half time we
were 2 -1 up with goals from Steve Puetz and Nathan Walkey. Marlborough
reajusted in the second half and played ten men behind the ball.
Two further goals from Gareth Nichols and Hugh Woodward, it could
of been more. Great effort and commitment from everyone and with
the performance it was a pleasure to Captain the team. |
Wanderers:
Tufty described the win against N Somerset as not a particularly
good performance, more goals could have been added. However, the
job was done and 5-1 was the score. Bomber notched two, Tufty added
two of his own and Geoff Rickard scored the fifth. This result means
the Wanderers are still handily placed in their division in third
place. |
Wizards:
The Wizards were beaten 6-0 in their match with Bristol UWE. |
Warriors: The
Warriors looked a much stronger side against Frys. The home team
scored two early goals and were 4-0 by the break. There was a lot
of good individual performances, but as a team we were never able
to break the strangle hold threat Frys had in midfield. Rich Meal
played well and was unlucky not to turn a powerful run into a goal.
Reesy played well at sweeper, but had to retire with a hand injury.
Pete Thomas took his place having done a good job in his new role
at centre defence. Dave George, Jamie Cranfield and Graeme Brown
worked hard in midfield to stem the tide. Max Longden showed some
neat touches. Frys are joint leaders - 3rd on goal difference. If
the Warriors can stay strong they can pick up a few points in up-coming
matches. |
Widgets: The
Widgets played very well at home to Yate. The visitors scored first
but Dave Money hammered in an equaliser from a short corner. The
Widgets had only 11 players, so an injury to Jurgen reduced them
to ten men. Yate scored again to take a 2-1 lead into half time.
Yate added a third which proved to be the last score of the game.
Both sides attacked, but the Widgets could not find the net again.
In the second half Westbury Legend Martin (Dashy) Dash came out
of retirement and using his daughter's old stick showed a few of
his old touches. Dashy last played in 1991, but is keen to play
again next week. |
| Westbury
& United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 5/1/08 |
| Team |
Opponents |
|
League |
Scr |
Scorers |
| 1st
XI |
v Firebrands (8/11/08) |
A |
Friendly |
1-3 |
Thomas J |
|
2nd
XI |
v O Bristolians |
A |
Friendly |
4-3 |
Small Butt Moon Haslett |
|
3rd
XI |
v O Bristolains II |
A |
Friendly |
11-0 |
Walkey 3 Cutts 2 Wornell 2 Scott
Pearce-Smith Griffin A Millman S |
|
Wizards |
v O Bristolians III |
H |
Friendly |
6-2 |
Palmer M 3 Banting A Thomas P Cranfield |
| legends |
v Westbury Academy |
H |
Friendly |
6-4 |
Curtis 2 Small Haslett Ratcliffe
P Pope |
| Academy |
v Westbury Legends |
H |
Friendly |
4-6 |
Rickard 2 Green Smith R |
| Veterans |
v O Bristolians Vets |
H |
Friendly |
1-5 |
Farrell |
| Match
comments |
| 3-1
to Firebrands. With Joe Thomas opening the scoring for Westbury. From
the sideline it was a good game, but the horrendous weather stopped
it from being a free flowing spectacle of high class hockey. Westbury
took the lead through Joe Thomas (before I arrived) and looked to
be holding their own against a fairly strong Firebrands side. Firebrands
equalised when a aerial bouncing bomb from their right back caused
mayhem at the top of the D and the 'brands centre forward played a
classic cricket pull shot to beat the stranded Ron in goal.The players
and umpires then all ran off the pitch to avoid the sudden heavy hailstorm
much to the boos of the far hardier crowd. When the game resumed brands
took the lead through a short corner. The drag flick thudded into
Ron and somewhat unluckily fell onto the stick of the injector who
swept the ball home. In the last two minutes of the half brands put
a slick move together to score a third which didn't reflect the closeness
of the game.The second half was a completely different game with Westbury
spending large sections of the game camped in the Firebrands 25. Even
with some great plays down both flanks and individual skill to get
into the D, Westbury couldn't quite find the goal to get back into
the game with the opposition keeper pulling off several smart saves.
|
|
2nd
XI: A cosmopolitan Westbury side visited Failand
and returned with a 4-3 victory thanks to goals from Limbo, Chris
Butt Moonie and Haslett |
3rd
XI: The 3rd team were obviously in sharp form
in their match at Failand running in eleven unanswered goals from
Nathan Walkey 3, Chris Cutts 2, Worny 2 (his first goals of the
season), Doug Scott, JPS, Griff from a penalty stroke and Tufty.
Clearly they must have refrained from double helpings of Christmas
pudding and were fitter and stronger than OBs. During the league
season OBs have recordedvictories in all the league matches, their
highest placed result was a 4-1 win at Coombe Dingle against the
Wanderers. |
Wizards:
O Bristolians arrived at Westbury without a keeper so Cocksy kindly
gave them Mike Harvey and opted not to have anyone on the bench.
OBs started strongly and the Wizards never got the ball moving as
Mike was padding up and OBs played with 11 outfield players. After
ten minutes the Wizards earned a short corner. The team huddle (well
Croftsy and me) decided Mark would strike. An OBs defender said
"No striking" as if it was prearranged whilst they were
without a keeper. As we look at each other puzzled, Cocksy pushed
out the corner with none of the striking team ready. Fortunately
a few others had their heads screwed on and the ball was worked
back into the D to James Pope who slipped it to Martin Palmer to
slap in. Maybe we should try this routine again! OBs continued to
dominate but Jamie Cranfield had other ideas. On the edge of the
D he had a contest with an OB defender, rather like an old fashioned
bully. With the defender calling for all sorts of offences, Jamie
battled into the D and unleashed an unstoppable shot past Mike to
lead 2-0. A fine break down the right saw James Pope deliver a perfect
near post pass for Martin Palmer to smash home for 3-0. Then came
Westbury's best play of the game where they worked the ball round
well. The second half started with a Westbury defender losing the
plot, giving the ball away for OBs to score. Not long afterwards
Smurf took out an attacker and a penalty stroke was rightly awarded.
Smurf stood up and batted away the stroke, only to be told he had
moved! The retaken stroke this time finished in the net. The Wizards
were under the cosh for a while and Smurf mad one great diving save.
Adam Banting had several surging runs and from one of these he reached
the D and flicked home to lead 4-2. OBs then decided to take off
the keeper and chase the game with 11 outfield players. Adam then
became the provider for the next goal. His lunging shot hit the
post and Martin Palmer tapped in the rebound to celebrate his birthday
with a hat-trick. Martin then set up the attack from an excellent
ball from defence to square it to Pete Thomas. Pete turned back
and guided his shot inside the post to make it a good 6-2 victory
for the Wizards. Mark Crofts worked hard in midfield despite a bad
cold. There was a lot of solid defending from Cocksy, Reesy, Poker
and Will Glynn. Let's hope the Wizards can take this result and
turn it into a few more league wins. |
Legends
v Academy: There was a good turn out for the post Christmas pudding
match. Thanks are due to several players who doubled up to give
everyone a chance to have a run around. The Legends opened the scoring
with a reverse stick Limbo scoop. Alex Payne had his hair parted
as it flew past him into the net. Both teams started with keepers,
Smurf and Mike. To make up the teams two 11 year schoolboys played
their first ever game (having been coached for three years at their
Primary School. The Academy were attacking Smurf's end and the ball
was slipped square to Jordan Green who swept it under Smurf's diving
body. Everyone cheered, including both umpires! The Academy then
took the lead with a Geoff Rickard goal, and then and then went
further ahead following a short corner. Pete Thomas on the post,
deflected the ball with a fine edge onto his foot and around the
post. Reston Smith duly stepped up and put the ball past Mike Harvey
from the spot to make it 3-1. Village then pulled a goal back 3-2
to the Academy at half time. Smurf had to leave having played a
game and a half and Will Holmes came on so that the Legends had
11 outfield players. Peter Ratcliffe pounced to guide the ball in
to tie the score up at 3-3. The second of the two youngsters Haydn
Curtis found himself with the goal at his mercy and with his second
effort slotted the ball home. Geoff Rickard then popped up at the
other end to make it 4-4 and everything to play for. By now there
were some very tired legs! Haydn Curtis scored his second goal of
the game and James Pope slotted in one more to make the final score
6-4 to the Legends. Well done to everyone who played in the game.
Once again Peter Ratcliffe and Max Longden grew in stature and experience.
AJ, Tonka and Steve Alger got through some good defensive work at
one end and Tim Dawson, Alex Payne and Pete Thomas at the other.
Bees not only bossed the midfield with some style, he was also able
to provide a running commentary. These games can be very meaningless,
but the Westbury way is for everyone to give it a good go and a
well played game gave everyone a good chance to run off the extra
Christmas pounds. |
Veterans:
This was always going to be a tough ask, with 17 vets unavailable.
Add to that TC came into the game with a sore hamstring and Steve
Alger (bad back) and Sparky (calf muscle) both had to retire with
injuries. OBs ran the show, but the Westbury defence worked hard,
with Sam Banting (the oldest available keeper available!!!) in scintillating
form. It wasn't until the middle of the first half that the vets
got into the visitor's D, then there was a series of good attacks.
From a short corner Tufty slipped the ball left to Fazza who struck
superbly to give Westbury a surprise lead. OBs looked sharper on
the break and worked their way to a 3-1 lead by the interval. The
half time team talk realistically acknowledged that Westbury's defence
was not the most mobile, and that we would have to work hard in
the second half. The team worked their socks off and OBs could only
add two more goals. Westbury did work the ball around well and were
unlucky not to net a couple of consolation goals, the ball flashing
the wrong side of the post several times. Team: Banting S, Banting
G, Counsell, Alger S, Holliday D, Ratcliffe D, Sparks, Harvey, Palmer
M, Millman S, Thomas, Farrell. |
|