Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 28/2/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Lansdown	H	Div 1N	pst
2^nd XI	v Llandaff & Caerphilly	A	Div 3N	pst
3^rd XI	v Leominster II	A	Div NE W1	1-2	Pitham
Wanderers	v S Glos II	H	Div NE W 2	7-0	Millman S 3 Rickard 3 Brown
Wizards	v Bristol IV	A	Div NE W 3	4-1	Wornell 3 Lampey
Warriors	v Hereford IV	H	Div NE W 4	pst

Match comments

3^rd XI: The third team’s superb unbeaten league run came to a halt after the long drive to Leominster. It will be interesting to hear if the thirds spotted some unfamiliar faces in the opposing line up, because the Leominster second team have not exactly set their division on fire. They would have to be a very strong side to overcome the team that has been head and shoulders ahead of everyone else!

Wanderers: The Wanderers kept their promotion homes alive with a clear cut victory against S Glos. Steve Milman and Geoff Ricard both notched hat-tricks.

Wizards: The Wizards made it ‘three of a kind’. After falling behind they surged to a 4-1 win against Bristol with Dave Wornell getting a hat-trick. The three points made them CHAMPIONS OF DIVISION NORTH EAST (WEST) 3. The third championship won by the club this year. Duncan summed the season up thus: Since losing to Lansdown last November, the Wizards bounced back with 10 league victories in a row to claim the league title this weekend. Little did we know when we took to the field on Saturday that we had already won the championship thanks to Lansdown beating West Glos earlier in the day. However it's probably just as well that the news hadn't reached us as we needed the incentice of needing a point to come back from a goal down to beat Bristol 4-1. In another overall strong team performance, it's difficult to pick outindividuals. However Dave Wornell had a particularly inspired game scoring a second half hat trick from left half. With Clevedon also winning on Saturday, Clevedon, Lansdown and West Glos are now all competing for second place with just one game to go. After the Wanderers game against Imperial last season that almost dented the Wanderers promotion hopes, how ironic is it that Imperial have to beat the Wizards next week in order to avoid relegation. Congratulations to everybody that's played for the Wizards this season. It's been an absolute pleasure to play in, and captain, such a spirted and determined side that never knew when to quit.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 21/2/04 & Sunday 22/2/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v UW Cardiff	A	Div 1N	0-2
1^st XI	V Hereford	H	Div 1N	5-1	Webster 3 Colquhoun Poulsom
2^nd XI	v Neath	H	Div 3N	pst
3^rd XI	v Newent II	H	Div NE W1	6-1	Pitman 2 Coates Evans Carter Taylor T
Wanderers	v Cleevillians	A	Div NE W 2	2-3	Millman S 2
Wizards	v Lansdown IV	H	Div NE W 3	6-4	Lampey 3 Cutts Wornell Ogilvie
Warriors	V Gloucester	H	Div NE W 4	3-2	Thomas Palmer M Holliday D
Widgets	v Newport	A	Friendly	3-7	Palmer M Fox Ratcliffe

Match comments

Comment: This weekend the first team became champions and the Wizards won promotion, but just as important was the fact that the club put out a 7^th team with seven 12-14 year olds making their debut.

1^st XI: The firsts were still in sight of the finishing post on Saturday but were unable to earn that elusive point in Cardiff. However, Sunday gave them the opportunity to win the championship. After a nervous opening in which Hereford had the early chances and Richard Beesley looking in outstanding form tackling at the back (I’m sure he was in outstanding form celebrating afterwards), they powered to a comprehensive 5-1 victory to claim the title CHAMPIONS DIVISION 1 NORTH. It was only fitting that the ageless (or is it aging) Tony Webster should score a hat-trick to secure the win. The next step is to do what last year’s division winners have done. Marlborough are top of Prem 3, there is no reason at all why this time next year the name Westbury will not be filling that spot. Congratulations to Bees and all his squad for their achievements this year.

2^nd XI: Neath cried off at the 11^th hour on Saturday giving the seconds a chance to stay in the warm of the bar rather than in the chilly winds at Coombe Dingle

3^rd XI: The thirds added 6 of the best to their goal tally against Newent. A leaked memo (by e-mail) suggests that with Nick Coates scoring, all the outfield players have appeared on the goal sheet.

Wanderers: The Wanderers came unstuck at Cleevillians. I don’t know the details, but I have heard that they have a different interpretation of the game up there from players at other clubs! Steve Millman confirmed this when a clear penalty stroke was not given. He e-mailed to say… “However we did really well to equalise with 2 minutes to go, but then gave away a winner at the death.”

Wizards: The Wizards are now just a whisker away from being the third championship team in the club. Promotion was secured in their victory over Lansdown. One more point is needed to claim top spot. James Lampey has continued his scoring run with a hat-trick. Congratulations to Duncan and his merry men!

Warriors: The Warriors had took a 3-0 lead against Gloucester after weathering the oppositions opening attacks. Will Enderby had a storming game, challenging everything in his way in midfield. Dave Holliday scored with a scorching shot. We had chances to make it 4-0, but lack of composure on the ball in front of goal meant that the chances were not taken. Gloucester mounted a come back with two late goals and had a short corner at the end of time. Their last fling at an equaliser resulted in a second short that we managed to turn away to earn a nail-biting win.

Widgets: The 7^th team with 7 young players making their debut started very well against Newport taking a 2-0 lead. John Fox scoring in his first game. Newport then proceeded to bring on a 2^nd team player to make up a full side. His arrival changed the whole pattern of play. He dominated the game scoring and setting up 7 goals. Credit must go to the whole side who stuck at their task, and were rewarded with the last goal of the game. Martin Eland won the man-of-the-match award for some outstanding goalkeeping.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 14/2/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Bristol Univ III	H	Div 1N	0-5
2^nd XI	v Weston II	A	Div 3N	3-1	Colquhoun 2 Pearce-Smith
3^rd XI	v Firebrands V	A	Div NE W1	2-0	Evans N Weston
Wanderers	v L Ashton	H	Div NE W 2	5-0	Millman S 2 Brown 2 Daniels J
Wizards	v Ross on Wye	A	Div NE W 3	5-4	Lampey 2 Callis N Holliday J Ogilvie
Warriors	v S Glos III	H	Div NE W 4	4-1	Sheppard 2 Harris Lutwych
Match comments

1^st XI: Oops, it was the St Valantine’s Day massacre at home against a sharp student side. Richard Beesley said “We were not at the races”. Umpire Roger Montague acknowledged that some early chances were missed which allowed the University to build their confidence and go on to take the game. The Champagne is therefore on ice until next week.

2^nd XI: The seconds had a lovely day by the sea-side, built some sand castles, ate some rock, bought their tacky seas-side gifts and came back with three valuable points.

3^rd XI: The thirds visited Failand, kept a third clean sheet on the trot, making it 15 wins out of 15. I wonder if they had to heat the pasties and serve behind the bar after the game, in the absence of the home players. What do you call two Firebrands players in their club house? A crowd!

Wanderers: The Wanderers overcame a spirited Long Ashton side. 2-0 up at half time, they added three more in the second half. Tufty scored two, hit the post with a powerful shot and picked up the man-of-the-match award.

Wizards: Duncan Ogilvie notched his 100^th club goal as his side won a 5-4 at Ross. 1-0 up then 2-1 down, they moved into a 5-3 lead before Ross pulled back another goal. Tim Denner went to great pains to describe some the unusual umpiring decisions, but I couldn’t quite get my head around how one umpire over-ruled the other’s decision. Perhaps Joey and Chandler always umpire for Ross!!

Warriors: The Warriors had a comfortable win against S Glos without ever really turning on any great quality. Brian Callis and Will Enderby had good games, whilst Dom Harris took the man-of-the match by a mile. His goal was a superb individual run. Austin Sheppard’s second short corner goal made the game safe. The game included a yellow card for a S Glos player, but credit to Nick Morton for tempering the colour of the card, when he could have shown red.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 7/2/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Newent	A	Div 1N	4-2	Frost J 3 Goodman
2^nd XI	v UW Swansea	H	Div 3N	4-1	Moon 3 Pearce-Smith
3^rd XI	v Cheltenham IV	H	Div NE W1	11-0	Clifton 5 Evans N 2 Baker Pitman Carter Small
Wanderers	v O Bristolians III	A	Div NE W 2	6-4	Cocks 2 Norton 2 Millman S Taylor M
Wizards	v Clevedon II	H	Div NE W 3	3-1	Coles Lampey Ogilvie
Warriors	v O Bristolians V	A	Div NE W 4	1-1	Holliday D

Match comments

Comment: Another unbeaten Saturday with 5 wins and a draw. The thirds secured their championship, the firsts are in sight of the finishing post in their division, the Wizards took a great leap forward in theirs. The seconds and Wanderers are still in with a shout after good wins.

1^st XI: The firsts travelled to Newent and returned with all three points and another James Frost hat-trick. The ones are practically there! Robinsons would have to win all their remaining games by 6 goals (whilst we lost all ours) to overhaul us. Lansdown would have to win by 9 each week. Richard Beesley posted the following on the forum: "Another 3 goals for James Frost and James Goodman stopped his run of bad luck. It was a scrappy game with a couple of strange decisions from the umpire, but at the end of the day 3 points was the aim and 3 points were gained. We only need 1 point to become champions which will be against Bristol University who beat the 2nd placed side 8-3! It will be tough but I know we can do it. Any support would be great. 3:30pm Saturday!"

North Division 1	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Westbury & UB B	13	11	2	0	57	16	41	35
Robinsons A	14	7	2	5	53	37	16	23
Lansdown	14	7	2	5	41	36	5	23

2^nd XI: The seconds got back to their winning ways with a 4-1 victory against the students from the Taff Valley, ahead of next week’s massive game against Neath, thanks to a Neil Moon's hat-trick.

3^rd XI: The Thirds announced they were champions of their division by opening up with a 15 pass move before they let Cheltenham touch the ball. The ‘goal machine’ pounced early to snap up his first goal. A few nerves crept in to some of the passes, but as soon as Gavin Clifton poached his second goal (he went on to bag 5) the team settled into a powerful pattern of play. The rest was a formality as they ran in 11 goals against the basement team.

North-East West District 1	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
Westbury & UB B	14	14	0	0	69	17	52	42
Lansdown B	14	9	0	5	52	28	24	27
West Glos B	14	8	1	5	38	23	15	25

Wanderers: The Wanderers beat O Bs, one of the teams above them, and pegged them back in the process. Promotion is still a possibility but the rearranged game against Clevedon still looms ahead, and there is a potential ‘banana skin’ in the form of Cleevelians away to negotiate as well. Steve Millman reports: A fine win for the Wanderers away at OB's. In the first 15 minutes our first three short corners all resulted in goals, Chris Cocks sniffing out two on the far post. OB's scored a brilliant individual goal just before half time and got back to 3-2 early in the 2nd half while we were down to 10 ( Mike Harvey went off with contact lens trouble). The crucial goal was another short corner (4 out of 4) to restore a two goal cushion just before the return of Harvey, and we always kept that gap with 4 more goals shared.

Wizards: The Wizards came out ahead of Clevedon, their nearest rivals, in the top-of-the-table encounter to put them 5 points clear. The Wizards drive for promotion (and dare I say championship) has seen 7 straight league wins. On this form the Wizards deserve to be on top of the table.

Warriors: The Warriors opened the scoring in the first half during their best spell of the game. O Bs equalised when the ball finished up behind the goal frame and at first the umpire signaled a 16. Steve Leighton’s honesty meant that he told the umpire the ball had gone through a hole in the backboards. The Warriors also contrived to miss a penalty stroke when the regular stroke taker (me) had been subbed 2 minutes before half time. Steve, Bob Pinnock, Tim Palmer and Brian Callis had good games at the back. The Warriors lacked the vision to be creative going forward and put pressure on the home defence. Richard Gee had to make some important saves to keep the one point we did have, but this was a game of two points lost. Dave Holliday had a strong game at centre-half and deserved his goal. He was unlucky not to score with a last minute short corner.