Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 26/2/05
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Exeter Hornets	H	Div 3 Prem	5-1	Goodman Roper G Frost J Parish Harris Dave
2^nd XI	v Bristol II	A	Div 3N	6-1	Jarvis 2 Catchpole 2 Pearce-Smith Armsby
3^rd XI	v S Glos	A	Div NE 2	3-0	Moon 2 Rogers
Wanderers	v Bristol Univ III	H	Div NE W 2	3-2	Wornell Carter Evans N
Wizards	v O Bristolians III	H	Div NE W 2	1-3	Halliday
Warriors	v Leominster III	A	Div NE W 4		Leominster have withdrawn from the league
Widgets	v N Bristol IV	H	Div NE W 4	1-1	Palmer M

Match comments

Comment: This was a great day for the club. The first team secured the CHAMPIONSHIP of Premier Division 3. The Wanderers maintained their unbeaten run with a very testing home match. The seconds look strong contenders for the runners up spot and not to be out done the thirds win a S Glos sees them leapfrog Cheltenham into 2nd place.

1^st XI: The first team turned on the power in the first half. An early Jonny Parish short corner was just too high to be allowed and several chances were missed or saved by the visiting keeper. james Goodman got the ball rolling with the first goal, followed by Gary Roper's excellent reverse stick sweep. James Frost got number three and Jonny Parish banged in a short for a 4-0 half time lead. In the second half Hornets rallied and pulled a goal back. They had their best spell of the game before Dave Harris knocked in number 5. There were outstanding games from Phil Haslett, Neil Richardson and Richard Beesley in keeping Hornets at bay. With City of Bath not being able to win today, the first team have deservedly been declared CHAMPIONS for the second season in a row. Well done - same again next year please.

2^nd XI: The second team were too good for Bristol and stay in second place in Division 3 North. With Bath University losing to Devizes the runners up spot is now safely secured. Jon Jarvis and Gary Catchpole scored 2 each with James Pearce-Smith and Duncan Armsby completing the scoring. Well done to the seconds who not only claim second place but also the fact that they have scored 3 of the 8 goals conceded by champions Devizes

3^rd XI: The thirds also climbed into 2nd place in Division 2 North East. Cheltenham came unstuck in their match, losing 7-0 enabling the threes to pass them. Goals from Neil Moon (2) and Jay Rogers made it a simple win at S Glos. With one match to go they will need to finish on a winning note to remain runners up, a task well within their skill and ability.

Wanderers: The Wanderers had a nail biting match with the team in 2nd place, Bristol University. Dave Wornell put the Wanderers ahead, but the battling students never gave up. A series of 'up ten' finished with a short corner that gave the students an equaliser. Worse was to follow with the Wanderers going 2-1 down. The maximum wins target looked as if it was on the way out. Never under-estimate the Wanderers. With Martin Eland in top form in goal the Wanderers dug into their locker to pull out an equaliser from Steve Carter, and with the final whistle imminent, Nick Evans popped in the winner to cheers of delight that could be heard all over Coombe Dingle. Only Newent II stand between the Wanderers and their equivalent of a 147 break!

Wizards: The Wizards, sadly didn't fare so well in their match with O Bristolians. Despite pulling back an equaliser through Will Halliday, they had to weather a lot of pressure in the second half. O Bs went on to notch two goals to win 3-1. Not only did OBs win, the overtook the Wizards pushing them to bottom play in the division. Next season could very well see the Wizards playing the Warriors!

Widgets: The Widgets gave a fantastic display to nearly snatch a win over N Bristol. Steve Alger and Paul Croker shared the sweeper duties and were superb. Tim Palmer put in some great tackles. Rob Hughes, Finn Henderson and Marcus Pyne were full of running. They now just need to find that final decisive pass to develop their games further. Brian Nichols and Dave Holiday were their usual solid selves. Late in the game Martin Palmer scored a bizarre goal with the keeper stepping over his deflection from Dave Ratcliffe's pass. N Bristol appealed that contact was outside the D but the umpire was not swayed by the appeals and without the need of video technology the goal was rightly given as a good one. In the last minute N Bristol, who had stepped up the pressure were rewarded with a well taken goal. The final result finishing 1-1.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 19/2/05
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Bath	H	Div 3 Prem	2-2	Webster Poulsom
2^nd XI	v Cheltenham II	A	Div 3N	3-1	Tucker Jarvis Pearce-Smith
3^rd XI	v Yate II	A	Div NE 2	7-2	Moon 4 Sparks Taylor T Rogers
Wanderers	v Winchcombe	H	Div NE W 2	2-0	Carter 2
Wizards	v W Glos IV	A	Div NE W 2	2-2	Hipwell 2
Warriors	v O Bristolians V	A	Div NE W 4	2-0	Parker Thomas
Widgets	v S Glos III	H	Div NE W 4	1-2	Millman C

Match comments

1^st XI: The first team had their key match away at City of Bath and shared the points in a 2-2 draw. This maintains their position 2 points ahead of Bath with two games to go against Exeter Hornets and Lydney, who they defeated 7-1 and 9-0 respectively earlier in the season.

2^nd XI: The seconds had to come from behind to win against Cheltenham to stay in second place in their division. It wasn't until after the break that they equalized. Not only did they pull back that goal, they immediately went ahead. A third goal capped a fine victory.

3^rd XI: The thirds had Yate running round in circles trying to contain Neil Moon. His skillful running was a key part of establishing their lead. An AlanSparks goal got them under way. Then came a spell of scoring, starting with a powerful strike from Tom taylor. (The look of delight on his face was a joy to behold - and rightly so because it was a superb goal!). Simon Baker's brilliant run then set up Neil Moon who went round the keeper and scored. Neil scored again to make it 3 goals in 5 minutes. Yate pulled one back before Neil Moon completed his hat-trick from a short corner. Yate were no mean side and the 5-1 half time lead was down to the quality of play by the whole team. The thirds didn't have such quite a tight grip on the game in the second half, yet still knocked in 2 more to Yate's late goal. This was a good result and a well deserved win. Chetenham however did not slip up today, but the thirds are still there waiting to pounce if they do.

Wanderers: The Wanderers re-jiggled their line up to accommodate Steve Carter at centre-forward. Steve responded with 2 goals on what was a very fast pitch at Winchcombe. The Wanderers are closing in on that 100% record. When asked about the game Steve Millman responded with...."In all my years of Saturday hockey, I haven't had a better tea." Well that's food for thought isn't it. Next week Jamie Oliver will be giving his match report!

Wizards: The Wizards are precariously close to the drop zone and had to play local rivals W Glos at Badminton School. The Wizards took a 2-0 lead with 2 goals from Ian Hipwell. W Glos managed to claw their way back into it, eventually getting a very late equaliser. Duncan Ogilvie made a brave return following his broken finger sustained just 3 weeks ago. Still, this is a valuable point and keeps two teams below them in the table with O Bristolians and Hereford left to play.

Warriors: The Warriors left it late too. They didn't exactly dish up a five course meal of a game (we're back to the food theme again), in fact the early courses were fairly indigestible because the of the lack of movement off the ball and some sluggish play. However the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and just as the dishes were about to be cleared away for a 0-0 draw, the Warriors conjured two decisive attacks in the 31st and 32nd minutes for Sam Parker and Pete Thomas to score. Unfortunately N Somerset lost 4-0 to Firebrands which means we are still two points adrift with three games to play.

Widgets: The Widgets turned in a disappointing performance against S Glos. They were unable to find any cohesive play, and passes were poorly directed. Finn Henderson was the pick of the team. Chris Millman pulled a goal back from a short corner with 4 minutes to go. Moments later Dave Ratcliffe took a nasty deflection on the forehead giving him an egg sized bump.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Sunday 13/2/05
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
Veterans XI	v Milton Keynes Vets	H	HA Vets Plate	3-1	Millman S Thomas Farrell
Match comments
Veterans skipper George Banting put a 16 man squad out for the first match in the HA Plate for 1st and 2nd round losing teams. Having had a bye in the 1st round of the Plate, Milton Keynes arrived at a chilled, blustery Coombe Dingle. The MK team easily won the synchronized warm up with a score of 9.95, but Westbury had the best of the opening quarter of the match. The attack looked sharp and pressured the visiting defence, whilst at sweeper Jez Longden, making a rare playing appearance, showed that he had not lost any of his tenacity and skill in breaking up most of the MK attacks. Steve Millman struck the roof of the net to open the scoring, but the visitors countered straight away with a goal from a short corner. Westbury lost Brian Callis midway through the half with a badly gashed hand. The second half started with a goal within minutes. George Banting's accurate through ball found Martin Palmer. His shot was cleverly guided past the goalkeeper by Pete Thomas to put the team 2-1 up. Not long after, Pete Farrell looped the ball over the keeper from a short corner to make it 3-1. Now it was the turn of the defence to shine. MK had long spells in attack in the last 20 minutes and won a series of short corners. A combination of Adie Daniels in goal and some resolute defending kept them out. The visitors had around 10 to a dozen short corners. Alan Sparks and Mark Crofts took it in turns to run out one and got a stick to five shorts corner strikes between them, the remainder were hurried or dealt with by Aidie. The final whistle went signaling a first win for the vets and progress to the quarter finals. This was a great team performance against a well organised and sporting side who play regularly as a team. The squad was: A Daniels, J Longden, B Callis, T Counsell, R Montegue, A Sparks, A Christopher, M Crofts, P Farrell, M Palmer, P Thomas, B Nichols, S Millman, G Banting, M Harvey and A Sheppard. There were many substitutions, but because of the experience and intelligence of the players involved, Westbury never lost their shape and played some excellent hockey. Well done to all the squad.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 12/2/05
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Marjons of Plymouth	H	Div 3 Prem	3-1	Frost J Parish Webster
2^nd XI	v Devizes	A	Div 3N	2-6	Moon Jarvis
3^rd XI	v O Bristolians	A	Div NE 2	4-1	Sparks Griffin A Welding Rogers
Wanderers	v Hereford III	H	Div NE W 2	3-0	Carter Nichols G Millman S
Wizards	v Newent II	A	Div NE W 2	2-5	Halliday Jones
Warriors	v Firebrands VII	H	Div NE W 4	0-1
Widgets	v N Somerset III	A	Div NE W 4	0-3

Match comments

1^st XI: "Not a pretty game," said Andy Griffin, describing the first team's victory over Marjons of Plymouth. Westbury went ahead with about 20 minutes remaining. Tony Webster's goal came on the very stroke of time. However, the job was done, the 3 points secured and Premier Division 2 hockey is beckoning and City of Bath next week are the final hurdle.

2^nd XI: The seconds met champions elect Devizes, and managed to score 2 against the hot shots of their division. Devizes remain unbeaten and still have to play Bath University. If the students lose that will balance out today's defeat and enable the twos to finish runners up. In fact Bath University were held to a draw today which leaves the twos still in second place.

3^rd XI: The thirds won 4-1 at O Bristolians. The 3rd team scorers were Alan Sparks after a determined run from the right of midfield he got in behind the defence pushing it back and going in off the keeper I believe (writes Simon Baker), although Ian Small claimed it for a while. Andy Griffin pushed into the corner from about 6-8 yards after a bit of scrappy play. Mark Welding scored from what seemed like our 15th short corner, a nice move with the ball being knocked to right slip and being played back inside for Mark to hit a sweet first time short into the corner. Previously he'd smashed the post from one of the short corners. The final goal was a nice move with Limbo doing a lot of running before the ball found Jay Rogers who swept it into the corner at an acute angle. This goal had come after OB's had pulled one back and for a five minute spell were getting the slight better of us. Although we created a lot of chances the first one was not taken until some 20-25 minutes into the game. However for 65 minutes we completely dominated the game and thoroughly deserved the win. A lot of chances were created and for the most part we played some excellent hockey to make us worthy winners. They are still well placed, just two points behind Cheltenham, and ready to pounce if Cheltenham slip up in any of their last 3 games after losing 5-1 to Firebrands.

Wanderers: The Wanderers took a step closer to that undefeated league season. Carter and Millman S were familiar names on the score sheet, but Gareth Nichols got his first goal for the Wanderers. They need 9 goals to complete their ton in the league.

Wizards: The Wizards were quickly 3 goals down against Newent and struggled to find their rhythm going forward. Will Halliday and Ben Jones pulled goals back, but Newent went on to win 5-2. The Wizards have a local derby away at W Glos next week, and it is important that they get some points to avoid being dragged into the relegation battle.

Warriors: The Warriors big match at Firebrands saw an under strength team battle all the way against their high scoring opponents. Martin Palmer, Danny Graham and Marcus Pyne were all drafted in from the Widgets. The team put in 100% effort with Dominic Harris working hard at centre half. The Warriors didn't have enough guile to break down the home defence and there were no crosses to create clear cut chances. The best scoring chances fell to Austin Sheppard from around half a dozen short corners. He hit a post and their defence managed to clear the rest. A 1-0 defeat was disappointing, but Firebrands were made to work hard for this win. Their greater experience won through on the day.

Widgets: The Widgets couldn't match last week's heights and fell to a 3-0 defeat at home to N Somerset. Richard Gee played well in goal, but the level of the team performance dipped considerably. Dave Holiday was solid in midfield, Finn Henderson tackled well and Chris Millman worked hard up front. Tom Counsell came closest to scoring from short corners.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 5/2/05
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Whitchurch II	A	Div 3 Prem	1-1	Frost J
2^nd XI	v Bath Univ	H	Div 3N	4-3	Pearce-Smith 2 Watters Catchpole
3^rd XI	v Wotton-U-Edge II	H	Div NE 2	1-0	Cutts
Wanderers	v O Bristolians III	A	Div NE W 2	4-3	Carter Wornell Moon Willis
Wizards	v Gloucester IV	H	Div NE W 2	0-5
Warriors	v N Somerset III	A	Div NE W 4	6-2	Harvey 2 Thomas 2 Counsell Parker
Widgets	v Hereford IV	H	Div NE W 4	6-3	Fox J 2 Palmer Cranfield Callis Pyne

Match comments

Comment: Today the first championship of the season was secured....more about that later.

1^st XI: The first team had a tricky game at Whitchurch, who on their day can be one of the strongest opponents in the division. Frosty gave Westbury the lead with his 40th goal of the season, (only the third player to ever reach 40 in a season). Whitchurch got an equaliser and could have sneaked a couple more goals. Clearly, the 1st XI defence was called into action more than usual and were more than capable at keeping Whitchurch at bay. Bees felt this was a good point and with Robinsons losing it now looks like the deciding match will be against City of Bath in two weeks time.

2^nd XI: The 2nd XI were well up for their promotion encounter with Bath University and scored early goals to give them a powerful platform to see off the students. The University responded by pulling back to 3-1, then 4-2. A final goal came in the closing seconds, but the job had been done and the twos finished 4-3 winners. James Pearce-Smith scored 2, Steve Watters and Gary Catchpole one each. This makes it 9 straight wins and Westbury 'leap-frog' the students into second place in the division.

3^rd XI: The thirds maintained their promotion push with a hard earned 1-0 win against Wotton-Under-Edge. Chris Cutts, who has been in dynamic form this season scored the only goal of the game.

Wanderers: The Wanderers were also 4-3 winners at O Bristolians. Last week 1 player (Steve Millman) scored all 4, this week 4 players scored one each. Carter, Wornell and Moon have been regular scorers all season. Barney Willis, who has been a tower of strength in the Wanderers defence scored his first goal for the club. The club mathematicians will be getting their calculators out to see how many points are needed to secure the title for the Wanderers. Steve Millman during his luncheon interval typed his report: In a horrible 10.00 start it was OB's who were more asleep as Westbury went into a 3-0 lead in 12 minutes. Barney Willis scored a cracker in the 1st minute, with Steve Carter scoring from a short and Neil Moon running one in from half way! Thereafter OB's played tenaciously and gave the Wanderers 100% record a real scare. Wornell scored a neatly executed short corner to restore our three goal cushion midway through the 2nd half but the gap was cut to one for the last 5 minutes. A game notable for the very good spirit for the most part, despite some uncompromising challenges. The calm nature of the umpires, even when confronted with the one nasty incident, and opposition coming to talk to us in the bar afterwards. Almost like old times! Can they go undefeated as well? Answers: very soon; yes! In fact the academic members of the team are convinced the job has been done. George Banting writes: Bristol University drew with Hereford. I reckon this means that, with four games to go, the Wanderers have won the league. Well done Dave Wornell. Let's make sure we win the last four games. George is spot on becasue the Wanderers have 42 points and the students can only reach 41 so Wanderers Division North East-West District 2 CHAMPIONS. Drink it in boys, you deserve it.

Wizards: The Wizards came up against Gloucester who have an outstanding striker. In the first half the Wizards did a very good job of containing Gloucester, but this was at the cost of not being able to penetrate the visitors D. It was not until the second half that they had their first shot at goal. Just before half time a bully on the edge of the D restarted the game after an injury. The defence went to sleep and a goal resulted. James Holliday was unlucky see his shot come back off the post. Chances were created but they went just wide, whilst the visiting centre forward grabbed a hat-trick. Alan Christopher had a good game as play-maker. Pete Murphy pulled off some great saves to keep the score down. One particular save with a one v one was first class. Alan Christopher was convinced it was not their day and that luck had deserted them, never-the-less the Wizards played some of their best hockey at 5-0 down and were unlucky not to get a consolation goal.

Warriors: The Warriors maintained their winning run with a 6-2 win against N Somerset. Pete Thomas scored 2 and reached his half century for the club. Tom Counsell got one to reach 250, Mike Harvey scored twice and Sam Parker once. This sets the Warriors up for next week's trip to Failand. If they can topple Firebrands for a second time this season and remain unbeaten, then the title is theirs. In fact Firebrands were beaten today at Ross-on-Wye, so the Warriors are just two points behind Firebrands with a game in hand.

Widgets: The Widgets were on top form. Martin Palmer, Jamie Cranfield and Brian Callis put them in the driving seat with goals inspired by the running of Danny Graham. Hereford pulled one back on the half. After the change round John Fox converted a rebound from a short corner to lead 4-1. Hereford then had their best spell of the game and pulled back to 4-2 and nearly got another. Up stepped John Fox who cooly pulled the ball past his man and hammered in an unstopable shot. Marcus Pyne scored his first goal after a great run by yours truly. This was a well deserved win. Dave Ratcliffe, Steve Alger, Tim Palmer (returning after injury and exams) and Finn Henderson had superb games. Richard Gee was in great form between the sticks and Chris Millman left his zimmer frame in the dug out to make his presence felt in attack. Well done Widgets, same again next week when the skipper returns please

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