Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Sunday 23/4/06
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
Veterans	v O Bristolians Vets	H	friendly	3-3	Palmer M Sparks Harvey
Match comments
The Veterans wound up the season with a match against O Bristolians. O Bs despite their club dinner the night before were sharper and slicker, whilst Westbury looked slow to get things moving. Duncan Ogilvie was holding the ball up well and laying it off, but the same quality was not so evident in his team mates in the opening quarter of an hour. The visitors took the lead when they stole possession from a Westbury free hit, drove up field and scored. Westbury did hit the post in the first half and were unable to turn in the rebound. At half time the advice was, that if we wanted to compete in this match, we had to up the pace and start working hard. O Bs opened the half with another slick move and it needed Tom Taylor at the far post to stop another goal being swept in. Westbury then stepped up a gear. Pete Farrell had superb second half, his wing wizardry nearly carved out a goal, but Mark Crofts played an air shot and completely missed the ball. Had he hit it he would probably have scored. Mark then had a hand in several other promising attacks. Pete Farrell again launched another skillful attack and this time his cross was snapped up by Martin Palmer. Within minutes Aklan Sparks was on the end of another cross and scored with a well placed shot from the top of the D. Westbury were now well on top. In defence Pete Thomas was turning in a solid game getting in his tackles and using the ball well. Brian Nichols, playing his first game in several months, showed his calm skills. Westbury had their best spell of the game. Tom Taylor was just wide with a couple of shots and John Ludley rode a crunching tackle from behind, hit his shot only to hear the whistle go. The ball finished in the net, but a short corner was given. O Bs then twice caught Westbury on the break to take a 3-2 lead. Westbury once again raised their game with Mike Harvey linking well with the midfield causing problems down the left. With time almost up a loose ball at the far post was picked up and flicked in for an equaliser by Mike Harvey. The game finished 3-3 which was probably fair result.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 1/4/06
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
3^rd XI	v Robinsons A	H	friendly	5-4	Taylor A Jones Wilkins Small Watts
Wanderers	v Robinsosn B	A	friendly	1-3	Jones
Wizards	v Dave Holliday Invitation XI	H	40th anniversary	4-4	Ogilvie 2 Millman S Christopher
Warriors	v Robinsons C	H	friendly	1-4	Fox J
Holliday XI	v Wizards' legends	A	40th anniversary	4-4	Webster 2 Banting A Palmer M
Match comments
3^rd XI: Simon Says: This is one of the best games i've played in all season if not the best as the quality of the opponents was very high. It was also played in very good spirit but a lot of quality hockey which is how a friendly should be played. So compliments also go to the Robbies team as they said they thoroughly enjoyed the match. It was a story of two halves really as we were on the back foot for much of the first half. Even though we went 1-0 up through a brilliantly worked goal with some solid quick passing in and around the D led to Strum slotting home from about 10 yards out. 2 minutes later we were 2-1 down, a loss of focus did the damage and by half time we were 3-1 down. We were playing well and defending well but a mistake against this team would lead to a goal and that's exactly what happened. In the second half we started stringing more passes together and looking extremely dangerous going forward. We created a lot of chances and 3 well finished goals from Ben, Alex and Limbo gave us a 4-3 lead. Although Alex may well have got a second but his finish was a classy forward's finish. Robbies were still looking dangerous but were not being as clinical although they did pull it back to 4-4. Strum then had to leave the field as he was struck in the eye which had swollen up so much that he was unable to see out of it, he'll have a nice shiner too. Adam Banting came on to replace him and with some fresh legs did a lot of damage and I think he assisted for Terry's finish which was slotted well into the bottom corner. It was a great result and a great game with everyone performing at a high level. If the thirds could have played this level of hockey throughout the season then we would have walked away with the league title.
Wanderers: Lost - 3-1 against a very good Robs side; we were a bit jaded from the club dinner - most of us still in shock from watching Kinger drink 'that' drink! Robs were all over us like a rash in the 1st half and turned round 3 nil down (I think), we were much better in the 2nd half, Ben scoring from a short, Keeps having a g8 game and Robs stepping off the gas a bit. Good 2nd half from a mixture of 2nds, 3rds, Wanderers & Warriors players.
Holliday Invitation XI v Wizards Legends: This match was played to celebrate the achievement of Dave Holliday who has played for 40 seasons at Westbury. His first game was for the 2nd XI on March 5th 1966, an away match at Brentry which was lost 3-1. Dave selected his team with mainly a fathers and sons combination. He recalls playing cricket with his own father and how that meant so much to him., Dave remembers the first time he and James played together and how proud he felt then. The opportunity for current fathers and sons at Westbury to take part was not one to be missed, giving Dave the opportunity as a family man to share the experience. The Holliday XI started well with Peter Hofman playing in Westbury colours for the first time in a couple of years. His presence on the field was like a magnet to the ball, because the first 4 or 5 attacks came down the right. It took Hoffers 3 goes to get to grips with the pitch and his 4th possession saw a trade mark cross flash across the goal. Content with his contribution Hoffers retired to the comfort of the bench. It was the Legends who took the lead from a short corner with Alan Christopher being the scorer. A few minutes later Duncan Ogilvie got his feet and stick tangled up and somehow kicked the ball in at the far post. He made amends for that in the Legends next attack when he swept the ball home from an identical spot. The Legends looked very sharp at this stage, with Fazza and Tonka looking good going forward and they might have gone on to amass a big score. Martin Fey was in top form along with Jez Longden as they snapped up most of the passes around the edge of the D. The Holliday XI countered the legends by stepping up the pace and began to press forward with Tom Alger and Gareth Nichols linking up the midfield well. Tony Webster then pulled a goal back and then Dave Holliday had a couple of strikes on target at short corners. His second one came to Tony, his thumping shot came off the post to Adam Banting to slot home an equaliser. Adam was on for George as stand in father to Sam, whilst George was in San Francisco.The second half saw the Legends have the greater amount of possession, although there was still space for Dave Holliday to impress in his typical centre half role. He was always available for the pass out of defence and he got his feet round the ball and made some excellent passes out to Shads on the right. The legends however, turned their pressure into a number of goal scoring chances. Sam Banting made some good stops, but first Tufty and then Duncan scored to give the Legends a two goal advantage again. The Holliday XI looked effective when Shads and Adam were running at the Legends defence and with ten minutes to go they set up Tony Webster who scored with a smart turn and shot. The Legends still continued to press and Brief looked very strong on the ball, but his side found the Holliday XI defence in a defiant mood. Brian Callis had a superb game and Steve Alger and Tim Palmer tackled well, whilst Jimmer picked off a lot of passes in his role as sweeper. It was good to see Kermit playing again, he swept down the right in several attacks in his inimitable style. The game was into the last couple of minutes when Tony Webster weaved his way round the D only to be taken out by Smurf for a penalty stroke. Dave stepped up to score the equaliser, but having not taken a stroke for some 20 years he wasn't able to execute it as smoothly as he would have liked and Smurf saved. That would have been 4-4 and time would have run out, but thanks to Smurf's save the Legends were able to retain their one goal lead. With one last attack it was Tony Webster who created an equaliser, his shot once again hit the post and Martin Palmer dived in to prod the ball in from close range. This was the final touch of the game and a 4-4 draw was a fitting end to a game played very competitively and in great spirit. Dave was thrilled at the support given to him to mark this occasion. Afterwards in the bar, Hoffers thanked Dave for his wonderful commitment to the club and Dave was presented with gifts to remind him of his anniversary. CONGRATULATIONS DAVE. Teams: HOLLIDAY XI: Banting S, Holliday J, Palmer T, Nichols B, Callis B, Nichols G, Holliday D, Alger T, Hofman P, Roper G, Webster T, Palmer M, Alger S, Banting A. LEGENDS: Murphy P, Longden J, Griffin A, Cocks C, Fey M, Taylor T, Banwell R, Sparks A, Farrell P, Ogilvie D, Harvey M, Curnock P, Millman S, Christopher A.
Warriors: The Warriors took the lead against Robinsons. Graeme Brown's shot was miss-hit but came to a perfectly position John Fox on the far post to tap in. At this time both teams looked able to take the game to each other. The Warriors mounted several attacks but the forwards spurned two or three very scorable chances that might have made the game safe. It was a different story in the second half with the post club dinner fatigue creeping in. Robinsons dominated. Roger Montegue cleared on shot off the line. (I reckon that M'Lud has done this half a dozen times this season.) However, Robinsons continued to push forward and equalised. This gave them the confidence to go on and score three more goals to win the game. The Warriors were unable to get going forward, one run by Graeme Brown created a good opening that wasn't taken, and two short corners didn't produce a shot. John Fox and Will Enderby worked hard to contain things in midfield, Martin Eland made some good saves in goal and M'Lud played a solid game in the centre of the defence.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 25/3/06

Team

Opponents

League

Scr

Scorers

2^nd XI

v Bath Buccs IV

North Div 2

2-2

Colquhoun Tucker

3^rd XI

v Bridgwater II

friendly

9-4

Parish 2 Taylor A 2 Cutts Carter Nichols G Bell Webster

Wanderers

v Bridgwater III

friendly

6-2

Millman S 4 Hipwell Farrell

Wizards

v Bridgwater IV

friendly

4-3

Ogilvie 2 Christopher Richardson

Warriors

v Bridgwater V

friendly

4-3

Palmer M 2 Sheppard Fox J

Widgets

v Devizes IV

friendly

can

Match comments The club achieved its fourth promotion courtesy of the second team to match last years great success.

2^nd XI: The seconds secured their place in North Division 1 for next season with a home draw against the only team that could overhaul them. A job well done despite points lost off the pitch. Slider's summary: What a day! Looking back, it's all a bit of a blur! Through the haze, I remember... A 7am text from Clint, 'politely' requesting the team to get up for the battle ahead. Nervous players gathering in the dressing room. The keywords - control, patience, composure, passion, pride, belief... and the one Clint said. The quiet, focused warm-up. The Club Captain's battle cry...The game itself was somewhat strange. Needing to avoid defeat by 2 goals or more, we played a poor first half; unable to dominate against a strong Buccs team. Fair play to them, they came at us for the whole match, putting us on the back foot from the first minute . A cracking set-piece short-corner routine saw Ben score and take us into half-time level at 1-1. A goal early in the 2nd half from Buccs meant the rest of the game was edgy, tense and frantic. Errors galore, fouls aplenty, a yellow card for the valiant Tezzer, match-winning saves, last-ditch tackles, TC's narrow miss... On came Alger, cool under pressure... gradually we began to follow his example. The last few minutes rushed by in a haze. Then to seal promotion, Moonie found Adam in space. Adam hit the post. TC pounced to slot home the equaliser. The whistle blew. Madness followed. Sticks flew. Hugs. Cheers. An incredible feeling.I must say a big thank you to everyone who supported us through a tense game - the crowd were amazing. Sorry it wasn't an easy ride for you all.And the team... we're a tight unit in the 2's and the collective efforts and commitment shown yesterday and throughout the season has been amazing. To all who have played in the 2nd team this season, I salute you.Player of the Season - Neil Derek 'Moondog' Moon (25 goals). Well done gents. Bryer's banter: Lads, what can I say......Buccs fielded a much stronger side to the one we thrashed 1-0 earlier this season. We soaked up some serious pressure yesterday and battled with everything we had. We did have some spells of possession and did very very well to earn ourselves a 2-2 draw. For once I wont be harping on about my great saves because I cannot remember too much about the game!!!! I thought last weeks game was a roller coaster of emotion, but that was something else. Credit to Buccs they were gracious in defeat and even bought us a jug of beer after the game. So lads you're free of early morning texts for a while!!! A great season for a top bunch of lads. Again well done boys....its been emotional....

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Bath Univ	20	18	2	2	107	32	75	56
Westbury II	22	15	4	3	60	32	28	46
Bath Buccs IV	21	13	4	5	62	37	25	43
Cheltenham II	22	11	5	6	53	49	4	38

3^rd XI: A goal feast took place at Coombe Dingle with visiting Bridgwater getting 4 and the thirds 9. Alex Taylor (2), Chris Cutts, Gareth Nichols and Christian Bell were the usual names amongst the scorers, whilst JP and Tony Webster added their experience to the side, both scoring with JP getting 2.

Wanderers: The Wanderers had only ten men at Bridgwater yet still managed to lead by 2-0. They extended that to 3-1 and then 4-2. Tufty twice and Fazza and Ian Hipwell were are target. When the Warriors arrived Jamie Cranfield made up the eleven. Tufty struck two more to take his personal tally to 4 in the match and one short of thirty for the season. Other chances went begging as cross shots and pull backs were not connected with convincingly. With a bit of luck the Wanderers could easily have added half a dozen more. At the other end Smurf was called into action to make a save at the edge of the D. The home side had a series of shorts but never really troubled the Wanderer's defence.

Wizards: Bridgwater arrived short of players and Mike Harvey turned out for them They even had the audacity to take the lead. This turned out to be a pretty even, end to end game with the Wizards coming out on top by four goals to three. Duncan Ogilvie scored twice from close in, Neller scored once and Alan Christopher broke his scoring drought with a goal, although he assures me he has been setting them all up!

Warriors: Nine Widgets were drafted into the Warriors and gave a very good account of themselves. The Warriors had some 30 shots on target, but brilliant goal keeping and four or five stops on the line kept the score down. Shep open the scoring with a thundering short, but the home side stole a 2-1 lead despite being out played for most of the half. Chris Millman slipped the ball for Martin Palmer to strike an equaliser. In the second half the passing and movement of the team was excellent. Jamie Cranfield had a storming game at centre half and Will Holmes was causing all sorts of trouble down the right. When Bridgwater did attack the tackling of Tim Palmer, Brian Callis and Shep was excellent. Martin Palmer cracked in a short corner, then Will Holmes cleverly reverse hit the ball at goal and John Fox deflected it into the roof of the net for a great goal. The home team pulled one back, but the Warriors held their shape and form to win 4-3. captain Brian Callis called the team in at the end and congratulated them on a superb performance.

Widgets:

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 18/3/06

Team

Opponents

League

Scr

Scorers

1^st XI

v Cheltenham

Premier 2

2-2

Roper Goodman

2^nd XI

v Cheltenham II

North Div 2

3-3

Tucker Pearce-Smith Colquhoun

Veterans

v Swindon Sleepers

friendly

4-6

Millman S 2 Harvey 2

Widgets

v Devizes IV

friendly

1-3

Nichols G

Match comments: Tables: On 20/3/06 The League web site shows that O Bristolians were awarded a 5-0 walk-over with Firebrand's 6-1 win being overturned. This elevated the Wizards to their rightful position as Champions. The 2nds go into their game with Bath Buccs with a goal difference advantage of 3 goals.

.	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Cheltenham	22	15	4	3	98	43	55	49
Westbury	22	14	3	5	67	46	21	45
Torbay	22	13	2	7	79	59	20	41
City of Bath	21	13	1	7	83	49	34	40

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Bath Univ	20	18	2	2	107	32	75	56
Westbury II*	21	15	3	3	58	30	28	45
Bath Buccs IV	21	13	3	5	60	35	25	42
Cheltenham II	22	11	5	6	53	49	4	38

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Westbury Wizards*	18	14	0	4	49	24	25	42
Firebrands	18	13	0	5	68	30	38	36
Old Bristolians	18	11	1	6	54	38	16	34
Westbury Warriors	18	9	2	7	50	47	3	29

1^st XI: The first team played league leaders Cheltenham needing a win to ensure they finished their programme in the runners up spot. Goals from Shads and Goody gave them a 2-1 lead. The points were almost there until Cheltenham snatched a last minute equaliser. This left a narrow opening for City of Bath to overhaul them if they could win their last two games. The news came through that W Glos had beaten them guaranteeing promotion for a third season in a row. Next season it will be Prem 1 hockey for Westbury. Well done to Meaks and his squad who achieved this despite injuries in the run in to the end of the season.

2^nd XI: Cheltenham led 2-0 in the second teams vital league match. Goals from ben Tucker, JPS and TC saw the match finish 3-3. Slider writes: To sum things up, we played poorly, went 2-0 down then fought back heroically to 2-2. Cheltenham's 3rd well taken (but rather soft) goal required yet another fight back. JPS, TC and Benny T all posted a goal (i think). Many of us had an off day, and we all eagerly await news from Bees regarding the appeal. Avoiding serious defeat this weekend though, will ensure promotion.One last effort needed. Thanks for the support on Saturday.

Widgets: The Widgets had Dave Watkins providing some experience, but could still only travel with 9 players and no goalkeeper. Fortunately Devizes provided a goalkeeper and an outfield player to make a fairly even game of it. Gareth Nichols equalised, but Devises scored twice more to win 3-1.

Veterans: Tufty opened the scoringhitting the roof of the net, in the first minute but Swindon equalised immediately. Tufty added a second only for the home to to level it from their next attack. Fazza and Tufty were working well down the right whilst Will Enderby had a very strong game throughout. Mike Harvey struck in the second half to put the vets 3-2 ahead. Once again Swindon replied shortly afterwith a very good goal, and then scored again to lead 4-3. Mike Harvey got his second to equalise from a good move by Fazza and then could sealed the result. His near post shot had goal written all over it from Martin Palmer's near post run, but the goalkeeper brought off a double save. He then chose to flick near post in the next attack instead of squaring the ball to and unmarked team mate (me!) the keeper pulling off another save. Swindon scored twice in the last 5 minutes to win 6-4.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 11/3/06

Team

Opponents

League

Scr

Scorers

1^st XI

v Isca II

Premier 2

5-0

Goodman 2 Parish Roper Richardson

2^nd XI

v Bristol UWE II

North Div 2

2-1

Moon Griffin

3^rd XI

v N Somerset

friendly

2-4

Jones 2

Wanderers

v O Bristolians III

friendly

4-0

Millman S Nichols G Taylor T Cutts

Warriors

v Bristol UWE IV

friendly

3-2

Parker 2 Brown

Widgets

v W Wilts V

friendly

1-3

Ratcliffe

Match comments

1^st XI: A tidy win for the first team sets them up nicely for their final match with Cheltenham next week. Torbay beat City of Bath to move into third place with an identical goal difference to Westbury. A point at Cheltenham will guarantee the runners up spot. The 1st team were full of attacking moves with lots of near misses against Isca but only a Shad's goal to show for their first half efforts. Isca looked sharp on the break . Kinger made one diving stop when a forward was through one on one and later JP cleared off the line to prevent an almost certain equaliser. Westbury opened the second half with the pace of Bomber in their first attack. Bomber hit the bye line, cut in and pulled his cross back. It looked as if he had pulled it too far, but Goody cleverly slid on his back, got an edge to the cross and slid it back across the keeper into the goal, he then got a second to put Westbury well on top. It was at this stage that the umpire took over. This game was contested fairly yet competitively by both sides, but one umpire saw fit to show yellow. He blew under his colleagues nose for an offence that never was. Neller was mystified (as was everyone else) and earned a totally unjustified yellow. Playing with 10 men the firsts still had a lot of control with Mase showing his skills and pace. JP swept upfield with one attack to pick up another cross from the right to make the game safe. The defence kept a tight control on the Isca forwards. With the match about to finish (and with Bomber carded) Neller intercepted the ball on the edge of his own D, he beat a couple of Isca forwards, emerged from their lunging stick tackles, powered his way to the half way line beating the Isca midfield. He released the ball down the right. Two more passes between the Westbury forwards saw the ball crossed once again across the face of the goal from the right, and Neller was there to score with the last touch of the game. A great goal started and finished by Neil who was an inspiration in midfield.

.	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Cheltenham	21	15	3	3	96	41	55	48
Westbury	21	14	2	5	65	44	21	44
Torbay	21	13	2	6	78	57	21	41
City of Bath	20	13	1	6	82	47	35	40

2^nd XI: A close game was had with the bottom team, Bristol UWE. Goals from Moonie and Andy Griffin secured the points. Slider writes: With a few absentees taking an well earned / unearned (delete as appropriate) break on the slopes of France and an illness for Adam (scorer of 4 against UWE last time around), a different looking 2nd team performed energetically but not quite to their potential to beat a spirited UWE side 2-1. A poor 1st half had the watching skipper worried. No goals, some poor finishing (T___y) and some incredible goalkeeping by our very own Moondog on UWE's line meant the teams efforts went unrewarded. Watts moved infield, Griffin and Wilkins patrolled the flanks and finally our allround skills shone through. Moondog rounded the keeper to open the scoring (TC thought he should have passed), and Griffin finished clinically from 2 yards to seal the points. I gather their goal was a touch jammy.Well gents, a win on Saturday ensures promotion (if my Math is correct) and would top off a brilliant season for the 2's.

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Bath Univ	19	15	2	2	94	30	64	47
Westbury II*	20	15	2	3	55	27	28	44
Cheltenham II	21	11	4	6	50	46	4	37
Bath Buccs IV	19	11	3	5	53	34	19	36

3^rd XI: The thirds lost at N Somerset with Ben Jones getting 2 goals.

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Som Gryphons II	18	15	1	2	72	29	43	46
Robinsons IV	18	15	1	2	66	29	37	46
Westbury III*	18	12	2	4	70	31	39	38
Old Bristolians II	18	9	3	6	55	42	13	30

Wanderers: The Wanderers were held to a draw by O Bristolians third team last week and were up against their seconds this week. Tufty opened the scoring from a perfect assist by Gareth Nichols. Gareth then scored himself with a well placed slap shot from the left of the D. The Wanderers looked the stronger team as O Bs were unable to turn any of their attacks into goals. When they did create chances Ron Wheeler showed his skills with his pads and feet to keep them out. Tonka knocked in a third goal and the Wanderers went into half time 3-0 up. Ron Wheeler was called into action again in the second half to keep a clean sheet. As the visitors tired, a sweeping move down the right was finished off by a stinging shot by Chris Cutts to complete the scoring.

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Westbury IV*	18	15	1	2	80	19	61	46
Bristol Univ IV	18	12	1	5	69	28	41	37
Firebrands IV	18	12	0	6	45	41	4	36
West Glos II	18	8	4	6	40	26	14	28

Wizards: The Wizards were not in action, but their league place was changed by Firebrands, whose young side after a run of defeats somehow managed to win against O Bristolians who have been looking a good bet to complete their programme with a win at home in this rearranged fixture!

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Firebrands**	18	14	0	4	74	26	48	42
Westbury Wizards*	18	14	0	4	49	24	25	42
Old Bristolians	18	10	1	7	50	44	6	31
Westbury Warriors	18	9	2	7	50	47	3	29

** I have included the Firebrands 6-1 win v O Bs. This has not been officially recorded on the legue web site!

Warriors: Sam Parker scored twice in what was effectively last week's league match against Bristol UWE replayed as a friendly. Graeme Brown added one goal himself, whilst Bristol scored twice in a 3-2 win.

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Firebrands	18	14	0	4	74	26	48	42
Westbury Wizards	18	14	0	4	49	24	25	42
Old Bristolians	18	10	1	7	50	44	6	31
Westbury Warriors*	18	9	2	7	50	47	3	29

* Results subject to appeal

Widgets: The Widgets again included a number of youngsters in their side. The result was much closer than last week, with the game being 1-1 for a long period thanks to Dave Ratcliffe's first goal this season. I'm told that Dave had to visit A&E as a result of a collision. W Wilts went on to win 3-1.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 4/3/06
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Bath Buccs II	A	Premier 2	5-6	Webster Harris Goodman Roper Haslett
2^nd XI	v N Wilts	H	North Div 2	2-0	Banting A Moon
3^rd XI	v Robinsons IV	H	Br & NW Som Div 1	1-2	Bell
Wanderers	v O Bristolians III	A	Br & NW Som Div2	1-1	Taylor T
Wizards	v S Glos II	H	Br & NW Som Div3	3-0	Colton Crofts Ogilvie
Warriors	v Bristol UWE III	A	Br & NW Som Div3	1-1	Holliday J
Widgets	v Wootton Bassett II	H	friendly	1-9	Callis B
Match comments
1^st XI: This is a result that slipped away from the first team. The only bright spot is that City of Bath lost and are still below the first team in the table.
2^nd XI: A report from the Watts as Slider was playing for the firsts. Another workman like performance from the 2nd’s with a 2 nil win over North Wilts. A win that was needed to avenge the 3–3 draw that we were gutted to concede at their place last year. After the mid week talk of the game being called off because of the weather, it turned out to be a surprisingly mild day for hockey. After recent weeks this was shock to the system and it showed with the pre match warm up being a rather tired and laboured affair. Despite that the team started well. After 10 mins we had control of the game and apart from a couple saves from Clintus we never really looked stretched in defence. The midfield worked hard and controlled the game going forward. The forwards giving the midfield plenty of options to work with. Some excellent passages of play saw forwards performing excellent give and go passes with the midfield. The break through came just before half time with Adam Banting netting after a Moonie short corner was saved on the line with a foot. North Wilts saw themselves down to nine at one point after consistent back chat to the umpires. Unfortunately we failed to capitalise on the advantage. The second and final goal came late in the second half. A JPS short corner strike was saved on the line and Moonie came sliding in and tackled the surprised North Wilts defender resulting in the ball hitting the back board. Not a fancy performance but it got the job done. Good solid performances from:Clint, Geraint, Coates, Billings, Watts, Tucker, Banting, Perace–Smith, TC, Moon, and Catchpole. Frosty on his return from two weeks out lasted about 10mins before limping off.
3^rd XI: Frank Gibbs described in detail the short corner goal that Christian Bell scored which came from a planned play that broke down and finished up with the ball going in off the inside of the post. An 'ugly' moment in the game was not dealt with correctly by the umpires, so all credit to the home captain who withdrew the player from further participation. Robinson emerged 2-1 winners but lost out on goal difference to Somerset Gryphons for the one promotion place. The thirds finished in a creditable 3rd place and look back with a lot of satisfaction in the way they played and the results they achieved.
Wanderers: O Bristolians gave the Wanderers a good run for their money. They had an opening just seconds into the game but didn't capitalise on a rare Westbury mistake. Mark Welding and Tim Denner were well in control at the back. Jamie Cranfield was unlucky to get a bang on his head after ten minutes of his first game for the team. Chris Millman arrived from Ashton Gate to take his place. The visiting keeper pulled off some flying saves and the score remained blank at half time. O Bs defended doggedly and then caught the Wanderers out with a fast break down the right. A measured cross was flicked in to the delight of the Old Boys. This spurred the Wanderers into some more plosive action. The Taylor twins, Matt and Tom, put in some good attacks down the right. Tufty relinquished the short corner duty having made little impact in earlier shorts. Worny stepped up to reverse stick stop and Tonka powered his shot in the right hand corner to great jubilation. The final result was 1-1 in a competitive game played sportingly and skillfully by both sides.
Wizards: The Wizards rounded off what we hope will be a championship season with a comfortable win against S Glos. Mark Colton, Mark Crofts and Duncan Ogilvie were the scorers. The team have put in an excellent run of results with 8 successive wins 7 of them being the last 7 league games.
Warriors: The Warriors returned from playing Bristol UWE with a point in a 1-1 draw thanks to a Jimmer goal. It is possible for them to finish in 3rd place depending on how W Glos fared in their final match.
Widgets: A large number of young players were given their first opportunity to learn how to play club hockey. Sadly none of the senior members could exercise any skill or control to show them how to do it, one hopes the older players learned something from the youngsters who showed more skill and ability. Worny was horrified that two of his simple back passes were presented to Wootton Bassett for goals by a defender who couldn't make an easy pass. The visitors with a large number of teenagers, were more skillful, better at tackling, more creative at making and taking chances. The first goal was surrendered inside the first minute and 8 more were added at steady intervals. Worny found that he couldn't contribute, he could beat a player, look up, find no passing options, then have to repeat the process until he was tackled. (He played streets better in his main game). Brian Callis scored from a slipped short corner. If we want our youngster to learn how to play at senior level we must support them with better play from our experienced members. I played like a drain. The pick of our youngsters was Josh.

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Goal Chart: After 2/4/06