Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 27/11/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Lydney	H	Div 3 Prem	9-0	Parish 3 Webster 2 Frost J 2 Harris Dave Mason
2^nd XI	v N Wilts	A	Div 3N	9-1	Jarvis 3 Pearce-Smith 3 Alger T 2 Catchpole
3^rd XI	v N Bristol II	A	Div NE 2	5-2	Small 2 Rogers 2 Cutts
Wanderers	v Newent II	H	Div NE W 2	5-3	Rickard 2 Lampey Banting G Carter
Wizards	v Hereford III	H	Div NE W 2	5-4	Crofts Coles Brown Ogilvie Christopher
Warriors	v Gloucester V	A	Div NE W 4	4-0	Thomas 2 Nichols G Enderby
Widgets	v Cheltenham V	H	Div NE W 4	0-2

Match comments

1^st XI: The first team match took 110 minutes to unfold. There was a long delay for Lydney to change shirts (and the umpires) about five minutes into the game! Then a long delay for an injury, and at half time Lydney must have felt they were doing a good job going close with several short corners and turning around 0-0. But goals will come and inevitably nine of them arrived, a few no doubt courtesy of their goalkeeper who lost his rag and was sent off (another long delay to kit up some one else). JP scored a hat-trick. Bees felt it was a job well done, although an injury to the esteemed skipper might put him out for a while. With Ottery Crickets holding Robs, it was another good day for Westbury. Bomber somehow managed to get a yellow, perhaps it was for being to fast! The team total for goals reached 98!

2^nd XI: The seconds saw of N Wilts with 9 of their own. JJ and JPS shared 3 each, Gary Catchpole scored his first goal at this level and I also heard that he set up 6. The twos have put together a good run of results.

3^rd XI: Sparky's comprehensive match summary tells all.......The fuzz of Sunday morning strikes again..The omens were ominous as we arrived at Winterbourne. A few changes to the team, a pitch that was very slow and a familiar opposition (Lyndsey Cumberbatch, Mark Berry, Dave Dart, Pete Thomas, Brian ? - it was North Bristols First Team of 5 to 10 years ago!). They were equal with us on points so it could be a close match.However our worries were soon dispelled. The pitch was much quicker and the opposition much slower than feared.Once again we were best across the park. Despite dominating the first half our half chances and snap shots went wide and we only scored one, this was an excellent undercut shot fron Jay Rogers after a sublime reverse lay off by Frosty Junior. They equalised just before half time with their only short corner.The second half was more of the same, and this time the shots were going in. Another from Jay, two from Ian Small and a first from Chris Cutts for the thirds brought our tally to 5. There was a slight blip when they got back to 3-2 after the defense and midfield froze when they played a free hit a whole 4 inches.In general the defence were barely troubled, their goals coming from only 3 penetrating attacks.In midfield Chris Cutts and John Ludley dominated their respect wings, and Slider & Sparky adapted to whatever North Bristol tried and still were able to threaten going forward.Up front the combination of Limbo, Frost Junior and Jay Rogers was excellent, offering a variety that North Bristol could not cope with. Frosty's skill in particular was too much for them - I suspect he needs a new stick after the number of poor tackles he received.

Wanderers: The Wanderers had to dig deep to get a result against a physical Newent team who chased and harried to pull things back all square at 3-3, late in the second half. With Richard Batchelor retired through injury and Tufty out with a hamstring pull the Wanderers found it a lot harder to create the openings. George Banting got his name on the score sheet, but was a little overshadowed by son Sam, who made some good saves especially late in the game when Westbury only had a one goal lead. Tufty did make a cameo appearance from the bench, set up Steve Carter before retiring gracefully. Both Worny and Tufty's incredible goal scoring runs came to an end, but more importantly all three points were taken. The big irony of the game was Steve Carter being shown a yellow card for deliberate feet....umpire, Tony Webster showed him his own card (which Steve insisted Tony should have at the beginning of the game). "You're not going to give me yellow for that are you?" he asked. "Yep" replied Tony!

Wizards: The Wizards were under pressure for most of their game with Hereford, their first half attacking total was 3 goal attempts and 1 goal (1-1 at the half). Hereford saw Mark Colton and Alan Christopher clear off the line before they equalised. Pete Murphy w as very sharp in shutting down a lot of shooting chances to his opponents. In the second half the Wizards managed to get 4-1 ahead. Alan Christopher contrived a second successive yellow and Hereford pulled the score back to 4-4. There was more irony here. Alan returned to the game and with very little time left he notched the winner. The Wizard's short passing game was good, but they were unable to open up the game with longer passes. A little bit more guile in the passing department is needed, and the midfield need to make themselves available in wide positions to help take the pressure off. Cocksy felt that the ball was hit to the opposition far to often and they had some skill and ability and were perhaps unlucky not to win the game themselves.

Warriors: The Warrior's 4-0 win at Gloucester was a big result against a much improved Gloucester side who were lying 4th in the division. The Warrior's dominated most of the game apart from a spell in the first half after Gareth Nichols had put them ahead. A screamer from Will Enderby made it 2-0 at half time. Gloucester were restricted to just one short corner which shows how well the defence played, marshaled by man-of-the-match Brian Nichols. Pete Thomas scored two in the second half, one from a sweeping move that saw Gareth find an unmarked Pete.

Widgets: The Widgets should be commended for the effort they put into their game, they chased all night and never gave up. They were short of six experienced players, yet still managed to make a competitive game of it. A single mistake by the sweeper gifted a goal to Cheltenham. They got a second from a short corner in the second period. Late in the game Gyles Harvey and Sean Lemoir were noticeable in attack as the Widgets pressed for a goal, but the lack of experience in the side meant that there were very few chances. What let the side down was the poor pass selection, too often an aimless ball was hit forward when a simpler pass square would have been better. However, the side worked hard and they are all gaining 'match experience', something you can't get on the training pitch. Andy Griffin confidently predicted that come the second half of the season they can claim a few more wins.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 20/11/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Exeter Hornets	A	Div 3 Prem	7-1	Webster 4 Roper 2 Parish
2^nd XI	v Bristol II	H	Div 3N	3-1	Colquhoun Goodman Hancock
3^rd XI	v S Glos	H	Div NE 2	7-0	Moon 3 Small 2 Holliday J Baker
Wanderers	v Bristol Univ III	A	Div NE W 2	8-3	Cutts 3 Lampey 2 Wornell Millman S Watkins
Wizards	v O Bristolians III	A	Div NE W 2	2-3	Brown Crofts
Warriors	v Leominster III	H	Div NE W 4		Leominster have withdrawn from the league
Widgets	v N Bristol IV	A	Div NE W 4	1-2	Cranfield

Match comments

1^st XI: The 1st team are getting to know the journey south down the M5, this time they came back with a 7-1 win from Exeter. Robinsons were held to a draw by Marjons allowing Westbury to regain pole position in Premier 3. Bees reports that it was a: good game which we deserved to win. Not the best start with JP getting a yellow card in the second minute for high stick. Goals from Webster(4), Roper(2) and Parish secured our 16th game unbeaten. Good performance all round just need to push hard next week against a strong Lydney team. Come on the lads!!

2^nd XI: The 2nd XI brought their water-wings to cope with the Olympic size swimming pool sometimes referred to as the water-based pitch. Andy Griffin told me that their win against Bristol was well deserved in a very competitive game in which the Westbury defence was outstanding. There could have been 5 or 6 more goals with a bit of luck and the twos even managed to miss a penalty stroke. Ben Tucker was highly commended for his composure on the ball driving the team forward from midfield. JJ writes: a second win in a row, a good team performance beating Bristol 3-1. We created loads of chances, with TC even hitting the post with his second penalty flick. Goals from TC, Hancock and Goody. The pitch was a disgrace again and it didn't help the way we wanted to pass the ball around, especially as the sand base looked so good!! Their keeper should have been sent of in the first 5 mins due to taking down Alger outside the 'D', who was then sent of himself late on in the game. Another win next week at North Wilts is required. F air play to Mooney on scoring a hat trick yesterday after being dropped!

3^rd XI: The thirds saw off S Glos 1st XI and hammered in another seven goals. Its good to see that they are now serious contenders or promotion after their unfortunate losing streak in the first three games. Sparky reports that the 3rds outclassed South Glos to run out comfortable winners. A very solid performance across the pitch with a few flashes of excellent hockey. Early on the game was quite even but goals from James Holiday & Simon Baker had the game won by 25 minutes. Moon scored two more before half time and completed his hat-trick later. Limbo put away two second-half penalty strokes.

Wanderers: What can you say about the Wanderers. This was a top of the table match against second place Bristol University. The students actually took a lead in the first 30 seconds but then found themselves 2-1 behind to Westbury's first two strikes at goal. By half-time the Wanderers had built up a 4-1 lead. Tufty was uncertain whether the University caved in in the second half or whether the Wanderers were the dominate team, never-the-less this was a top game, with a top result. Worny and Tufty both kept up their phenomenal scoring runs, but Steve feels he might be out injured for a spell with a ham-string pull. With no subs he had to stay on and the injury became worse.

Wizards: The Wizards lost 3-2 against O Bs. Alan Christopher was yellow carded. Sound like yet another close game for the Wizards, but sadly it was a no points again. Mark Crofts felt compelled to write the following: Quick report on the Wizards game v OB's, as we do not get much press - We were all over them for 20 mins, yours truly scored after 5, then promptly pulled a groin muscle (mental note - do not chase back to tackle!), OB's equalised, Grahame scored, Alan had a flick well saved. Second half - Richard took a nasty knock on the head and could take no further part - good job we had 13. They equalised - Alan got a yellow and was sent off whilst play continued - much to the defences suprise. They scored the third, a well taken winner - a game of ifs and buts - hey ho, but the tea was good!

Widgets: The Widgets were well on top against a poor looking N Bristol side at the start. They could easily have been 3 or 4 ahead after 10 minutes. The goal they did score was not allowed because the umpire had just blown for a short. N Bristol nicked a goal with what was just about their only attack of the first half. The Widgets conceded a goal just after half-time. Brian Callis put it bluntly telling the team that everyone was off their game compared to the high standard they set last week. Poor passing meant that N Bristol were not put under very much pressure. A late goal gave the Widgets some hope, but they were not able to get a second. This is definitely a game that could have been won. Brian Callis and Gyles Harvey performed consistently well throughout the match. Brian Callis later calculated that the combined ages of his goalkeeper and the back three just about equalled his age!

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 13/11/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Bath	H	Div 3 Prem	4-1	Roper 2 Frost J 2
2^nd XI	v Cheltenham II	A	Div 3N	2-1	Colquhoun 2
3^rd XI	v Yate II	A	Div NE 2	1-1	Sparks
Wanderers	v Winchcombe	H	Div NE W 2	10-1	Lampey 4 Millman S 4 Wornell Rogers
Wizards	v W Glos IV	H	Div NE W 2	3-1	Ogilvie 2 Christopher
Warriors	v O Bristolians V	A	Div NE W 4	4-1	Sheppard 2 Counsell Harvey
Widgets	v S Glos III	H	Div NE W 4	3-2	Pritchard 2 Millman C

Match comments

Comment: A great day for the club today with all seven sides returning unbeaten, with just the thirds drawing and everyone else winning. The Widgets scored their maiden victory for the season, more about that at the bottom of the page.

1^st XI: The first team were 2-0 up before City of Bath even had time to draw breath. The first goal was a blistering shot from the edge of the D (I believe it was Frosty, he seemed to be taking the back slaps). The second was a surging run by Shads who found the Bath defence opening up like Moses at the Red Sea, allowing him to enter the D almost unchallenged to strike into the corner. Both players scored one each again before half time. In the second half City of Bath came much more into the game, and Westbury had only a few chances. However, there is no harm in giving the defence a good testing, and they held out on all but one occasion. Steve Watters showed up well working hard in a crowded midfield.

2^nd XI: The twos returned to winning ways with a double from TC Junior. JJ declared back at CD that he aims to be more active in up coming games, having declared himself fit to play. The second team squad has a very strong look about them, let's see if they can use this victory as a springboard to a long winning run. Cheltenham had only lost one match before today, so this was a good result.

3^rd XI: The thirds had a tricky encounter with Yate and had to share the points. Never-the-less it continues their unbeaten run and incredibly moves them up to fourth place in the table. There's still a lot to play for in this division for the threes!

Wanderers: The Wanderers are the star attraction this season. Winchcombe had no answer and couldn't deal with the quality of this Wanderers team. Winchcombe actually pulled a goal back at the start of the second half. The running of James Lampey, Tufty and Jay Rogers into the corners stretched the Winchcombe defence and they were overwhelmed by an avalanche of goals. Tufty has now scored 29 goals in 13 successive matches (this includes 4 goals in the last two games of last season). Worny too continued his scoring run of 12 goals in 12 games (including 1 goal from 1 game last season). Not only do they win, they entertain with some great hockey. Chris Cutts was a dynamic force in midfield.

Wizards: The Wizards match revealed two things. One: They are consistently better than the W Glos Vets side who included Tim Illston, one of the classiest players to turn out for Westbury. Last year when W Glos Vets were made by the league to play at the proper level that they should have done (remember they stuffed the Warriors 9-0 early in the season), they were seen off 2-0 by the Wizards. This time it was 3-1. Its always good to be on the winning side against our traditional rivals. Two: We found out who did eat all the pies!!! I apologise - it was not Tufty, it was Mark Crofts. Mark admitted to making a second visit to the kitchen at CD. He had the Spaghetti Bolognese first time round and the Chicken Curry second time. I wonder how long he's been at this game? Captains, watch those meal tickets carefully!

Warriors: The Warriors were unable to beat O Bristolians D team last season, drawing twice. This year the job was done properly. A 4-1 win included TC Senior's first goal of the season (from the spot). Shep continued his scoring spree with two more.

Widgets: The best match of the day was produced by the previously winless Widgets. S Glos took the lead in the first half in which the visitors had slightly more of the play. In the second half the Widgets began to move the ball around with some purpose and built up the pressure on the S Glos defence. Captain Paul Pritchard struck a short corner to equalise. Some very good hockey saw Westbury take the initiative and earn a series of short corners. Jamie Cranfield attacked down the right drew a clear stick tackle from behind in the D. Penalty stroke! Now the drama was about to begin. Chris Millman was making his long awaited return after several years on enforced injury retirement. Here was the moment for Chris to make history. But it was not to be....his stroke was pushed wide. To make matters worse S Glos drove up the pitch and stole an unexpected goal to go 2-1 up with five minutes left. Cometh the hour cometh the man. The next attack saw Chris pick up the ball and like a demon fast bowler, delivered his slow ball, which completely bemused the defender and goalie who let it trickle over the line. 2-2! As time expired the Widgets had a short corner. Paul Pritchrad struck to earn another one, Dave Hoiliday struck to earn a third, Tim Palmer flicked to earn a fourth and.....Paul Pritchard buried his shot to claim a well deserved 3-2 win. There was much delight in the Widget's camp. Everyone played well. Nial Lemoir and Tim Palmer were outstanding in defence. Brian Callis, Dave Ratcliffe, Jay Lutwych and Dave Holiday were all very solid in their contributions. Paul played a captain's innings to win the game. Well done the Widgets.This result should put them above Cheltenham and OBs in the table when their result is registered.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 6/11/04
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Marjons of Plymouth	A	Div 3 Prem	2-2	Frost J Webster
2^nd XI	v Devizes	H	Div 3N	1-3	Goodman
3^rd XI	v O Bristolians	H	Div NE 2	2-0	Small 2
Wanderers	v Hereford III	A	Div NE W 2	6-0	Rickard 2 Millman S Lampey Wornell Thomas
Wizards	v Newent II	H	Div NE W 2	2-3	Brown Ogilvie
Warriors	v Firebrands VII	A	Div NE W 4	4-2	Parker Colton Rogers Hipwell
Widgets	v N Somerset III	H	Div NE W 4	1-3	Lutwych
1st XI	v Hereford (7/11/04)	H	HA Trophy	12-0	Parish 4 Frost J 3 Mason 2 Harris Webster Colquhoun

Match comments

1^st XI: Text messages from Plymouth revealed that Bees thought the firsts played at about the same level as the umpires blew their whistles, that and their performance was described as *#@!*. Adam Banting came off the bench to score for Marjons (turncoat!)and it took a late equaliser from Tony Webster to bring back a point.

On Sunday Hereford were anihilated 12-0 in the cup. This shows how the first have improved because last year it was 0-0 away and 5-0 at home in the league. This brings the first team's run to 14 matches without defeat and the 4th time they have reached double figures in that run.

2^nd XI: The seconds entertained Devizes who have been scoring and winning by pretty big margins over the last few seasons. Their margin of victory this time was was fairly close. The second team looked a very strong combination but on the day just couldn't match Devizes.

3^rd XI: The thirds must owe their victory to their professionalism in warming up properly. The games was won in the first ten minutes with Limbo scoring twice. O Bristolians had hardly woken up to the game and found themselves 2-0 down, they then had to chase the game to get back into it. As the match wore on O Bs came more into it and pressed hard for a goal. Paxo made several outstanding stops to deny them. The thirds looked strong in defence, powerful in mid-field but lacking the decisive pass to get the third goal in the attacking phase of the match. The effectiveness of their early break-aways that brought the goals were nullified by the OBs defence, when the threes tried to run too many plays into the D only to try and beat one man to many and lose the ball to a defensive tackle. Never-the-less this was a solid performance and makes it three wins on the trot. The game ended with 5 short corners after time expired, which the thirds dealt with to maintain a clean sheet.

Wanderers: The Wanderers enjoyed the Autumn colours of the trip up the Wye Valley on the way to Hereford. On the way back they enjoyed a visit to 'The Boat' which is allegedly a mandatory stop on the return journey, although in 30 years of traveling to Hereford on and off, I haven't a clue where it is because I've never been there! (Is it a myth like the Yeti/Bigfoot/Tufty eating all the mud pies?) In between they saw off Hereford to cement their place at the top of the table. Worny and Tufty continued their scoring runs of a goal in every game they have played.

Wizards: The Wizards had some logistical problems in playing at Newent and I believe that Duncan started the match between the sticks with just a helmet on. Unfortunately they lost a close game by the odd goal in five.

Warriors: The undoubted match of the day was between top of the table, and previously unbeaten Firebrands, and third place Warriors. This game had some fireworks, especially in an explosive first half. The Warriors took a 2-0 lead with both goals coming from Shep's short corner strikes being picked up and knocked in before any defenders could react. A third goal might have come when a foot on the line was not spotted. Firebrands proceeded to pull two goals back and get involved in some verbal altercations which were unwarranted. When a young Firebrands played fell injured it was good to see the care and concern shown by Mark Colten and his team mates to ensure he was OK. In the second half Jay Rogers and Ian Hipwell, both making their Warriors' debuts had key roles in some good attacking play, but the team were not able to make a great deal of penetration into the heart of the Firebrands defence. Towards the close a rash challenge by a defender gave away a short corner, and again it was almost cleared only for Jay Rogers to thump home. Ian Hipwell made the game safe with a powerful strike into the corner of the goal. Whilst Firebrands were unable to keep calm, the Warriors stuck at the task and came away with one of their best ever results since entering the league. A word of praise to for Gyles Hawkins who used his feet well in goal after being a virtual spectator in last week's win.

Widgets: The Widgets had a stronger look about them with Dave Holliday making a welcome return and Dave Ratcliffe making the right meeting time! In fact they took an early lead. N Somerset had a less familiar look about them than the team that played the Warriors last week. Their pressure paid off and they scored three goals to win the game. Everyone played well, and Andy Fox made a spectacular diving goal line clearance to save what looked like a certain goal.

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