Westbury & United Banks (Bristol) Hockey Club results page

1^st XI: The first team almost came up with a 'grandstand finish' with the Bath Buccs keeper keeping out several blistering shots as they searched for the elusive goal that would have earned all three points. Tim Hancock nearly won it with the final short corner, but saw his shot saved. Andy Krebs also had to pull out a double save in the middle of the second half to keep out a Bath Buccs team that didn't create many chances. It might have been a different story if Mace had converted a first half penalty stroke. There was also a strong claim for another when Joe Thomas saw his shot come back off the goal frame having touched a Buccs defender arm on the way. Goodie retired from the game in the second half after pulling his other hamstring having spent time out last season repairing the other one.

2^nd XI: The twos lost 7-3 at Cirencester. Moonie, Rich Hill and Adam Banting were the scorers.

3^rd XI: The thirds visited their second home at Bath University and came away with a point in a 4-4 draw. Tufty reports: We went 2-0 down mid way through the 1st half. Then scored twice late in the half to go in level. Same pattern in the 2nd half, going 4-2 down before late goal rescued a point.

Wanderers: Two well matched teams played some entertaining hockey when the Wanderers took on Bristol & West. Geoff Rickard looked sharp on the break for the Wanderers, while Bristol & West exploited some gaps in the home defence. Bristol & West took a first half lead when their forward got a faint touch that had been drilled in from out side the D. Westbury had the chance to even the game up from the penalty spot in the second half when a defender's body prevented the ball crossing the line from a short corner. Unfortunately Tonka scuffed his flick and the keeper saved it. Westbury stepped up the pressure and they scored in similar circumstances to the visitors. The ball was fired in from a free hit and Jonathan Elms got the vital nudge that deflected the ball in. As time was running out a superb ball from Fazza set Max Longden away down the inside left channel. Matt Taylor was with him to his right with a two on one. Matt cried out "Max you should have played it early" as Max turned, beat his defender and finally squared the ball to Matt. Now the chance had moved from a simple tap into to a shot from wide out, which Matt expertly converted to win a good game by 2 goals to one.

Wizards: The Wizards were thoroughly disappointed to come out their game with nothing. To add to their woes, Luds was the third Westbury player to be unsuccessful from the P-spot and they had to play short handed due to a yellow card. On paper the side looked well capable of matching North Somerset, but on the day the lack of experience in a couple of key areas cost the team the points. N Somerset took their chances and emerged 2-0 winners.

Warriors: The Warriors took part in a very even game at O Bristolians. Brian Nichols reported that the difference between the two teams was that O Bs followed up their first shots at goal and turned the rebounds into goals. This was the way they scored all four of their goals. There were good performances from everyone in the side, but on the day the home team's greater experience in the D was the telling factor.

Widgets: The Widgets made the long journey to Devizes only to find the home club had not followed through with the friendly fixture arranged back in October to replace Weston-Super-Mare dropping out of the league.

1^st XI: The first team earned a vital win at Devizes thanks to two goals from Gareth Nichols. Gareth scored them both in the first half. The home side pulled one back, but the first team held on to claim all three points.

2^nd XI: What a win! Following a very close 1st 25mins with Whitchurch ever-so-slightly dominating, a kind slice of luck shifted the game in our favour - a melee of sticks caused one of their players to leave the field with a bloody nose. In his absence we began to dominate and moved the ball quickly from side to side waiting for our moment to strike. Sure enough - 3weeks of intensive short corner practise finally paid off with a rebound pinched goal from Rich Hill putting us in the lead at half time. At halftime we asked for more ball pace, greater composure and to continue our quick unselfish running that had provided players with a glut of passing options for the second half - and boy did we deliver. An inspired cross-court long ball from captain to vice led turned defence into attack in a second and TC rounded the keeper to give us our 2nd. We then controlled the whole of the remaining half even though Whitchurch were now back to their full 11. Our passing was so crisp - often pivoting several times during each attack, that Whitchurch simply couldn't get the ball and were dead on their legs. Coatesy then drilled the 3rd and the 4th from our now magical short corner routine and we finished deserved 4-0 winners. Passion, pride, commitment, endeavour and boundless energy were all present at last and we showed how good we can be when we put all aspects of our game together on the same day. Top work gents!

3^rd XI: There was a lot of self criticism from the thirds after going down to a disappointing 2-1 defeat at home against N Wilts. Chris Cutts was the scorer.

Wanderers: Max Longden scored his first ever hat-trick for the club and was rewarded with a 'soft' drink from a very proud Jez. Pete Farrell grabbed the other goal in what is always a tough game against Firebrands' Veteran side. The final result was 4-2 to Westbury against a team that was above them in the table. Fazza reports: What a performance. This Firebrands team are no push overs and consist of a mixture of experience and age with the odd smattering of middle age but we were determined not to take them lightly. The first half had been fairly contested with chances at both ends. Our midfield and forwards finding plenty of space but not quite being able to make the last connecting pass which would create the goal scoring opportunity. Brands had pressure of their own and drew a number of great saves from Paxo. Eventually however, the deadlock was broken by Max Longden with a precisely placed pass into the corner of the net....or was is slightly mis hit? We changed ends 1-0 up and at half time re-emphasised the need to take the oppo seriously but to keep playing the short passing game that was paying dividends.In the pre match chat Martin Rees was given the onerous task of man marking 1000 goal Brands centre forward Boardy. Piece of cake!....apart from the goal he scored to equalise early in the second half, but this just served to produce 20 minutes of determined, controlled and effective hockey during which the Wanderers scored three times without reply, 2 more from Max and a thunderbolt of a short corner from Fazza that their keeper kindly let go through his legs.Tackle of the game must go to their no 76 (which is probably close to his age) who smoothly removed the ball from Si Andrews stick as he tried to waltz round him....let that be a lesson to all!Brands got a late second goal but of no consequence, the game was wrapped up by then. MOM is difficult to choose as the all round team performance was magnificent, maybe it should be shared but most likely the vote will go for Max with his first hatrick....did Jez ever manage that feat??

Wizards: Having drawn recently against Bristol & West 'F', playing their 'E' team, their next side up was going to be a tough ask. The Wizards' cause wasn't helped by losing Cocksy with a ham-string pull. However, the Wizards stuck at their game and secured all three points with a goal apiece from John Ludley and Mark Crofts.

Warriors: An inexperienced Warriors front line meant that it was always going to be struggle to a) hold the ball up front and b) create chances in the D. Ned Holmes, Alex Yuill and Alex Maydew showed some good touches, but scoring chances from open play didn't come at all. Bomber Harris ran his socks off in the middle of the park and the Warriors defence did well to restrict an experienced Firebrands side to a few shots at goal. As with these games, Firebrands converted one of their chances in the second half. A late flurry of short corners came and went without the visiting goalkeeper being drawn into action. If someone on the park could have stopped the shorts for Jez Longden to strike then a goal might have come. As it was, going it all by himself led to a couple of half chances, but the goal never really looked like coming. Nick Slater also showed some good touches in his role at left midfield.

Widgets: Away to Bristol & West, the Widgets found themselves 2-0 down, but not out! The Widgets fighting spirit kicked in, and a goal from Andy Ruxton was followed by an equaliser from harry Newington.

1^st XI: The first team came up against a hard running Taunton Vale side who conjured up two unstoppable, top corner drag flicks from short corners. In between Goodie surged down the right hand channel, rode three awful stick tackles, squared the ball to Mace for a well worked equaliser. Credit to the umpire who showed a green card for the last challenge having signaled the goal. Nellor hit the deck like an oak tree on one attack and this was followed up within minutes with Westbury being one short for ten minutes. It was at this stage that the firsts scored their goal. Taunton opened up a 4-1 lead and looked good value for their lead. The visitors chopped down one tree too many as the game drew towards the close, and were reduced to ten men for a spell. Westbury pulled a goal back from a short corner. The play went a bit astray, the ball coming out to Nellor who banged it back to Village, who cleverly flicked it in. The final result was 4-2 to Taunton.

2^nd XI: The seconds found their Cardiff University opponents too strong and went down 7-0.

3^rd XI: The thirds staged a brilliant come back against Bristol University. Geoff Ricard had scored a good goal to make the score 2-1 in the first half. The thirds lost JPS to a bad back and let in a crucial third goal. The students were their usual quick skillful side, but the thirds got back into the game with a second goal from Geoff Rickard.This gave the team the impetus to push for an equaliser. It might have come from Psychos drag flick short corner, but the ball came back off the keeper to Tufty who played a good cover drive to loft the ball back over the keeper and into the net. There was even a chance for Wonrny to win the game but his shot was wide and Paxo still had to pull off late saves to secure the draw. A spirited effort from the thirds and a well earned point.

Wanderers: Jimmers reports: What a game. If you said to me before the game that we would walk away with a 1-1 draw I would find it hard to believe looking at the league table and having 6 changes to the squad from the week before. But this week proved that anything on paper counts for nothing… It’s the courage, determination and Wanderers spirit that matters and we definitely had a lot of this on Saturday. I could mention everyone by name as everyone stood up to the line against a strong Bristol University side, but Doug Scott ran himself into the ground and Jamie Cranfield and John Elms kept up with Doug and were fantastic at easing the ball out of defence and were always looking to aid the attack. Bristol Uni went 1-0 up in the first half and we dug deep and applied the pressure at the end of the first half but couldn’t get the ball past the keeper.In the 2nd half we matched them in every aspect and both sides had a couple of near misses / good saves, but finally James Pope scrapped one in and it gave a well deserved point. This gave me great hope and I would like to also thank Ed West and Danny Lochtman who also had great debuts for the Wanderers and I couldn’t ask any more of my players on Saturday. The view from the sideline: The Wanderers opened their game strongly against Bristol University with Doug Scott full of running, causing mayhem down the left hand side for the students. Despite some good pressure the Wanderers were unable to turn chances into goals. The University on the other hand had their spells of pressure and turned one of them into a goal. Jonathan Elms was the pick of the Westbury side and showed his skills both running with the ball and using it. Faza was having an excellent game and with time running out he picked up the ball on the half way line on the right hand side, and fired the perfect pass to James Pope who received the ball top of the D. James should have turned this into the equaliser, but he cut back the wrong way and the chance looked lost. However, the students lost the ball immediately and it was pushed back towards the penalty spot where Will Glynn, Max Longden and James Pope were there to bundle the ball goal ward. James got the last touch for a fully deserved equaliser. This was an impressive comeback and the team worked hard to gain a point.

Wizards: The Wizards fielded an inexperienced side against S Glos, but still had the opportunities to win this game. They could have been way ahead early in the game, but their short corners produced no threat at all on the S Glos defence. At times all 11 Westbury players were in their own 25 and the game and it was crying out for the forwards to stay high and stretch the visitors. If Pricey hadn't been umpiring then I'm sure he would have been shouting to the forwards to "GET high!" As a result of condensing the play, Mark Crofts was the only experienced senior player in midfield, and he was swamped with little space to work in and no targets to find up front. It wasn't until the second half that Westbury managed a shot at goal! With 5 minutes to go the inevitable happened and S Glos scored a goal from a well worked move. Then came a series of short corners to Westbury. Tufty was urging the side to get a shot at goal, any sort of shot, because each corner had so far been wasted. On corner number nine the ball was mis-hit goal wards and it rolled kindly to Mark Crofts who tucked it away for an equaliser. Ed Minchin showed some good touches in midfield, and George Banting showed a lot of control at the back. With half of the Wizards in the Wanderers, they must look on this as a point gained, but with a little more organisation at shorts it could have been three points. Maybe it is time for Wednesday night training to have short corner stopping as skill to be learned. If someone could have stopped the ball top of the D then Poker or Dave Dineley could have struck at goal.

Warriors v Widgets: Somebody forgot to tell the Widgets they were only there to make up the numbers, for as usual, in these local derbys the lower ranked team played out of their skins to prevent the Warriors from taking all the points. Harry Newington was in scintillating form down the right but good goalkeeping and lack of experience in the D from the Warriors young players meant that the Warriors were denied a goal their play deserved. Dave Ratcliffe for the Widgets had picked the ball up on the half way line and charged forward un-challenged before unleashing a blistering shot to give the Widgets a shock lead. Sam Brewer, Tom Fishley were carving big holes in the Widgets' defence, but the goal would just not come. The experience of Napper, Callis and Sheppard prevented the Warriors from finding the final pass to score. With the Widgets looking to close the game out the winners, a very late Warriors free hit outside the D saw TC push the ball right for Harry Newington to stride onto and drill in an equaliser. Full credit to both sides. The Widgets stuck to their game plan and almost pulled off the win. The Warriors played with skill and tenacity and the youngsters need to learn when to run and when to pass, because they have ability to go a long way in the game when they do.

1^st XI: The first team extended their unbeaten run to three games with a well earned point away to Cheltenham. The home team, top of the table and having not dropped a point would have expected to have overcome Westbury in a similar manner to their previous matches. Westbury's new found confidence enabled them to be the first club to prevent Cheltenham winning with goals from Neller and Joe Thomas.

2^nd XI: 2-0 down to a strong Bridgend side, the seconds were the comeback kings with two second half short corner goals from Gareth Nichols and Nick Coates. The equaliser came just seconds from the end.

3^rd XI: Griff's report: The 3rds played against Chippenham 1st who were top the Avon League. Their team contained a few familiar faces, ex-Westbury player (Ben Jones) and coach (Dave Ward). We played well in patches in the first half and probably had an equal amount of possession but couldn't turn it into shots on goal. Sam was in good form and Bees and Warney both made goal line clearances. As has been the case over the last 4 weeks we play better in the second half. An early goal from Chris Poulsom put on top but that was soon canceled out by Chippenham. We held onto the ball much better in the second half and with 10 minutes left Chris Cutts was composed to knock in the winner. A good team performance against good opposition. Every player worked extremely hard.

Wanderers: The Wanderers couldn't follow up last week's scoring spree against Bristol UWE. They did score two goals, but the home team came out on top with three goals of their own. Tufty was on target for a second wek running and Jonathan Elms scored his first goal for the club having had a fine game on his Wanderers debut.

Wizards: The Wizards had to take on Yate with ten men and conceded five first half goals. The second half was much close with both sides scoring three a piece. Ed Minchin capped a fine game with his first goal for the club, Jamie Cranfield and Will Glynn added one each.

Warriors: The Warriors started strongly against Bristol and West with the Dineley, Lipfriend, Fishley, Brewer youth combination looking very good. Sam Brewer was making his winter debut after good performances in the summer. At the other end of the pitch Will Enderby was unbeatable at sweeper and his defence through a screen in front of goal that restricted JJ to a mere handful of touches and a second clean sheet this season. The Warriors opened the scoring, Mike Harvey was the architect, his through ball enabled Martin Palmer to beat the keeper and defender with one touch to get past them and slide the ball into an unguarded net. In the second half Graeme Brown was felled by a ball to the head that saw him taken away to A&E. Not long after the game restarted, Tom Fishley had a brilliant run down the right, he slipped the ball left to Martin Palmer, who slipped it left again to Ben Lipfriend. Ben expertly slipped it left once more for Mike Harvey to sweep in at the back post. Alistair Kilfoil the B&W full back said afterwards it was such a good team goal, there was nothing his defence could do to stop it. Shortly after Fishley fed Palmer and his cross found Mike Harvey to hammer in number three. This was an excellent team performance. Anthony Spencer playing his first game for the Warriors had a good game in the centre of the park.

Widgets: Well done the Widgets, they claimed their first points of the season with a hard earned win against a solid S Glos team. The early goal eluded the Widgets again, but unlike last week it was the Widgets who did open the scoring. Dave Ratcliffe, who had a good day getting in a lot of early passes, passed down the middle to Bomber who gave the ball to Alex Yuill. Alex hit the 'D' and delivered a stunning shot past the keeper, as if he had been doing it for years, this in fact being his first goal for Westbury. Bomber, playing one of his rare games raced into the 'D' to strike the sides second goal. S Glos staged a comeback and exposed some gaps in the Widgets' defence, scoring twice in a five minute spell. 2-2 at half time and all to play for. The Widgets lost Adrian Napper midway through the half with a stick in the mouth. Napper also visited A&E! Westbury got the upper hand in the second half with Alex Yuill scoring another well taken goal from the top of the 'D'. This boy has potential! Then came two unselfish passes, first by Dave Money to find Duncan Ogilvie unmarked at the back post and then by Paul Clark to the grateful Duncan to complete the final score of 5-2. Alex Yuill had an excellent game, showing great skill and some well judged passes. Alex Maydew showed that he too is not far behind. He looked confident on the ball and played some neat hockey as he builds up his experience. Next week is the 'Battle of Westbury' as the Widgets and the Warriors meet for the first time in an intra club league match.

Veterans: The Veterans, with just the bare eleven, made the long trip to Plymouth, to take on a very strong home vets team, who showed from the starting whistle that they play together regularly. The quality of their hockey was phenomenal. They scored after 3, 6 and 11 minutes, their fourth goal took a little longer to come. Our first short corner saw Tufty scuffing his strike in such a way that it cleared the keeper and hit the backboard. At that stage we were winning on 'shots to goals' ratio. One shot one goal, Marjons about ten shots and four goals. The reason for them not scoring all of them was the fine goal keeping of Mike Lilly, plus a startling goal line clearance from Cocksy. Mike continued to pull off a string of good saves throughout the game and there was a lot of solid defending from Westbury. All the home goals were well worked, and when a team plays well the luck also runs their way. By half time the home team had amassed seven goals. Westbury were by no means dispirited because the effort and commitment had been first class. This continued in the second half and Marjons were held to four more goals. When they had reached nine, Sparky followed up a strike at goal and he too managed to scuff his shot, but was still pleased to see it roll across the line. The final score was 11-2 to Marjons. The positives were that we never gave up, if we had, they were such a good side they could have run in twenty goals without reply, we did put together some good periods of play and got close to goal several times in the second half. To get two goals showed that we played our part in a game which finished in cold, driving rain coming in from Plymouth Sound. Team: Lilly, Banting G, Holliday D, Cocks C, Harvey, Ratcliffe, Sparks, Crofts, Farrell, Millman S, Palmer M

1^st XI: The first team opened the scoring against Robinsons with Goodies drag flick giving them an early lead. Robs came back into the game and took control of the play in the first half. Andy Krebs pulled off a brilliant diving save from a short corner, but the next corner was flicked high and wide of him for an equaliser. The second half was a much different affair with Westbury pressing up and forcing the majority of the play in the Robinsons half, yet it was the visitors who snatched a 2-1 lead. The first pushed hard for an equaliser but shots went agognisingly wide and the Robs keeper pulled off some notable saves. As time slipped away a late short corner saw the ball slipped to Goodie who flicked it into the roof of the net for a well deserved goal to level the scores at 2-2. The game restarted and the final whistle blew. There were strong performances all across the pitch, the team played with great resolve and confidence.

2^nd XI: The seconds won their match at Bristol and West with Gareth Nichols scoring one and Rich Hill getting his first goal for the club.

3^rd XI: The third team earned all three points by defeating O Bristolians by three goals to two at Failand. Psycho, Will Holmes and Nathan (the goal machine) Walkey were on target.

Wanderers: The Wanderers bounced back from last weeks defeat by sweeping Somerset Gryphons aside with eight goals. Matt Taylor notched a hat-trick, Tufty found the net twice, there were two for Max Longden and Jimmer got his first goal as captain of the Wanderers.

Wizards: The Wizards shared the points with Bristol & West with Graeme Brown and James Pope scoring. Did James celebrate his goal in his DJ style?

Warriors: The Warriors played a friendly in the cold and wet at Chippenham against a home team unbeaten in their league. Chippenham opened strongly and scored an early goal. The Warriors began to get to grips with the midfield and a Jamie Cranfield shot came back off the keeper's pads for Martin Palmer to volley home an equaliser. Jamie and Dom Harris were full of running in midfield and started a number of good moves. At half time the Warriors were well pleased with the way they were playing against a good home team. The Warriors kept up their determined play for 45 minutes, but let slip a crucial goal when JJ stepped over a tame shot thinking it was from outside the D, when it was from inside. Chippenham scored a third and fourth to win the game. The result wasn't important as everyone felt that the team performance was first class. Brian Nichols and AJ both cleared shots off the line, JJ made a string of fine saves and there were impressive contributions made by Ed Minchin and Tom Fishley who showed that they have skill and ability that will take them along way in hockey.

Widgets: The Widgets could easily have opened up a 2-0 lead against Yate at Coombe Dingle. There were some glorious chances to score, but none of them were taken. Yate proved again that they are a good side and there finishing was clinical as they built up a three goal lead. Duncan Ogilvie scored in the second half but the final score was 4-1 to Yate. The Widgets played some very good hockey, with Harry Newington looking very strong on the ball going forward.