Untitled Document

Match comments 25 club members declared theselves unavailable, and one failed to turn up on the day, so it's no surprise that the bottom three sides have taken just 5 points out of a possible 54. Yes there are several long term injuries, but that was the same last year but overall availability meant we were able to put out competative sides. This year the players who have played have given everything, but the Wizards, Warriors and Widgets are struggling to make an impression.

1^st XI: The first team lost by the odd goal in seven on their visit to Plymouth. Frosty scored twice and Tim Hancock got the other goal.

2^nd XI: Slider says: Don't you just love it when a plan comes together... Everything seemed to click on Saturday. A focused side began the game superbly well. We pressed Wilts as a unit and time and time again they were under pressure in their own half causing them to give the ball back to us on many occasions. 3 of these occasions led to nicely worked goals from Limbo, Hugh and Man-of-the-Match Psycho. It's pleasing to see everything that we talk about in practice and the build-up being repeated perfectly on the pitch and for 30mins we played the perfect game. Strong defending, aggressive tackling in the middle of the park, attacking threats on the flanks and dangerous movement up-front. West Wilts got a goal back and pressed us hard for periods of the 2nd half but such was the determination of the whole team that day we never looked like losing our lead.Nice!

3^rd XI: The thirds played a top of the table 6 pointer at home to Marlborough. There are not many 0-0 draws in the modern game, but the seconds achieved that result for a second successive week. The point they earned keeps them above Marlborough at the top of the table on goal difference. With several Wanderers called up due to players being unavailable this was a point well earned.

Wanderers: The Wanderers too were missing regulars called up to the thirds. They traveled to Clevedon and came away with all three points. Skipper Matt Taylor scored and Joel Chase scored his first goal for the Wanderers. This result keeps the Wanderers top of the table.

Wizards: The Wizards were once again a team with numerous Warriors in the side. The cause wasn't helped with a goal for Bristol University in 20 seconds. The Wizards put up a spirited performance and managed to keep the fast running students to just three goals in the first half. There was more determined defence in the second half in which Will Enderby was outstanding. However, the students scored four more to win 7-0. If it hadn't been for the hard work put in by the Wizards the score could easily have been 17-0.

Warriors: The Warriors were also missing key players and Max Longden and Dave Dinely were called into play their first game at this level and both put in good performances. The Warriors were out of luck when it came to turning chances into goals, O Bristolians in contrast were able to convert four of their chances.

Widgets: Former Widgets captain Chris Evans came off the bench for S Glos to score the only goal of the game at Golden Hill to consign the Widgets to a fifth defeat. With so many players unavailable this week the Widgets were struggling to put players on the park and Shep played despite a leg injury sustained last week.

Match comments 22 club members were unavailable this weekend and this had a big bearing on the results!

1^st XI: The first team were playing a rare game on the sand and took a little while to get to grips with a different home surface. Once they did they began to press Swansea Bay back into their own half forcing four short corners. Tim Hancock saw his shot steered of the line by a defender. A couple of hospital passes put the home defence under pressure but overall the first half showed that there was a lot of self belief and no little skill in the side. The second half opened with a lot of good session and excellent control. The ball was switched around quickly and everyone looked comfortable in putting Swansea under pressure. A Westbury short corner saw the ball fall to Shads who had injected it and then moved to the near post, Gary needed didn't hesitate in slapping in the opening goal. It was not more than a few minutes later after several near misses that a crunching stick tackle saw the inevitable penalty stroke. Neller was kept waiting for several minutes as Swansea had pressed the self destruct button and a yellow card was given. Then there was a long umpire discussion, followed by a further delay as the umpire noticed the goal frame off the line. Neller was 'Mr Cool' and kept his nerve to put his flick out of reach of the keeper for number two. Swansea Bay's ten men then found it difficult to get the ball off of Westbury as they swept it around the park. A great run by Mace saw the ball slipped on to Joe Thomas who slapped it in and then retired to get to the airport for his 5.00pm flight. Swansea were then reduced to nine men. The firsts were close to scoring number four but it didn't quite come. Pricey suffered a very painful finger injury when turning a waste high short corner shot off the line. The shot should have been blown up so his stop was all the more important, although it was his last piece of action of the game. This was an excellent result based on a well balanced team with everyone working flat out for each other.

2^nd XI: The second team played Somerset Gryphons in Clevedon and fell to a 1-0 defeat.

3^rd XI: The third team traveled to Bath University to take on Team Bath Buccs. Neither side were able to get the ball through the posts and the match ended 0-0. Paxo was in much more action after his rest between the post last week! Griff reports: A much changed team due to availability and injuries meant we traveled to Bath with the bare 11. Bath Buccs were were orgainsed and had the better opening 10 minutes. However, once we got use to the very sandy pitch, we played some excellent hockey, keeping possession of the ball and working well down the right and left. The second half was another close affair. The game finished 0 - 0, but on balance we probably had the greater possession and could have won, but it was a great team performance. The work off the ball was excellent as was the passing and movement. Those players who stepped up from the Wanderers showed that they were comfortable at a higher level which is great for he 3rds and the club!

Wanderers: Two goals from Tufty enabled the Wanderers to earn a point in a disappointing performance against Firebrands. Word from the team was that they were not their usual dominant selves. There was a big roar for Tufty's second goal. Tufty's view: The Wanderers were decimated by the loss of players, but it was still very disappointing to put on a lacklustre display. The experienced Firebrands team were on top throughout, but thanks to a brilliant display from Pete Murphy in goal, were only able to score twice. Westbury rarely strung more than 3 passes together but snatched a point with a late strike.

Wizards: The Wizards had six Warriors players, because of unavailability and they turned in a first class performance against a strong O Bristolians side that started the day in second position in the table. O Bs opened the scoring, but the Wizards earned a short corner. Martin Palmer's flick was steered in by Cocksy for an equaliser. At half time the score stood at 1-1 and Poker had to retire from the game with a hamstring pull. O Bs came out of the blocks quickly and re-established their lead. Then followed the Wizard's best period of the game, with Jamie Cranfield and Fazza calling a lot of the shots. Sam Banting made some good stops but, two cracking shots in a couple of minutes from the visitors saw them go 4-1 up. The Wizards never game up and with five minutes left Cocksy got a second goal. Jon Fox shot from a short corner, after a bit of 'pinball' the ball was clipped in at the near post by the skipper. A 4-2 defeat against the team that went top of the table was no disgrace and everyone gave it a good go.

Warriors: The Warriors lost by just a single goal to Yate.

Widgets: Everyone on the Widgets team was puzzled on how they let this one slip! Bristol UWE turned up with nine men. Duncan Ogilvie swept in the first goal and Chris mIllman knocked in the second. There were other chances as Will Bolem was linking well with the forwards, but they couldn't find the vital third goal. Bristol pulled a goal back just before half time. The second half should have seen the Widgets move out of sight, yet somehow it was Bristol who managed to score an equaliser. Whereas in the first half the Widgets were able to move the ball round, they struggled in the second half to create many chances. Dave Holliday did his best and Dave Dinely was surging forward as often as possible. Dave Money scored to make it Widgets 3 Bristol UWE 2. The Widgets defence with Shep hampered by a leg injury were under pressure from the visitors. With two minutes left the impossible happened. Bristol equalised and then inside a minute scored a shock winner. I'm sure Duncan must have checked to see if Harry Houdini was listed on the Bristol team sheet. This looked to be an odds on 3 points and somehow it turned into 4-3 defeat.

1^st XI: The firsts found themselves 6-2 down at Taunton Vale, but staged a spirited recovery to pull it back to 6-5. The word from Mace was that they were on top by then but ran out of time as they pressed for an equaliser.

3^rd XI: Griff writes: A good second half performance saw the 3rds beat Weston 2nds 4-0. In the first half we had a lot of possession but were ineffective. We went into the break 1-0 with the Captain defecting in a shot which was going wide from a short corner. In the second half we worked hard off the ball creating space and chances, and kept possession of the ball. Second half goal were scored from Woodward, JPS and a second for the Captain. (Editor) The pick of the goals was Griff's second, when Chewie brought the ball in along the bye line, found Worny who squared it to Griff, who got his feet round the ball and rifled in a perfectly placed shot into the corner. Paxo didn't get a touch in the game, the nearest he came to it was forcing a player to shoot wide. The game's comedy moment came when Worny took a hit in from the right sideline to Tom Alger, who was in the D on the penalty spot.in the D. Worny's pass was so near the goal that Tom could not get his feet in position because of the post and the ball caught the edge of his stick trickling into the goal for a long corner! Thanks Worny was the look on his face!!

Wanderers: Matt texted me to say that the Wanderers went 1-0 down and then upped the work rate. Matty scored himself, Stig got his first of the season and Nathan Walkey pleased his fantasy fans by getting two himself. The 4-2 win keeps the Wanderers at the top of the table on goal difference ahead of Old Bristolians 'A'.

Wizards: The Wizards equalised against Somerset Gryphons from a Fazza shot at a short corner. Cocksy told me that they lost their way in the second half despite having a lot of the game. Some weak tackles allowed a home player to beat several defenders to score their winning goal.

Warriors: There were 6 changes from last week and the Warriors looked tighter in defence. However flowing moves were not the order of the day, Somerset Gryphons looked the better first half team and opened the scoring. Pete Thomas snatched an equaliser helping Will Holmes' shot on its way, nutmegging the keeper. The second half saw much the same, a lot of endevour but some poorly directed passes. In the e last minute Will Holmes was stick tackled in the D, but only earned a short. He struck his shot well, but like the umpire I didn't see the deflection off the defender's stick that made it bulge the net. A winning goal was not awarded, although if it had it would have been an unjust result. This was the Warriors first point of the season.

Widgets: The ten men of the Widgets fell to a 2-0 defeat against Firebrands. Let's hope availability will get better (there were 9 Warriors and Widgets missing) so that they can field a full side plus subs!

1^st XI: The first team found themselves 2-0 down to Team Bath Buccs. In the second half Westbury staged a come back with a short corner goal from Tim Hancock. There was a huge cheer from the spectators when Frosty scored the equaliser. The game came to a premature end with a couple minutes left when a Bath Buccs player was injured. An ambulance was called to take him to A&E. Nellor check on how he was and learned that he was fine. Thanks should go to Pricey and Slider who looked after him until the ambulance arrived.

2^nd XI: Slider reports: Darn it. It's never nice to travel to Leominster and back without 3 points, especially when so many of us failed to produce anywhere near our best. Our endeavour simply wasn't enough against the clever long-ball tactics of a quick leominster side and we never truly recovered from going 2-0 down early in the first half. A moment of genius from the skipper brought a goal back, and a clever passing move saw Limbo bring us level. Sadly, despite moments of pressure, we never looked in control and Leominster broke twice more to end our hopes of a cheeky win. Few of us performed at our best. Standouts were Dawson, Greaves and Man-of-the-Match Gary (engaged to be married would you know) Catchpole. A Captain's yellow card for a clumsy tackle didn't help. At least we saw a momentous England rugby win before our long journey home...

3^rd XI: Griff's report: The thirds were again slow off the mark against a competitive West Glos 2nd team. We went behind mid way through the first half before equalising with a goal from Tom Alger following up from a short corner. We went ahead just before half time, with a goal from JPS. The second half saw a much much improved performance with us holding possession and creating a number of openings. With ten minutes to go Hugh Woodward made the game safe with a third goal. Another solid team performance in the second half, some way to go but it is 3 out of 3 in the league. .......and top of the table!

Wanderers: For the last three years the Wanderers have found the University 4th XI their biggest rivals. Their last meeting with the Wanderers as champions and the University as runners up ended in a 7-0 win to the students. This time it was Westbury who had the upper hand throughout. Two goals from Doug Scott and one from Tufty ensured that the Wanderers stay top of the division. There was some quality passing as the Wanderers pressed for a third goal.

Wizards: The Wizards were asked a lot of questions by Firebrand's veteran league team and couldn't come up with any answers. Trailing 4-1 at the interval, there was a more dogged performance in the second half. With a little more guile the Wizards could have pulled a couple of goals back. They mounted numerous attacks as Firebrands tired and frequently attacked with an extra man (or two), but the naivety of their passes was exposed by Firebrands, who even managed to stop a three v one attack because of yet another poorly directed pass. As Cocksy pointed out in his post match talk the players have the ability to perform in this division but didn't have the confidence on the day to play the short passing game that Pricy is developing at training.

Warriors: Robinsons powered their way to a 2-0 lead inside five minutes against the Wanderers. They added a third after ten minutes as the Warriors struggled to put anything together. Jamie Cranfield worked hard throughout, but like all the midfield they couldn't release the telling passes. Fazza came closest to scoring with a shot wide of the post before skillfully setting up a chance for Martin Palmer to score from close range. Robinson finished the half with a fourth goal. The Warriors came out much stronger in the second half and a greater percentage of passes found their man, yet it was Robinsons who scored twice. Martin Palmer had to retire for a long period after the ball flipped up and a home player played a tennis net volley hitting him on the side of the head. Westbury had the last say in the game with Fazza's short corner being well struck into the corner. The result end 6-2, this was Robs first win of the season and the Warriors are firmly rooted to the foot of the table. Fazza had a good game returning from injury.

Widgets: 2-0 with a well taken goal from Dave Money who was set up by a clever short pass from Harry Newington and a first goal from Max Longden saw the Wizards in s strong position against Robinsons. There were chances galore, but the vital third goal would not come. In the second half Gazza took a bash on his knee and had to be carried off. To his total embarrassment his mother was one of the stretcher bearers! I can't repeat here his comment "*#&$ it's my mother!" Robinsons then proceded to claw back both goals. The Widgets still had opportunities to win the game. Harry survived three yellow card tackles and had the best last chance. His surging run ended with a scorching shot flashed just wide of the post. There were two comedy moments. Vice-captain Adrian Napper picked up the ball on his own 25 and then at snail's pace began to move forward. He was allowed to go at this speed all the way to the Rob's 25 unchallenged before hitting a cross. Next up, Gazza got off of his stretcher to return to centre midfield and win the 'miraculous recovery of the day award!' A first league win was on the cards , but tiredness and losing the team's shape allowed Robs to share the points.

1^st XI: The first team pulled off an excellent result at Marlborough winning 6-1. Joe Thomas scored twice, his first goals for Westbury. Frosty, Neller, JP and Shads were all on target. Neller and Mace had the opportunity for unscheduled rests during the game at the umpire's discretion. Their absence didn't unduly affect the result.

2^nd XI: Slider's report: It was back to winning ways with an excellent team performance seeing off a solid and committed Cirencester side. Our passing was crisp and our commitment and energy levels showed a huge improvement from our sluggish performance last week. Of course it helps when Meaks is bellowing at you... but all round the pitch we were strong in the tackle and calm in possession and as such we created a wealth of scoring opportunities. Moondog opened the scoring with a bullet short corner strike and a classy 'cradle-the-baby' celebration. Tezzer fluffed an outrageous reverse stick effort to comically score the 2nd. Good work from Meaks at the well-rehearsed Short Corner Castle provided TC with a simple 3rd. The skipper then popped up late-on to round the keeper with a Webster-esque slick reverse stick finish to score the 4th.Defensively we were excellent, always strong in the tackle and rarely allowing Cirencester to attack with any speed. Ron was on hand to pull off a couple of sharp saves and Ger cleared a rocket off the line.The only blemish was a couple of missed opportunities and a lazy 10minutes in the 2nd half. Otherwise gents, a job well done!Man-of-the-match: Tim Dawson with 5 votes.

3^rd XI: The third team put in another sound performance to make it two out of two and no goals conceded. JPS opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Cuttsy scored a strange goal. He made contact with a through pass intending to sweep the ball parallel to the goal across the face of the keeper to tap it in at the far post, however his first touch was mis-timed and squirted past the keeper and in at the far post! In the second half the threes were well marshaled at the back and Marlborough were unable to get too close to goal. The Westbury attack was not able to apply very much pressure, yet their two major offensives ended in goals. A good passing move by Will Jones and Cuttsy saw, Gary Catchpole break down the right, cut along the lines with his cross founding Sparky. JPS pounced on the loose ball to score. Reston Smith then scored a fine individual goal, beating several defenders before flicking the ball into the roof of the net. Marlborough's best attempt late in the game saw Stig as a solitary figure in the goal, the attacker hit a thumping shot that saw Stig brilliantly get a stick in the way to defect it wide. Another strong team performance.

Wanderers: The Wanderers took up their accustomed place at the top of the table with a 3-0 win at North Somerset. Tufty writes: A solid all round performance by the Wanderers, who won the game without any fuss and little alarm. 1-0 up in the first half the only period of the game when we weren't in control was just after half-time, but a second goal ended that home revival and a third goal was no more than the team deserved. That's two wins at tough places to travel to and top of the early league table. An interesting game against the lower Uni side (who put 7 past us last March) on Saturday will give us a stronger indication of our prospects for the season.

Wizards: The Wizards were very competitive in their game at Bristol UWE. Tim Denner made some good tackles and there was a solid debut for Dave George in midfield. Sam Banting made three incredible saves two with one on ones with a Bristol forward. However he was beaten once in each half. Cocksy's report: The Wizards had their 1st league match against a UWE side some of us could have fathered i.e. giving 20 years plus (mainly in midfield) on all but perhaps one of their players, who was much too ugly. 1st half saw them come at us with expected pace and we more or less kept up with them, playing 4 across the midfield, 2 up front and the rest gallantly defending behind. Mr Samuel Banting (Junior) played well (Man of the Match) and kept the marauding forwards at bay; but in fairness they didn’t look that sharp, but UWE eventually did score from a good move. So we turned round 1-0 down, but had performed adequately well, for a team with only 3 from last years team in it. Battle of the Bulge type words from our Captain stirred us into a better performance in the 2nd half. Joel and Jon chased around valiantly but the ‘killer’ pass never got to them to score, although James had a good couple of chances from midfield. They scored again and we reverted to 3 up front which made the attacking options better and were unlucky not to score; their goalkeeper played almost as well as Junior. We were not given a blatant penalty when a UWE defender tried a martial arts tackle on Joel’s ankle, so not our day. Overall a good 1st attempt 7 out of 10 for effort, but we need to be sharper and pass the ball around quickly; it’s a step up from last year, but as always great fun.

Warriors: The Warriors lost 6-1 to Frys although two of the goals came in the last two minutes. Frys seemed more up for the game than Westbury. Frys scored from a top edged deflection. Pete Thomas equalised after a good attack down the right. Will Holmes was stick tackled from behind, but only a short corner ensued. Then Martin Palmer's shot found a foot inside the post, but neither umpire was able to call it and a short was the end product. In the second half there was just one short corner to keeper the visiting keeper alert, the rest of the time saw the Warriors attacks snuffed out before they could do any damage. Frys scored five goals to make it two defeats in a row for the Warriors. Reesy had another good game and Mike Harvey was named man-of-the match.

Widgets: The Widgets fell to a 7-1 defeat against Yate, with Brian Nichols scoring the consolation goal. Duncan Ogilvie was held up in traffic the Widgets had to play the first half with only 10 men and no goalkeeper.