Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday22/9/07
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Isca	A	Premier 1	2-3	Frost J Goodman J
2^nd XI	v N Bristol	H	North Div 1	2-3	Small Colquhoun
3^rd XI	v W Wilts II	H	Avon Div	1-0	Beesley
Wanderers	v N Bristol II	A	Br & NW Som Div1	3-2	Millman S 2 Andrews
Wizards	v Bristol Univ IV	H	Br & NW Som Div 1	pst
Warriors	v S Glos	A	Br & NW Som Div 2	0-3
Widgets	v N Bristol IV	A	Br & NW Som Div 3	1-3	Money
Match comments
1^st XI: The first team lost Kinger on th day of the match and up step Ron Wheeler. A close game finished with a 3-2 defeat
2^nd XI: Slider reports: With the unscheduled loss of Ron in goal due to a diarrheoa incident in the 1's, a reluctant Neil Derek Horatio Moon (Father-to-be) stepped forward and donned the keeping kit for a strong 2nd team facing up to North Bristol. In an ugly match, both sides never really got into their stride. North Bristol took a 2goal lead despite some heroics from the Moondog in goal. A neat finish from Limbo brought us some hope and for a while we looked capable of sneaking a draw from the game. Sadly, with North Bristol a man down after some handbagging, we let in a sloppy 3rd goal. Their keeper had a blinder and kept the Hancock thuderbolt at bay several times. The buggers even cleared one off the line! TC nicked a flick late on but this was sadly the last play of the match.
3^rd XI: The third team opened up the league season with a 1-0 victory over a sharp W Wilts team. The defence had to be at their best against a strong running team. The game was decided by a Bees strike from a short corner. Paxo and his defence threw a barrier in front of goal to keep a clean sheet.
Wanderers: Tufty writes: The Wanderers were very rusty in this game at The Ridings School and for a good while looked like losing the game. So they deserve great credit for the turnaround in fortunes that gave Westbury the three points. Westbury started brightly a squandered a couple of early chances. North Bristol came more into the game with a very direct style that proved extremely effective. They also had some good skills up front and opened the scoring with a very well worked goal. Westbury replied immediately when Si Andrews was sent clear and rifled in his shot from an angle. By half-time North Bristol had gone back in front though, and both teams were down to 10 men as Frank Gibbs reacted to a deliberate elbow. The re-jigged team in the second half struggled to create clear cut openings and it was starting to look bleak. Fortunately the opposition at this point stopped playing hockey and posed little threat to our goal. Then the slice of luck came as a straight short corner strike was deflected up and then off the keepers helmet into the goal for 2-2. Shortly afterwards Matt Taylor struck a sweet pass through a small gap and Millman deflected past the keeper. North Bristol gave their traditional storming last five minutes and Pete Murphy was the hero as he was called on too many times for comfort.
Warriors: The Warriors were unable to offer any real threat on the S Glos goal in their match at Golden Hill. The home team were not as strong as last season, but they looked the team capable of scoring, a feat they achieved three times.
Widgets: The Widgets lost teir match at N Bristol with Dave Money getting their consolation goal.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 15/9/07
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
2^nd XI	v Whitchurch 'A'	A	Friendly	6-3	Webster 4 Colquhoun 2
3^rd XI	v Whitchurch 'B'	H	Friendly	1-1	Griffin A
Wanderers	v Whitchurch 'C'	A	Friendly	1-2	Taylor M
Wizards	v Whitchurch 'D'	H	Friendly	4-6	Woodward 2 Chase 2
Warriors	v Whitchurch 'E'	A	Friendly	4-4	Rickard Holmes W Jenkinson Palmer
Widgets	v Whitchurch 'F'	H	Friendly	5-1	Poulsom 2 Ogilve Arnold Dinely
Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Sunday 16/9/07
1st XI	v Isca	A	HA Cup	2-4	Nichol G 2
2^nd XI	v Wotton-Under-Edge	A	Wotton tournament	0-1
2^nd XI	v W Glos	A	Wotton tournament	0-3
2^nd XI	v Bristol UWE	A	Wotton tournament	1-2	Andrews
2^nd XI	v Worcester	A	Wotton tournament	1-1	Griffin
2^nd XI	v Taunton	A	Wotton tournament	2-4	Poulsom 2
Match comments
1st XI: Neller reports: We travelled to Isca with a number of players unavailable, but still managed to take a relatively good side. Isca took the lead early on, but a good team move ended with JP crossing for Gareth to deflect nicely into the back of the net to put us back on level terms. Some poor defending allowed Isca to take the lead again, but another good build up cut Isca to shreds and the ball found Gareth at the back post for a simple tap into an empty net. Further sloppy play allowed Isca to take a 3-2 lead going into half time. We had most of the possession in the 2nd half and restricted Isca to counter attacks as we pushed forward for an equaliser. We should have scored on a couple of occasions, but Isca went 4-2 up with a well taken short corner, and despite some good play we just couldn’t find another goal. This was a positive performance and good preparation for next weeks league game against Isca, which we can go into full of confidence.
2^nd XI: Whitchurch were well on top in the first half taking a 2-0 lead on another hot sticky day. Tony Webster reduced the arrears before half time. In the second half Westbury came under more pressure, but with their first two attacks they took the lead. First Tony Webster received the ball with his back to the keeper, as he made his turn to shoot the keeper took him out and he went down as if 'pole-axed'. The keeper probably would have had a yellow card on a league day. TC scored from the spot. Next it was a break by Limbo, who slipped the ball to Mace who in turn slipped it to an unmarked Tony who swept it in for 3-2. It was still an even game and Ron was very alert to keep out a variety of shots. Whitchurch pulled it back to 3-3. Tim Dawson took a ball in the chest from a deflected short corner, and on getting up discovered it was a penalty stroke. However, Ron made the save. There were three more goals to come from Westbury and it was clearly going to be the Tony Webster show. He scored twice himself, and it was his shot that found a foot on the line that gave TC his second goal from the spot. This was an fine second half performance in high humidity. As Whitchurch tired, the seconds were by far the stronger side, playing well controlled hockey. They could easily have scored 5 or 6 more goals if the home keeper had not been at his best. Gareth Nichols, playing at centre midfield was having a good game supported by an all round excellent team performance.
A 2nd /3rd/4th team took part in the annual Wotton-Under-Edge tournament. Westbury only picked up one point, but Club Captain Richard Beesley pointed out that the squad of players gave everything they had and did themselves proud. Those that took part certainly got a lot out of the day and deserve great credit for their efforts. The squad was: Phil Dexter (guesting in goal from Wotton-Under-Edge), Coates, Watkins, Griffin, Beesley, Poulsom, Jones W, Puetz, Woodward, Butt, Andrews, Small, Moon, Harris Dave, Wilkins, Arnold, Wornell, Webster. Devizes dropped out during the week, City of Bath pulled out on Friday night, but Westbury supported the event by fielding a team. Well done to evryone who represented the club.
3^rd XI: A hard fought game against a strong Whitchurch development side ended in a closely contested 1-1 draw. Captain Griff scored his first goal of the season.
Wanderers: The Wanderers never really seemed to be able to click into gear in their game at Whitchurch. The home side looked a little hesitant at the back, but Westbury were unable to take advantage of it. Whitchurch took the lead and Ron was called into action to make some excellent saves to keep the score line to 1-0. A second goal was scored by Whitchurch before the Wanderers did get a goal and it came from their second short corner. Tufty's shot came back to Matt Taylor who hit a well directed shot into the goal. Mis-placed passes were a feature of the first half and it needed strong words from the skipper to gee up the side for the second half. The game was more even for the next 35 minutes, although Ron and then Paxo who took over in goal, both made telling saves. In the end a 2-1 defeat on a hot day gave Matty something to think about in how he shapes his team for the season ahead. It was good to see Frank Gibbs playing well after his long lay off through injury.
Wizards: After going down 3-0 at half time there were two goals a piece in the second half from Chewie and Joel Chase in the Wizards' encounter with Whitchurch. Both of Joel's goals came from his speciality shrt corner drive! The visitors sadded three more to win the game. Duncan Ogilvie bravely put on the pads to play in goal!
Warriors: The Warriors took the lead through Geoff Rickard at Whitchurch, only to see the home team score twice to take a 2-1 lead. Will Holmes, who was in outstanding form at right midfield attacked the D, cut right past his defender and drilled in a superb goal to equalise. Then came a third Whitchurch goal from a cruel deflection off a Westbury defensive stick to beat Paxo. Paxo had another good game and made saves throughout the 70 minutes. Brian Nichols cleared a short off the line to keep the score within reasonable distance. At 3-2 down on a humid day the half time talk was about playing through to the end and staying strong. Westbury did this with great alacrity especially as Mssrs Puetz, Andrews, Rickard and Cameron were in their second game. Schoolboy Will Jenkinson, playing his first game for the club, found himself in front of goal with his back to a defender. Despite his inexperience he struck reverse stick and was pleased to see it go in for an equaliser. Mike Harvey then provided the wobble past defenders and a sort pass for Martin Palmer to score the 'go-ahead' goal. Then came a period of ten minutes intense pressure. The home keeper made saves, shots just whizzed past the post and a fifth goal just wouldn't go in to kill the game off. In the last minute a Whitchurch short corner saw them get a last gasp equaliser. This was good performance, with Will Holmes the outstanding player on the Westbury side, his skill and strength was excellent. He was knocked over twice in a minute, but still got up to run rings round his marker.
Widgets: The Widgets ran in five goals in their home match with Whitchurch. Psycho scored twice, Duncan Ogilvie got one and there were goals for Henry Arnold and Dave Dinely on their debut. With a shortage of keepers, it was Bees who stood between the posts with the pads on and watched his team win!

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 8/9/07
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v W Glos	A	Friendly	7-4	Roper 2 Goodman 2 Richardson Poulsom Frost J
1^st XI	v Bournemouth	H	Friendly	5-2	Frost 2 Goodman Roper Mason
3^rd XI	v Devizes 'B'	H	Friendly	2-3	Webster Colquhoun
Wizards	v Devizes 'C'	H	Friendly	8-1	Millman 3 Crofts Taylor M Chase Walkey Glynn
Warriors	v Devizes 'D'	A	Friendly	11-1	Sparks 3 Farrell 2 Ogilvie 2 Rickard 2 Palmer M Pope
Match comments: The season is getting more into swing with two 1st XI matches and 3 sides playing Devizes. On this day England won three matches. The results were: (cricket) England beat India by 7 wickets at Lords to win the one day series 4-3; (football) England beat Israel 3-0 at Wembley in a European Championship Group Match; (rugby) England beat USA 28-10 at Lens in the World Cup.
1^st XI: Just after midday the first team started their preparations for the season with a warm up game against local rivals W Glos. Neller thought it was 8 goals, but so far only 7 scorers have been identified. The word was that a little bit of untidiness leaked in a couple of goals that shouldn't have been conceded, but it was a good work out. It was also good to see the forwards scoring a sack full of goals. It was lack of confidence in front of goal that caused last season to be a battle against relegation. More goals were added to the tally when Bournemouth traveled up from the sunny south coast to scorching Bristol. In high humidity, the fitness was really tested and full marks to Neller and his crew who came out of the game with top marks. The game could have gone either way after the first half when the teams were locked at 1-1 thanks to a Frosty goal. Bournemouth borrowed Kinger in the first half and Ron Wheeler in the second as the did not bring a keeper. Ron was to make some great saves, however a Pyscho short corner flew up to Goody, who like a tennis player at the net volleyed it home. On the side we unkindly gave Ron an assist! Then came a Bournemouth penalty stroke when the ball hit a defensive body on its way in and was deflected round the post. Kinger guessed right and made the save. Word from the bench was that this was his first penalty save, but that seems a tall story after so many years between the sticks! There was a spell of tired passes as the hot day began to get to the players, but Frosty added a third to give the team some breathing space. Then came a period of strong play, with good control and well placed passes. A great run down the middle by Shads saw him slip the ball unselfishly to the right to an unmarked Mace to slide in. Shads was finding the days running had got to his lungs and legs and stood near the dug out waiting for a sub to stretch his cramped muscles before coming on. Gary said "I'll wait here for you to come on". At the moment Goody was making a break from the half way line on the far side (right wing). Looking up Shads made a bee line for the P spot where he met Goody's precision pass to hammer the ball past Ron. Shads then returned to the dug out to get his breath back. Bournemouth scored a late goal to bring the score to 5-2. There will be some tired legs, but this was good preparation for the league campaign to come.
3^rd XI: Andy Griffin reported that: A second/third XI played away against a first/second XI Devizes team on a hot, sunny, dry (slow) pitch. We were fortunate to go in at half time 1-1 due to the outstanding performance of Andy Pound in goal. In fifteen years of playing with Paxo I do not think I have seen a better performance from him. Devizes were quicker to the ball and their passing was a lot slicker. We frequently gave the ball away or dribbled into trouble. The second half saw a much better performance with more composure. We kept possession of the ball and put together a number a good moves. We took the lead with 15 minutes to go but two late strikes from Devizes won 3-2. This was a good competitive pre-league game which hi-lighted the issues which need to be addressed in training (fitness and skills) before the league starts. Goals from Tony Webster and TC (Jnr)
Wizards: New captain Cocksy elected to watch from the side as the Wizards played their first game. Last season Westbury sent a squad of 14 to Devizes to play two games, losing the first against Devizes B and winning against Devizes C. This time it was the visitors who brought a squad of 16 to tackle the two matches against the Wizards and Warriors. Devizes opened the sharper team! Westbury's hitting was reminiscent of what we used to see on grass pitches where the grass was over long and the ball was regularly mis-hit. It was observed that the veterans were sharper at the start because they were already into the season after their grueling start in the tournament last week! The first goal came amid Westbury appeals for something. The ball broke out of the D and Mark Crofts wriggled past a couple of defenders with his trade mark wobble and delivered a well placed shot. Steve Millman made it 2-0, then Joel Chase fired in a short for 3-0. Then came the break and a chance to take on much needed fluid on a very sticky day. Nathan Walkey was having a fine game creating a number of chances. He finished off one move for his first goal of the season. Matt Taylor then scored the luckiest goal of the decade. The younger keeper was playing his first game in goal and had made some excellent stops. Matt drove into the D from the right wing close to the bye line. With an unmarked team mate at the far post he elected to shoot at the near post. His shot however split the two and went straight at the keeper, who kindly kicked it into the net with his right foot! Will Glynn joined the act, scoring his first goal for the club, much to his personal delight. Tufty then stuck twice to bring the final score to 8-1 and a hat-trick for himself. This was a big win, but there is still some rustiness to get out of the system, never-the-less it was good to see the Wizards so sharp in front of goal.
Warriors: The Warriors then took on the Devizes squad, who put their younger players on the pitch. It didn't take long for the Warriors to establish a lead. Fazza scored from a short corner and a few minutes later Pete Thomas threaded a great ball through for Martin Palmer to move to his right and tuck the ball under the keeper for 2-0. Duncan Ogilvie made it a scoring spree when he smashed in two goals and James Pope made an excellent run finishing it with a well placed shot. 5-0 at half time and both sides needed lots of fluid. Devizes came out and despite their tired legs scored a well taken goal. The Warriors reasserted themselves and Geoff Rickard picked up two goals, both of them well placed shots, the second of which was cracker. Fazza added his second from a perfectly struck short corner. Sparky, who had a highly productive day in midfield joined the fun and scored a hat-trick of goals in the last 15 minutes. Yes it was against a weary and somewhat inexperienced young Devizes side, but they did compete well, and all credit to them, they never gave up and still pressed forward to score. The defence did get some good practice and Roger Montague got a ball in the chest, but got up to carry on. Dave Holliday was playing well in midfield along with Sparky, Geoff and James Pope. A good run out on a hot, humid day.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 1/9/07

Team

Opponents

League

Scr

Scorers

2^nd XI

v Cardiff 'A'

Friendly

0-6

3^rd XI

v Cardiff 'B'

Friendly

0-7

Wanderers

v Cardiff 'C'

Friendly

1-3

Thomas

Sunday 2/9/07

Veterans

v Epsom

Westbury tournament

1-0

Webster

Veterans

v W Glos

Westbury tournament

2-2

Cocks Webster

Veterans

v Team Bath Buccs

Westbury tournament

2-2

Millman S Webster

Legends

v Bournemouth

Westbury tournament

0-4

Legends

v Bath Buccs

Westbury tournament

1-2

Ogilvie

Legends

v Epsom

Westbury tournament

1-0

Crofts

Match comments

2^nd XI: A strong Cardiff side opened the season as opponents for a make shift second team and won 6-0.

3^rd XI: Cardiff scored with the last touch of the first half and 6 more times in the second. Westbury played really well to contain them in the first 34 minutes, the defence closed down Cardiff well and didn't give them many chances. John Ludley's brilliant reverse stick shot came back off the post in the first half. Sam Banting played well despite conceding seven, without him there would have been more.

Wizards: Pete Thomas struck a superb equaliser after a clever pas from Harry Newington created the opening but Cardiff came out on top by 3-1. Paxo was in sharp form keeping out a number of stinging shots.

2/9/07
Pool 1	Epsom		W Glos		Westbury
	Score	Scorers	Score	Scorers	Score	Scorers
Epsom			0-2		0-1
W Glos	2-0	Illston ?			2-2	?
Westbury	1-0	Webster	2-2	Cocks Webster

Pool 2	Wizards		Bournemouth		Bath Buccs
	Score	Scorers	Score	Scorers	Score	Scorers
Wizards			0-4		1-2	Ogilvie
Bournemouth	4-0	?			1-0	?
Bath Buccs	2-1	?	0-1

Wizards v Epsom	5th & 6th	Crofts	1-0
Westbury v Bath Buccs	3rd & 4th	Millman S Webster	2-2		Kendall ?
Bournemouth v W Glos	Final	?	2-0

Westbury veterans opened the tournament with a 1-0 win against Epsom with Tony Webster getting the only goal of the game from a short pass from Martin Palmer. Then followed a local derby with W Glos. A great move from Tufty and Tony webster set up Cocksy for a goal. Tony then made it 2-0. W Glos put on the pressure in the second half and pulled back to 2-2 to go through to the final. Westbury met Bath Buccs for 3rd place. Steve Millman drilled in a short to lead 1-0. Buccs equalised. Tony scored again only for Buccs to equalise. Both teams finished joint third. Team: Murphy, Fey, Alger, Venables M, Montague, Sparks, Millman, Holliday, Cocks, Thomas, Palmer, Webster, Venables R:

Wizards Legends had a tough game against Chris Fenn's Bournemouth. The visitors were on top form and won 4-0. Against Bath Buccs the result was much closer with Duncan Ogilvie getting a goal. Buccs scored twice to win the game. In the 5th place game the Wizards plugged away at the Epsom goal without any luck until the closing minutes when Mark Crofts scored once of his specialty goals from the top of the D. Team: Andrews, Callis, Colton, Evans, Ludley, Crofts, Humphrey, Farrell, Ogilvie, Harvey, Simon: