Untitled Document

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 4/10/08
1^st XI	v Gloucester	H	Premier 1	0-5
2^nd XI	v Bristol Univ II	A	North Div 1	1-5	Nichols G
3^rd XI	v Team Bath Buccs VII	A	Avon Div	3-2	Walkey Woodward Millman S
Wanderers	v Weston-Super-Mare II	H	Br & NW Som Div1	pst
Wizards	v Frys	A	Br & NW Som Div 2	1-3	Brown
Warriors	v O Bristolians IV	H	Br & NW Som Div 3	2-2	Sheppard Poulsom
Widgets	v Bristol UWE IV	H	Br & NW Som Div 3	2-4	Money Cooper
Match comments
1^st XI:
2^nd XI:
3^rd XI:
Wanderers:
Wizards:
Warriors:
Widgets:

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 27/9/08
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Plymouth Marjons	A	Premier 1	3-6	Banting A Roper Thomas J
2^nd XI	v Leominster	H	North Div 1	4-1	Nichols G 2 Frost Alger T
3^rd XI	v Team Bath Buccs VI	A	Avon Div	1-7	Walkey
Wanderers	v S Glos	H	Br & NW Som Div1	1-1	Scott
Wizards	v Imperial	H	Br & NW Som Div 2	1-2	Palmer M
Warriors	v Somerset Gryphons III	A	Br & NW Som Div 3	0-4
Widgets	v O Bristolians V	A	Br & NW Som Div 3	0-5
Match comments
1^st XI: The first team found the target three times through Adam Banting, Shad and Joe Thomas. However, Marjons doubled that score to win the game 6-3.
2^nd XI: The seconds were always in the driving seat working their way to a 4 goal lead until Leominster notched a late consolation goal. Gareth Nichols scored twice, Frosty got one and Tom Alger hit the roof of the net with his scorching shot.
3^rd XI: Griff reports: The 3rds open their league season against Bath Buccs E. Buccs were extremely well organised with no weak links. They are also had the benefit of subs which in the heat had it advantage. The first half was a closely fought and Westbury went in 1-1. A well worked equaliser by Nathan Walkey following a short corner strike from Buccs. We went 3-1 down within the first 5 minutes of the second half. We continued to play some nice hockey at times, but often gave the ball away too easily, but were not a match for a very slick Buccs team. There were lots of positives from the first half to take forward for next week.
Wanderers: The Wanderers took part in an end to end game against S Glos. Both teams moved the ball around well, but neither side could make the breakthrough in the first half. Doug Scott scored after following up a team mate's shot. S Glos launched a late rally and scored near the end. Paxo did well to keep out several good looking goal attempts from the visitors.
Wizards: The Wizards looked very solid in defence against an experienced Imperial side. Westbury played the ball around the back with confidence, but could not work the ball much beyond the half way line. George Banting, Poker, Brain Nichols and AJ deserve credit for their performances today. It took over half an hour to get the ball into the Imperial D. Ed West made a number of good saves, but could not stop two well struck shots from going in. The second half was an improvement and the Wizards did carve out two corners and a little action in the D. Young George Minchin was making his debut and put in some good touches earning one of the short corners. His marker kept walloping him and was lucky not to be carded, but George stuck to his task and was still trying hard throughout the game. The Wizards scored a late goal when Martin Palmer robbed the full back o the ball, went round the goalie and place his shot past the defender trying to cover the line. There were five minutes left, but no further chances were created and the game finished 2-1 to Imperial.
Warriors: Dave Holliday reports: The Warriors had a young side to play against a very good, experienced Gryphons team. The highlight however was the performance of our three junior players, Ned Holmes, Nick Slater and Alex Yuill, all of whom played well and look very good fro the future. They must have some better players alongside them however, if their development is to be sustained. Mike Harvey in goal was undoubtedly our man of the match. Martin rees and Jamie Cranfield played well and should be proud of their efforts. Paul Clark, James Bladon and Chris Millman tried hard up front to make the most of the crumbs that the rest of us gave them and it was absolutely great that in spite of the overall dominance of the opposition, not one member of the team gave up and tried right through to the end to play positive, skillful hockey.
Widgets: The Widgets lost 5-0 to O Bs.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday20/9/08
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Devizes	h	HA Cup	1-2	Moon
2^nd XI	v Bristol & West	H	Friendly	0-3
3^rd XI	v Bristol & West III	H	Friendly	3-1	Walkey 3
Wanderers	v Bristol & West IV	A	Friendly	0-2
Wizards	v Bristol & West V	H	Friendly	2-2	Palmer M Ratcliffe P
Warriors	v Bristol & West VI	A	Friendly	1-2	Thomas P
Widgets	v Bristol & West VII	A	Friendly	can
Match comments
1^st XI: The first team went down at by two goals to one against Devizes at home in the HA Cup.
2^nd XI: The seconds had a good work out against Bristol & West with a weakened team but lost 3-0.
3^rd XI: A second half Nathan Walkey hat-trick turned round a 1-0 half time deficit against Bristol & west at Coombe Dingle. His first came from a short corner, the second after trading passes with Pyscho, and the third after Tufty had pulled in a defected pass and squared it to him to slide home.
Wanderers: Jimmer's jottings: This was a very different side from the previous week with lots of players coming up from the Wizards and they all stood up to the mark on a very hot day. We worked well as a team and passed the ball round nicely but just couldn’t get the decisive final pass into the heavily packed (By them!) Bristol and West D. We used the width of the pitch and had great structure on the attack, but the heat and the effort of our players left us vulnerable on the break as shown in their second goal. As the 2nd half progressed the game turned into a tennis match with the ball going end to end and missing the mid field at times. This was down to them having a lazy mid field and front line, but Doug Scott did a great job and covered the ground and did a great job in the centre of the park. The youth policy also did a great job. Will Glynn was solid with his tackles but has been playing too many games with Tommy Taylor as I saw Will disappear in the left wing position a couple of times. Longden (Max not Jez!) was great up front and was very confident on the ball even when crunching tackles were going on around him. Speaking of crunching tackles… Jez was solid as ever, but is not part of my youth policy as his hockey shirt was older than a few of the players J In all it was a great team effort and the result didn’t reflect on the game – Well done all.See you at training on Wednesday - Jimmer. Fazza adds: Wanderers lost 2-0 in frustrating game when we played some good hockey at times but not enough. Passing went astray at times and Bris & West had more umpf generally. We had opportunities to score but didn't really test their keeper. Performances of note from Pound and the Longden boys.
Wizards: The Wizards went behind to a first minute short corner goal against Bristol & West. JJ playing his first of the season had hardly had time to draw breath and found himself picking the ball out of the net. He went on to make a number of fine saves to keep out a strong Bristol & West side, ably supported by George Banting, AJ, Poker and Brain Nichols in defence. A Dom Harris free hit came to Martin Palmer who deftly pushed the ball from close range under the keeper to equalise. The Wizards played some quality hockey at times and worked the ball out well. They mounted a lot of pressure on the visiting goal. Then came the move of the match. Cocksy and Peter Ratcliffe broke a way with a 2 v 1. Cocksy took the ball down the inside left channel with Pete in close pursuit. Peter then realised that he needed to peel off towards the penalty spot. Cocksy then played a superb pass to that spot and Peter guided the ball home with a well executed first time slap - great goal. In the second half Will Holmes gave a one man show and could easily have scored four goals. Somehow the ball would not go it. Bristol & West began to take control, and as the game wore on, the Wizards were guilty of some awful basic passing skills at the attacking end of the pitch. After Will's early efforts it is hard to remember a shot at goal. Bristol & West scored an equaliser with a well taken goal. The game ended all square at 2-2. Another good run out for the Wizards on another hot day, and it gives the team something to build on.
Warriors: Duncan writes The Warriors lost 2-1 to Bristol & West. A fine turn and shot by Pete Thomas . The game featured yet another father & son combination in Paul & Miles Clark.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 13/9/08
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Whitchurch 'A'	H	Friendly	2-1	Thomas J Moon
2^nd XI	v Whitchurch 'B'	A	Friendly	2-3	Poulsom Griffin A
3^rd XI	v Whitchurch 'C'	H	Friendly	can
Wanderers	v Whitchurch 'D'	A	Friendly	4-2	Walkey 2 Farrell Holmes W
Wizards	v Whitchurch 'E'	H	Friendly	1-1	Palmer M
Warriors	v Whitchurch 'F'	A	Friendly	3-1	Walkey Milman S Farrell
Match comments
1^st XI: The first team had a good work out on another humid day on the water pitch. Whitchurch were a well organised side and this was a well contested game. Things were fairly even in the first half as both teams worked hard in the sticky conditions. There were not many chances in the first half, but when the only goal of the half came it was a quality strike from Joe Thomas. He cut in from the left before unleashing an unstoppable drive from the top of the D across the keeper into the far corner of the goal. Whitchurch worked themselves back into the game in the second half. A lot of Westbury pressure had created the better chances as the firsts were able to break quickly down both wings causing the visitors to defend doggedly to keep out the Westbury forwards. A counter-attack by Whitchurch earned them an equaliser. More Westbury pressure was to follow and eventually it paid off when Paddy Haynes ghosted in from the left to meet a cross from the right. A slap shot at goal looked on, but he pushed it to the far post hoping to open up a tap in for Moonie. The goalkeeper and defender shut down that chance, but Moonie cleverly retrieved the loose ball and chopped his shot back at goal with lots of top spin, causing it to flip over the defenders and loop into the net. This turned out to be the winning goal. There were lots of solid performances from everyone in the squad and Pricey 'caught the eye' tidying up and tackling anything that went loose at the back.
2^nd XI: Sliders says: With both Captain & Vice out with mid-term injuries, Psycho and Mace took control of a experimental 'B' side which included familiar faces and fresh new talent with both Liam Cureton and Rich Hill making their home debuts for the club. Both were outstanding in a game that Westbury were unfortunate not to claim a draw from - as both sides fought bravely for both possession and territory. At times the team-play from Westbury was breathtakingly good, with fluid passing and movement causing Whitchurch problems. Too often though we lacked that patience to build sustained periods of attack and we were guilty of giving the ball away too cheaply and too often. Sadly 3 lapses of team concentration allowed Whitchurch 3 sights of goal and each one was efficiently plonked past Murphy in goal. Goals from Psycho and a late goal from Griff set up a tense finish as Westbury attacked in a 2-5-3 formation for the last 5minutes but could not get the equaliser we probably deserved.It was great to see the team play some excellent hockey and maintain their efforts throughout the game, none more so than Liam who ran himself into pale exhaustion with his tireless running.Team: Murphy, Ger, Warney, Bees, Griff, Puetz, Cureton, Poulsom, Mace, Hill, TC, Nichols, Moondog.
Wanderers: The Wanderers notched up their first win of the season when Nathan Walkey scored twice and Fazza and Will Holmes getting one each in a 4-2 win at Whitchurch.
Wizards: The Wizards had a good run out at home to Whitchurch and both sides found it hard to break down their opposing defences. Whitchurch's best chance was well saved by Paxo's lightening reaction with his right foot, deflecting a thumping shot past the post. AJ shirking his full back responsibilities found himself on the end of a cross which he slapped at goal only to find the visiting keeper diving full length to bat his flick away for a corner. Jez Longden was well in control of everything at the back until Brian Nichols was unfortunate enough to find a left wing cross hit his foot in front of goal from a metre out, the ball falling kindly to a Whitchurch forward who tapped it in from close range before Paxo and any of his defenders could react. This spurred the Wizards on and the midfield of Stig (playing his last game before moving to Derby), George Banting, Dave Ratcliffe and Will Enderby worked hard and pushed Whitchurch deep into their own half. Stig threaded a great through ball to Max Longen on the right wing. Max cut in and delivered a perfect cross for Martin Palmer to sweep past the Whitchurch keeper to equalise. The visiting keeper made a great reaction save to stop a spinning shot bounce past him for a winning goal. At the other end Paxo was in similar action to deny a winner. His first stop with his feet rolled kindly to an attacker, who for a moment had a clear site at goal., but Paxo was diving to block the gap and pulled off a brilliant stop to force the ball out for a corner when a winning goal looked a distinct possibility. Peter Ratcliffe had a superb 10/15 minute spell opening up some quality passes from an attacking left midfield role, and Westbury put in some great pressure on the Whitchurch defence. The game ended 1-1 with Westbury finishing strongly in the sweltering weather.
Warriors: The Warriors traveled to Whitchurch with just six players. Tufty, Fazza and Nathan Walkey played a second game and Whitchurch loaned two youngsters to make up the 11. The three Wanderers shared out the goals as the Warriors managed a 3-1 win. With just two weeks to go to the league season we need better availability. Today we fielded 4 and a half sides(about 55 players), by the end of this month we need 7 side with 77 plus players!
Widgets:

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 6/9/08
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
1^st XI	v Cardiff 'A'	A	Friendly	0-1
2^nd XI	v Cardiff 'B'	H	Friendly	4-5	Moon 2 Openshaw Cureton
3^rd XI	v Cardiff 'C'	A	Friendly	can
Wanderers	v Cardiff 'D'	H	Friendly	1-5	Millman S
Wizards	v Cardiff 'E'	A	Friendly	1-2	Ogilvie
Match comments
1^st XI: A first outing of the season for the 1st XI now minus a couple of departed players and a few absentees which ended in a 1-0 defeat.
2^nd XI: A mixed bag of second and third team players lost to a last minute goal in a high scoring 5-4 defeat. Moonie opened his account with two goals, Ger Openshaw added one for himself and new player Liam Cureton scored on his debut.
Wanderers: The Wanderers turned round at half time all square after weathering the storm, both in terms of the down pours from the sky and the attacks from a strong Cardiff side. Cardiff started with persistent pressure in the opening ten minutes but Smurf and co kept them out on all but one occasion. The Wanderers began to get more into the game and when the visiting keeper kicked the oldest player in the team through the air in a double somersault a short corner followed. Steve Millman struck and found a friendly defender who got an inside edge to deflect the ball into his own goal (was it going wide Steve?) The Wanderers worked hard throughout the game, but the greater experience of the Cardiff side began to show and they scored four times, three of them fairly late in the game. The Wanderers had a good workout and were always full of running and enthusiasm, but lacked the support for Tufty up front to create many chances.
Wizards: The Wizards with Psycho in centre midfield played their part in a competitive first half. If Cardiff had a short corner routine they could well have been several goals to the good, as they earned seven or eight alone in the first half. Sam Banting threw a big barrier in front of Cardiff, ably supported by his fellow defenders. At half time it was 0-0. The team talk asked for more commitment and running. AJ responded with his persistence in the D, forcing the keeper to make a double save as he strode forward in his size 14 'plates of meat' before the ball squirted out of the melee of players to Duncan Ogilvie, who is absolutely deadly from a yard out, and he didn't make any mistake as the ball thumped the backboard. Cardiff were still a very strong attacking force, but their short corner routine was their weakness as another six or seven corners were wasted. Credit must also go to the Westbury defence who gave them little space or time to do anything from them. However, Cardiff snatched an equaliser. At the other end Psycho found the Cardiff goalkeeper in good form being denied by several good saves. Cardiff then scored a well taken goal to lead 2-1. With the last attack of the game Duncan found himself in his favourite spot and an equaliser beckoning, but this time the Cardiff defence managed to keep out his his sweep at goal and that was the last action of the game. Never-the-less it was a good run out for a makeshift team who played the ball around confidently. Praise too for reluctant umpire Mike Harvey who gave a first class show with the whistle.

Westbury & United Banks HC: Results for Saturday 30/8/08
Team	Opponents		League	Scr	Scorers
Veterans	v Bristol & West Vets	H	Tournament	0-1
Veterans	v Team Bath Buccs Vets	H	Tournament	0-5
Veterans	v O Bristolians Vets	H	Tournament	3-1	Cocks C Ogilvie Palmer M
Veterans	v Epsom	H	Tournament	0-0
Match comments
Veterans: Westbury Vets opened the 2nd Westbury Tournament on what must have been the hottest and stickiest day in the history of the world! Bristol & West (formerly N Bristol & W Glos) were a sharp side and gave us a difficult opening. Sparky and Dave George were prominent in the middle of the park and everyone in defence gave stirling service to repel numerous attacks. After 20 minutes the score still stood at 0-0, a good result for us, but with the very last touch of the game Bristol & West scored to give them all three points. Team Bath Buccs were next up and Westbury were made to battle away to stem the tide as Team Bath were the strongest side at the tournament (they eventually won the whole 'shooting match'). Buccs quickly surged into a 3-0 lead and added two more. It felt like six, but when they looked very close to getting that goal with a shot that seemed to be going in, the combined forces of Smurf, Brian Nichols and Stave Alger contrived to each get a touch with the ball squirting over the crossbar from practically on the line. 5-0 was the final score, although Sparky was unlucky not to earn a penalty stroke when the defender used his stick and body to stop him scoring, unfortunately the contact was on the umpires' blind side and Buccs escaped. O Bristolians were not as strong as they can be (last season they thumped us 5-1), but they played with typical Old Bs spirit and gave us a very good game. Westbury managed to find their first goal. Sparky topped his short corner push out, but Pricey cleverly stopped the ball, nudged it forward and Tonka drilled it in and Cocksy got a little edge to guide it inside the post with that delightful thud of ball on backboard! Dave Ratcliffe set up number two. His run down the right was met at the back post by Duncan Ogilvie who swept it in with great 'aplomb'. O Bs would not lie down and die and despite being the only side without a multitude of subs they pulled a goal back. The game was made safe as Martin Palmer picked the ball off the pads of the keeper after Cocksy's shot, he went round him and flicked into the far side of the goal past two despairing defenders. A 3-1 was well deserved for all the effort put in. Finally tired legs and dehydration played a part in not being able to get past Epsom, who were on their own mini revival having lost their two opening games. More strong defensive work kept out Epsom while Duncan and Martin had the best chance in a goalmouth melee, but the Epsom keeper pulled off a double save. This time the end result was 0-0. As Pricey said at the end of the day if we had been offered a win and a draw we would have taken it. George banting acknowledged it was good to get better and finish the last two game unbeaten. Westbury squad: P Murphy, B Callis, A Price, R Beesley, S Alger, D Ratcliffe, T Taylor, B Nichols, G Banting, D George, A Sparks, C Cocks, P Clark, D Ogilvie, P Thomas, M Palmer. Many thanks to Reston Smith for being 'Technical Delegate' and organising all the matches on the day, and Poker, Ger Openshaw, Jurgen, Roger Montague and Nick Morton for umpiring.

30/8/08
	Westbury	Bristol & West	Old Bristolians	Team Bath Buccs	Epsom
Westbury		0-1	3-1	0-5	0-0
Bristol & West	1-0		3-1	0-2	3-1
Old Bristolians	1-3	1-3		0-3	0-2
Team Bath Buccs	5-0	2-0	3-0		3-0
Epsom	0-0	1-3	2-0	0-3

	Pl	W	D	L	For	Agn	Diff	Pts
Team Bath Buccs	4	4	0	0	13	0	13	12
Bristol & West	4	3	0	1	7	4	3	9
Epsom	4	1	1	2	3	6	-3	4
Westbury	4	1	1	2	3	7	-4	4
Old Bristolians	4	0	0	4	2	11	-9	0

Team Bath Buccaneers were undoubtedly the top side. They had an emphatic win against Westbury and didn't conceded a goal all afternoon. Their deciding match was a closely contested game against Bristol & West which they won 2-0. Bristol & West looked a well organised side winning their opening three matches before running Bath Buccs close in their final game. Epsom finished with a draw against Westbury and a 2-0 win against O Bristolians. Westbury finished strongly with a win and a draw in their last two games, whilst a somewhat senior O Bristolians , missing some of their younger vets, had a bare 11, but acquitted themselves well in every game. The weather conditions were on par with the heat and high humidity of a Beijing Olympic competition, but around 70 veterans performed well despite the conditions. Hopefully the Westbury Veterans' Tournament is now a permanent part of the hockey calendar for years to come.

Goal Chart: After 4/10/08