Match Reports from 26th October 2013
Men’s 1st XI 4-1 Harborne 1st XI
Goals: Christian Howard (2), Ashley Smith, Stuart Clark
The Men’s 1s made it 3 wins out of 3 as they comfortably saw off the challenge of Harborne in Birmingham City centre at the weekend. A brace from Christian ‘Paddy’ Howard, plus a goal a piece from forward Stuart Clark and Ashley Smith (a very rare goal!) gave them a 4-1 victory.
Next week Saints host Nottingham University at Moulton College, 12pm push back. All support greatly appreciated.
Squad: Paul Madeley (GK), Jamie Webb, Ashley Smith, Seb Jones, Sam Browne, Alex Press, Stuart Clark, Grant Carlin, Gareth Parker, Joe Kopka, Ian Cooper, Dave Saunders, Paddy Howard, Ben Scott (c).
Men’s 2nd XI 1-4 Olton & West Warwick 2nd XI
Goals: Tristan O’Connor
Saints were taught a lesson in the art of clinical finishing at home to Olton on Saturday.
Olton took an early lead in the game through a swift attack down Saints left hand-side. Saints however fought back and midway through the half they deservedly equalised through Tristan O’Connor.
The second half saw Saints continue to dominate possession however they were caught out through 2 Olton penalty corners and a break-away goal. 4-1 was a harsh score-line but a much improved performance should see Saints take real confidence into next weeks’ game away to Rugby & East Warwickshire.
Squad: Jay Worsfold (GK), Matt Gausden, Nick Beattie, Tom Lewington, Ben Northedge, Chris Reid (c), Dan Whittaker, Greg Summers, Scott Mahoney, Tom Hewitt, Jack Pogson, James Knibb, Sam Mitchell, Tristan O’Connor.
Men’s 3rdXI 3-2 Burton 3rd XI
Goals: Jason Hillier (2), Jack Knight
Following the previous week’s disappointment the Mens 3s welcomed Burton to Moulton for an early season top of the table clash. With a plethora of clichés ringing in their ears from captain McIlwaine, Saints took to the field. The game started at a frantic pace, with Saints dominating the early possession and territory, but with Burton looking ever threatening on the fast break; and with Saints turning over cheap possession calling Bashford into action to make some fine saves to preserve the status-quo.
However it wasn’t long before Saints settled into a rhythm and creating ever more chances on the Burton goal. This ended up in Saints winning a penalty corner and they were duly rewarded with a goal when Hillier stepped up and slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0. Saints then carried the momentum through to the end of the half, winning a further penalty corner, where again Hillier caught hold of a rebounded shot to make the score 2-0 at half time.
A rousing team talk at half time then led to Saints going out and dominating the early exchanges and following some neat interplay between the midfield and forwards (with Hillier even claiming an assist, which was almost instantly retracted when he was reminded that this might mean buying a jug), Knight put the ball into an empty net to make the score 3-0 to the home side. Saints were then unlucky to extend their lead even further, when some good play between the forwards again caught the Burton keeper out of position; however they couldn’t capitalise with the shot flashing past an empty goalmouth.
At this point Saints really took their foot off the pedal and allowed Burton ever more possession, which they duly used when an awkward shot made its way past Bashford to make it 3-1. Burton, with ever increasing confidence, seized the momentum and made good use of a penalty corner to bring the score to 3-2. This led to some nervy last minutes of the match; however Saints hung to maintain their 100% home record this season.
Men’s 7th XI 3-1 Belper 7th XI
Goals: Harry Taylor-Brewin (2), Charlie Boulton
With half term having taken its toll on availability, the 7s managed to bolster their numbers by enlisting the help of a number of mixed players. That said a last minute drop-out had meant that captain Jon Keep’s brother (Simon Burman), who was visiting for the weekend, found himself persuaded into playing his first ever hockey match! With a mixture of players and experience the emphasis was on good simple hockey and enjoying the match. The opposition definitely had experience on their side with a high average age! This played into the hands of the younger line up at the front for the 7s. What some of the less experienced players lacked in stick skills was more than made up for by the pace they had. And very quickly the 7s exploited this to give them some early chances. To keep things interesting captain Jon Keep found himself on the end of a green card as a result of playing a head height aerial ball in the middle of the pitch earning the hapless captain the DOTD award!
Belper kept their heads and started finding the gaps through the midfield and started pressing the 7s back. Defensively the 7s were looking panicked and were not communicating as well from the back. Belper had a number of chances to score, but some last ditch saves and some wayward shooting prevented them from capitalizing. Eventually the 7s luck ran out and a Belper midfield received a clean pass in space at that top of the D. Nigel Wright was at full stretch trying to reach the shot but it just went outside of his kicker and neatly inside the post. The 7s regrouped and a quick counter attack minutes later found the keeper facing a 3 versus 2 situation, with Kyle Orritt playing the decisive pass across the goal leaving Harry Taylor-Brewin with a simple tap in to draw the 7s level. A few minutes later after another quick attack, a loose clearance was picked up by Charlie Boulton who had plenty of space and time to find the goal and take the lead for the 7s.
The game wasn’t completely one sided and Belper were still finding the holes in the 7s defence, but were unable to hit the mark. To close the half Ashley Clarke went on a mazy solo run up pitch, sending a perfect ball across the Harry Taylor-Brewin for him to score his second. 3-1 up the 7s were instructed to protect the ball more and make sure we held onto the lead – playing a slightly more defensive game. This worked well with the 7s looking much more in control in this half. Again captain Jon Keep decided to add some extra entertainment by colliding with one of the opposition players shoulders – the impact left him seeing stars for a couple of minutes, but fortunately there was no major damage and play resumed. Both teams had chances to score – Belper were especially disappointed not to convert any of the penalty corners they had won, and both Harry Taylor-Brewin and Simon Burman sent some great balls across the face of the goal, but unfortunately no-one seemed to be able to get the touch they needed to put the ball into the goal. The half played out with no one able to score, leaving the 7s in the lead for a well-deserved 3-1 victory.
MOTM – Kyle Orritt for some fantastic attacking play throughout the match
DOTD – Jon Keep for green card
Team list: Nigel Wright (GK), Paul Yates, Nigel Riches, Will Westley, Jon Keep, Ashley Clarke, Simon Burman, Ryan James, Charlie Boulton, Kyle Orritt, Harry Taylor-Brewin.