Worthing Hockey Club

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Penguins Men's 3rd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:21:57 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 1 Penguins Men’s 3^rd XI 1

Submitted By: Dan French

A tournament for a combined 5th and 6th XI Captained by Howard Wakeling, away to Penguins 2nd & 3rd XI consisting of 2, 35 minute, one end games.

Worthing played well with some good passing, a goal at both ends, Worthing’s goal coming from Johnnie (Diva’s Flatmate), youth and experience, including 3 members of the same family, gave Worthing some good opportunities but unfortunately unable to capitalise.

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 0

Penguins Men’s 2^nd XI 3

The second game had Worthing against Penguins higher team, the performance again was good but a well drilled team mixed with some Penguins 1^st XI players they were strong, Worthing held off for a 3-0 defeat with some excellent defending.

Team: Penguins (GK), Howard Wakeling, Nigel Parker, Mike Bignall, Doug Brown, Don Brown, Robbie Brown, Johnnie (Diva’s Flatmate)(1 Goal), Roger Langmead, Roger Beaney, Robin Carr, John Beales, Dan French, Connor Dinning

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Mid Sussex Men's 4th XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:00:56 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 5 Mid Sussex Men’s 4^th XI3

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

Worthing dominated from the start and won repeated short corners following an inspired move involving Mark Chipperfield, Roger Langmaid, Don Brown and John Beales.   Eventually a flick was awarded but the young Mid Sussex keeper made a brave save.   More Worthing pressure eventually produced a goal when Doug Brown set up Aaron Aitman.   A second goal soon followed when Rudrum, Langmead, Chipperfield and both Browns gave Aaron his second goal. 5 minutes from half time we were strolling with a 2 goal advantage but carelessly conceded twice by a howler from our keeper.
Early in the second half we re-took the lead through Ollie Fenton from a John Beales cross. Mids equalised almost immediately from a short corner but from then on the Worthing defence stayed awake.   Mark Chipperfield cleverly scored our fourth from a short corner and Doug Brown deservedly completed the scoring aided by Robbie Williams.

This was an excellent team performance with everyone offering positive contributions including Carr and Catlow at the back.   The Browns are very welcome back and both have signed very lucrative contacts despite being approached by Man City!

David Turner and Andrew Hough both officiated very well - many thanks and thanks also to Diane Catlow for a super meal.

Team: Vince Thomas, Richard Rudrum, Bob Catlow, Robin Carr, John Beales, Mark Chipperfield (1 Goal), Roger Langmaid, Don Brown, Aaron Aitman (2 Goal), Ollie Fenton (1 Goal), Doug Brown (1 Goal), Rob Williams, Callum Rudrum

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Mid Sussex Men's 4th XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:43:53 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 4 Mid Sussex Men’s 4^th XI3

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

This match was an excellent advertisement for Sussex Division 5 and played in a superb spirit. Thank you Marc Hinton for the very accurate umpiring and to the opposition official.
Mid-Sussex started very strongly and after 2 minutes split our defence to give their centre forward a golden chance, which he duly converted. Worthing slowly worked their way back into the game and Dave Green's tenacity won the first short corner of the match. Bob Catlow's shot was cleared off the line but after a scramble Green smashed home the equaliser. We now took control forcing many more short corners, which Mids blocked with much relief. Our second goal came when Robbie Williams received the ball on the touch line deep in the Mids half. He dribbled along the bye-line like Sir Stanley Matthews leaving 3 defenders in his wake before scoring from an impossibly acute angle. When Robbie learns to stay wide he will be a very good hockey player, Half Time 2-1 to us.

The second half started with Worthing totally dominant and creating a host of chances whilst playing some very cultured hockey. The Mids goal had a very charmed life until John Beales (who played his best game of the season) intelligently dribbled a long corner into the D, fed Gordon Starks who set up Dave Green to score our third goal. We continued to dominate but in their first attack of the half Mids reduced the arrears after an untidy scramble in our D. However, Catlow produced yet another mesmerising dribble and then the usual precision pass for Sean Ward to score our 4th and what turned out to be the winning goal. Sean thoroughly deserved the honour as he had improved by leaps and bounds as the game progressed. Mids replied with a well-worked goal but 4-3 was the final score.

We thoroughly deserved victory because of the excellent team performance.   Everyone played their part with "Tony Currie" Stark the driving force in mid-field. Gordon was ably supported by the touch and intelligence of Ian Penny and Beales.   Ian Birbeck started slowly but soon settled as he realised he was surrounded by teammates who just ooze class. Super human Robin Carr and Nigel Parker never missed a ball.
Next week we have a promotion battle with Littlehampton at l0 a.m. at St Andrews.   Police escorts have already been promised for the players and spectators are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.   The gates to the pitch are expected to close before the start as a capacity crowd is expected.
PS   We hope Duncan Wood-Allum the Mids player has not sustained a serious injury.

Team: Vince Thomas, Ian Birbeck, Nigel Parker, Robin Carr, John Beales, Ian Penny, Gordon Starks, Rob Williams (1 Goal), Dave Green (2 Goals), Bob Catlow, Sean Ward (1 Goal)

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Littlehampton Men's 2nd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:21:31 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 1 Littlehampton 2^nd XI 2

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

This was a hard fought tussle with no quarter asked or given by either side. We started well with Sam Brazil & Aaron Aitman combining to force a short corner, which Littlehampton had great difficulty in clearing. A second short corner produced a superb save by their keeper from a Nigel Parker flick. Littlehampton fought back but our defence help firm half time 0-0.

The second half saw Littlehampton forcing us to defend desperately but we held out until midway through the half when we gave the ball away just outside our D and Littlehampton took the lead.

Sam Brazil equalised with a skilful push after a good pass by Callum Rudrum. Play flowed from end to end and their willing goal came from a short corner when goalkeeper Vince Thomas allowed the ball to pass between his feet they probably deserve the victory but it was disappointing to concede such a soft goal. All the youngsters played their part and we are grateful to them all for helping us out this may have been a defeat but we did put on a fine team performance.

Many Thanks to Dave Turner and the Littlehampton umpire for controlling some difficult situations.

Team: Vince Thomas, Bob Catlow, Nigel Parker, Robin Carr, Callum Rudrum, John Beales, Howard Wakeling, Priyab Shah, Ciaran Dinning, Aaron Aitman, Sam Brazil (1 Goal), Luke Binstead, Ross Fletcher

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Littlehampton Men's 2nd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:06:12 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI `1 Littlehampton 2^nd XI 4

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

The 6ths championship hopes are in tatters after this defeat, although the score flattered Littlehampton.
We had 10 changes from the previous week but everyone did their best and there was no disgrace in defeat. Worthing in fact had more possession, more shots and more short corners but the experience of the opposition and their goalkeeper was too much for our young experienced side. Littlehampton scored first but Ollie Wakeling equalised following good work by the Callum’s, Fairclough and Rudrum. We conceded again just before half time and soon after the break.

Worthing continued to dominate without finding the net and Littlehampton scored their 4th in another breakaway. Roger Langmaid tried to keep us going in mid-field and Roger Beaney up-front, while Arthur Graham was outstanding.
All the young players gained much from the experience.
Many thanks to umpires Bob Catlow and David Turner and to Bob for the lunch.

Team: Vince Thomas, Jack Dunn, Howard Wakeling, Andrew Tomes, Tom Wookey, Callum Fairclough, Callum Rudrum, Arthur Graham, Ollie Wakeling (1 Goal), Roger Beaney, Ben Gosden, Roger Langmaid

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Middleton & Bognor Men's 3rd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:59:18 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 4 Bognor Men’s 3^rd XI 4

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

The 6ths returned to action after a 3-week wait and journeyed to Bognor. It had only been Bob Catlow's persuasion, which ensured the game would be played. Thanks Bob.

On Friday evening the M & B wanted to cry-off but Bob insisted they play, if only with 8 men. It turned out that at least 3 of these were 1st X1 players and in the second half these "guests" mad their mark. The pitch seemed to have been filled with volcanic lava and this combined with the long plastic grass made hockey almost impossible. However, we were glad to play again and following good work by John Beales and Priyav, Alex Jones opened our account. M & B soon equalised but John Phillips restored our lead and Jones soon made the score 3-1. A succession of short corners eventually led to Luke Price making the half time score 4-1.

The second half was much different with their guests carving holes in our defence to reduce the deficit to 4-3. Their equaliser though was presented to them as our goalkeeper made what is becoming his habitual howler. The game was played in very good spirit.

Many thanks to those who helped out at the last minute. Mike Bagnell has signed a 2-year contract after his inspiring performance. Thanks also to the 2 M & B umpires.

Team: Vince Thomas, John Edwards, Bob Catlow, Robin Carr, Howard Wakeling, Mike Bagnell, John Beales, Priyav Shah, Luke Price (1 Goal), John Phillips (1 Goal), Alex Jones (2 Goals)

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Crowborough Men's 3rd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:29:49 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 1 Crowborough 3^rd XI 0

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

This was the most enjoyable game of the season in all respects. Previously unbeaten Crowborough had no complaints about their narrow defeat and if our shooting had been more accurate we would have scored more goals.

The team sheet revealed some unusual names.   8 Tigers/Wolves who all contributed much especially Brad House and Gavin Walker, John Burke who usually plays Lacrosse, Simon Burfield who usually plays rugby and a new mystery goalkeeper who was not the same custodian who played at Littlehampton and M & B.   Bob Catlow's scouting network puts Man City's in the shade.
We started with some excellent moves and with such slick inter-passing that the reporter could not see whose shot hit a post.   After missing a number of chances we finally allowed Crowborough into our D and faced the first of many short corners.   Crowborough's shots were well practised and almost all produced a hard shot on target.   The first beat our keeper but John Edwards foot stopped the ball. The obligatory flick was saved as our keeper guessed correctly even though the flick was a soft one.   We went back on the attack with Callum Rudrum, Adam Hart and Aaron Aitman prominent but we could not find the net.   Half-time 0-0.
The second half saw us produce many more opportunities whilst Crowborough won many more short corners.   Eventually Gavin Walker combined with Matt Isaac down the left and his sheer determination and courage gave him the opportunity to score the only goal with a shot from about knee height.   John Edwards, Richard Rudrum and Howard Wakeling kept out all the opposition short corners and we thoroughly deserved the narrow victory.

David Turner and the Crowborough official played a full part in such an enjoyable contest. Many thanks.

Team: Vince Thomas, Richard Rudrum, John Edwards, Brad House, Simon Burfield, John Burke, Callum Rudrum, Howard Wakeling, Ben Gosden, Gavin Walker (1 Goal), Matt Isaacs, Adam Hart, Aaron Aitman, Ciaran Dinning

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Crawley Men's 4th XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:41:40 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 3 Crawley Men’s 3^rd XI 1

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

The 6^th XI registered their first win on the road with another excellent team performance at Hazelwick School, Including more of Catlow's signings, this time Callum Fairclough and Aaron Chapman, we dominated most of the first half. Our first goal was made by Fairclough and scored by Cairon Ross-Thomas.

The second came after 2 successive short-corners. The first of which was won by Howard Wakeling who is returning to fitness of an Olympic 400 metre runner. One moment Howard wins a tackle in our D, the next he is causing a short corner at the other. The second of these short corners eventually produced our second goal scored by Aaron Chapman. The sheer determination of a number of Worthing players refused to let the ball out of the Crawley D and Aaron eventually forced the ball home. Many thanks Aaron. Half-time 2-0.

Crawley introduced reinforcements for the second half and for long periods we were under the cosh, facing numerous short corners. John Humphries was prominent in the attacks we did muster. The Worthing defence was outstanding, Howard Parker, Robin Carr and Josh Barron making repeated tackles and interceptions and the marking in mid-field staying tighter than the first half.

Eventually Crawley breached our defence with a hard shot just inside the left post. However, this sparked us to more attacks. Soon Fairclough blasted a hard pass into the D, which Ross Thomas skilfully deflected into the net. A move which had been rehearsed on the training ground. Well done to both. Crawley still came back at us but the defence held firm. Crawley had had the majority of possession in the second half but it was our team spirit, which saw us home. Four of our team who served us so well were Tigers who after a quick lunch journeyed to Angmering for other fixtures. Many thanks lads and to Mrs Barron and Bob Catlow for taxiing them.

Team: Vince Thomas, Josh Barron, Nigel Parker (Capt), Robin Carr, Howard Wakeling, Callum Fairclough, Cairon Ross-Thomas (2 Goals), Gavin Walker, Aaron Chapman (1 Goal), Ollie Fenton, Ross Fletcher, Jon Humphreys

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs South Saxons Men's 4th XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:39:11 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 3 South Saxons 4^th XI 2

Submitted By: Vince Thomas

Before reporting this weeks match, I must thank Bob Catlow and the Crawley official for their excellent umpiring last week.
This week we recorded our 3rd successive triumph in front of 2 more excellent umpires - David Carter and David Turner. Many thanks to them also.

The final score of 3-2 does not reflect the game. We were on top for long periods especially in the second half. Our first goal came when John Beales fed Brad House, who put man of the match Jon Humphreys through for a fine finish. South Saxons equalised from a well-worked short corner after a spell of pressure. Half time 1-1.
Worthing's second goal came from the best move of the game. Richard Rudrum started the move deep in our half feeding James Hanson. James passed to Callum Rudrum who in turn supplied Humphreys. Jon's hard cross was then skilfully turned in by Aaron Aitman. There were 2 minutes left when our defence disintegrated and to our horror Saxons equalised. However, James Hanson saw a gap in Saxons defence, passed to Gavin Walker and Jon Humphreys saved our blushes with his second goal and the winner.
An enjoyable game for the most part but we made it difficult by wasting a lot of chances.
Many grateful thanks to ALL the Tigers/Wolves who helped us out and for John and Christine Beales for supplying tea at very short notice.

Next week we play at Lewes in a friendly. Let's make sure we are all available for the next league match at Mid-Sussex on January 2lst.

If you are not playing next week then enjoy the festive period but come back ready to continue our charge up the league!

Team: Vince Thomas, Richard Rudrum, John Edwards, Robin Carr, John Beales, Howard Wakeling, James Hanson, Brad House, Arthur Graham, Josh Barron, Ollie Fenton, Aaron Aitman (1 Goal), Gavin Walker, Jon Humphreys (2 Goals), Callum Rudrum

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Penguins Men's 2nd XI" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:23:14 +0000

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 1 Penguins Men’s 3^rd XI 1

Submitted By: Dan French

A tournament for a combined 5th and 6th XI Captained by Howard Wakeling, away to Penguins 2nd & 3rd XI consisting of 2, 35 minute, one end games.

Worthing Men’s 6^th XI 0

Penguins Men’s 2^nd XI 3

Match "Men's 6th XI Vs Chichester Cardinals" Report By frenchie30

frenchieatwhc@live.co.uk (Admin) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:19:39 +0000

Chichester Cardinals 0

Submitted By: Howard Wakeling

This was the first outing for the 6^th XI in 2012 and saw the average age of the team even lower than in recent games. The sun beat down as the teams assembled on the pitch, an ever-confident Chichester team practiced at one end as their Worthing rivals arrived too late to warm up due to the supply of a dodgy postcode! As well as they practiced; the Cardinals were unaware of the titanic struggle they were about to embark on. It was a game of one half as it turned out – theirs. The ball very rarely left the Chichester half such was the Worthing domination. Indeed the Jedwood’s flawless goalkeeping involved him not actually touching the ball once. At times the congestion in the Chichester D matched that in the Festival Theatre car park after the match!

John Humphries opened the scoring when he took the ball off the keeper’s kicker to slot home. Then with sustained pressure Worthing were awarded several short corners, two of which were put in by Leo French with powerful shots from lay-offs to the right. There was time before the interval for Alex to make it 4-0 after an excellent display of ball control in the D.

Most of the play came from Prof playing in front of the backs and steering the ball left and right depending on the opportunity at the time. He dominated the midfield.

In the second half the defence had very little to deal with except for a few threaded balls all of which were efficiently dealt with by Nigel Parker, again sweeping the ball into space left, right or up to Prof to distribute on. Indeed the defence even tried to pass the ball around the back a couple of times, a manoeuvre generally considered suicidal in our matches. Robin Carr was always first to the ball on the left side and was never passed.

It was not long before Alex had dribbled past the keeper again to make it 5, and then again after picking up a saved reverse stick shot from Marc Hinton (assist claimed! – one of three apparently!). Another short corner and lay off gave Leo the final word a shot which was just low enough to hit the back board with a resounding crack. Seven nil – Marvellous!

A stunning victory to start 2012, let’s hope that we can continue to play like this for the remaining games of the season.

Many of you may have read in the newspapers that a man’s memory starts to disintegrate after 40, so apologies for any factual inaccuracies in this match report. Thank you to Marc Hinton for helping me with some of the detail especially the bit about his 3 assists!

Many thanks to David for travelling to umpire but who was not required in the end as the cardinals had brought two umpires themselves.

Team: John Edwards (GK), Nigel Parker, Robin Carr, Howard Wakeling, Marc Hinton, Jack Hillier, Leo French (3 Goals), John Herbert, James Hanson, Alex Minchell (3 Goals), Tom Gurney, John Humphries (1 Goal), Luke Beaumont