Match Reports For Saturday 29th January Season 2004 - 2005

Mens 1st XI

Staines faced the trip down to Kent to play an in form Gore Court side who had taken points off top of the table Brighton last saturday. Staines were confident after their second half performance against Slough and were looking for all three points. However, this was not to be after a poor performance led to a 3-2 loss.

The game began with both sides feeling each other out and there was not much goal mouth action during the first period. Both sides were defending well and chances were rare. It was GC who eventually took the lead with a disputed strike from a penalty corner which flew into the top corner of the Staines goal. This led to howls of protest against the umpire none of which were heard and Staines were 1-0 down.
The game continued with out much excitement until GC extended their lead on the break. Their skillful centre forward having the freedom of the Staines half to round 'keeper Andy Green and roll the ball into the goal. This is how the score remained up to half time.

The second half was similar to the first in terms of chances with neither side creating many. It was Staines who pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 through a James Chapman penalty stroke after Mike Farmer's shot had been illegally stopped on the line. This put a bit more fire into Staines' play and they proceeded to apply pressure to the GC defence. However, it was GC who struck again when some weak tackling allowed a GC forward through on goal to slip the ball into the Staines goal. This gave GC the game and although Geraint Hughes managed to pull a goal back after a great through ball by Stuart Hall there was not enough time for Staines to engineer a comeback.

Staines' season continues to disappoint in the league and this saturday they take on Tulse Hill at home. On sunday they have a cup game at home when they take on Guernsey in the Harrods Trophy. Where they will be looking to continue their good cup form.

Mens 2nd XI

Mens 3rd XI

Mens 4th XI

Mens 5th XI

Mens 6th XI

Things are looking quite rosy for the 6th XI these days. The policy of playing hard teams from Eastcote and Teddington over the Xmas break has borne fruit, keeping us sharp and extending our run to four consecutive league wins. After dropping close to the drop zone back in November we have now risen to 4th place.

We are still missing Mark and Greg through injury, and this week we were missing James who was away in Wales. The upper teams were struggling for numbers this week so we gave Dougie up to the 3's and Luke, Kishan, Matty and Phil to the 5th XI. In situations like this we simply give another of our colts a debut, this week Olly being the call.

After a trouble free drive up to Bicester we arrived early enough to get 25 mins warm-up on an empty pitch. Not surprisingly we started very quickly and pushed Bicester further and further back into their half, helped by the considerable slope and a brisk following wind. Chances were created, and then missed. Short corners were won, but the home defenders were quick off the blocks and prevented any clean strikes being taken at goal.

Then Chris pounced on a loose ball and executed a classical flat-reverse stick (straight from the training pitch !!!) shot across the keeper and into the far corner ... 1-0.

The home side were not threatening our goal at all, and the only incident of note in our D was when their striker came in from the wrong side on Gordon whilst he was clearing the ball (not something I would do!) ... and got a stick on the chin .. cue the blood and the end of his game for this week. Hope there was no serious damage.

Unfortunately with quite a few of our regulars missing this week our 4-4-2 shape left us a little short inside the D and isolated Jack in the unfamilar territory of left wing-back. Gasping at the end of the game he did make a pitiful request to play at the back again next week - I suspect he'll get a bit more fitness work on Thursday instead.

This meant that despite dominating the first 30 mins we still only had the one goal to show for it. Bicester to their credit had held firm and now started to make some progress into our half and you could see the belief growing within them.

HT: 1-0 ... Good start, let's use more triangles, and let's watch out because they will come at us hard with the wind and slope in their favour.

I don't know what Bicester had to drink after half-time, and I certainly wasn't going to administer a wee sampling session - but they came out really fired up. I think they might have targetted myself and Gordon for a bit of the hassle-treatment, as everytime we got the ball a stick appeared - sometimes on the ball, and sometimes on the stick. The effect was instant as it disrupted our passing game and by turning over possession in midfield they turned the game their way. They also changed shape to stretch the play down both wings, and a break from the halfway line saw the right winger drive the ball down into our 25 and a great pullback to the p-spot. Their forward swept at the ball but missed ... phew! that was close. Aaaaggggghhhh ! We fail to clear the ball at the back post and their forward slots it home ... rats rats and rats again. 1-1

The wind and slope suddenly felt much harder and steeper. As teams do when under pressure we started to drop deeper to prevent them getting behind us, but all this did was encourage their defence and midfield to push up further. A couple of scrambles inside our D gave us a scare, but Matty stood up well in goal, and some calm clearances kept them out.

Fortunately we weathered the storm and being a 2nd half team we came back strong and won a few short corners with Chris especially starring as a deep centre-forward, dropping back to win the ball regularly, dribbling his way forward and getting free hits and changing the tempo of the game.

Inevitably Gordon would get a short corner away and duly a screamer was despatched into the far corner .. yesaaagghhh, 2-1.

Another break and my shot was blocked on the line in a stick to stick block tackle, the ball ran free and Tim pushed it home ... 3-1. No - the umpire's disallowed it ... apparently for a foot. Ah well you win some and you lose some.

Still, a bit of composure returned and the "kill-the-game" practice from Thursday night training worked for the 2nd away game in a row to secure our 5th straight league win.

FT: Won 2-1
A fine win against very committed opponents - good job they were asleep for the 1st half otherwise it might have been a mighty struggle. Thanks once again to Bicester for providing both umpires it is much appreciated as we need to keep our adults on the pitch so that the kids are not exposed to danger e.g. defending at short corners. We do have a plan in place for next season ... training all our colts to be Level 1 umpires so they can play in one game and umpire another.

Next week a difficult game against Slough - 11:30 at Feltham. Then OMT's away the week after. Here is hoping that we get a few of our stronger players back. A win next week and 4th place at the end of the season would become a distinct possibility - and that would mark a very successful year indeed after promotion last year !!

Mens 7th XI

Mens Centurions

Ladies 1st XI

HAVANT GOT IT

Help...we're playing a South Div One team
Afraid, not us.....we play like a dream
Victory is the only sign
A fine display from the forward line
Nice work Alex and Ros
Tips on one on one needed boss
Golf shot from CKK and Doris of the Day
One goal for Havant, what can I say
The 2nd half and we get stuck in
In the name of Staines, we're going to win
The flick from Mel, another to Bambi
And Havant..they didn't even thank me

Snatch of the Match - Bambi
Doris of the Day - Captain Katie Kate

Ladies 2nd XI

Dear Diary

Wed 26 Jan: Following last weekend's win, training was a must. Coaches Shay & Duncan looking good with new slim line figures. Coach Duncan sporting new haircut too. Lots of running AGAIN, and short corner practise. Ali's legs almost seized up with all that crouching down to stick stop. She's not normally on her knees for that length of time!

Fri 28 Jan: Early to bed, and no alcohol, league game against NPL tomorrow. 1pm meet for 2pm game.

Sat 29 Jan 1pm: Assemble at NPL. No keeper as yet, but Mags is on her way, we have faith she will be here on time. Move into changing rooms for team talk where it's most definitely colder in than out. Coach Duncan sorts out heating by moving portable radiator to far end of changing room, where it can be plugged in. He has his uses. Coach Duncan suggests team bonding by huddling round the radiator and singing camp fire songs. Maybe not eh?

Sat 29 Jan 1.15 - 1.40pm: Down to serious stuff. Coach Duncan feels we need to focus earlier on the game, so no more girlie chats. Let's be professional. Don't let the tall NPL forward get into the game, whoever's closest step in front of her, coz after a while she'll get bored and give up running. Go out there be tough and stick some goals in. We have a tough game against Teddington next week, let's focus girls. According to Coach we have 10 mins before we need to warm up. Hurrah.

Sat 29 Jan 1.42pm: Coach Duncan yells time to go. Think we must have all mistaken 2 mins til warm up for 10 mins til warm up, blimey there's no time to breathe in the 2s. Out we trudge into the cold and damp trying to raise a smile. Still no Mags, let's not panic yet girls.

Sat 29 Jan 1.45pm: Hels takes the warm up as instructed by Coach. It follows the usual routine, but she decides to slip in a few cheeky sprints at the end. Like we're not exhausted already after two laps round the pitch? Oli announced she wasn't going to stand next to Ali for sprinting, she didn't give a reason, so I'm assuming it's coz I'm quicker than her. Such charm in the 2s. Hurrah Mags is here, we can all breathe sigh of relief. She comes bearing tales of Captain Katie Kate's own goal-excellent mileage to be had out of that. Anyone have a camcorder to hand for that?

Sat 29 Jan 2pm: Game under way

Sat 29 Jan 2pm - 3.30pm: Fantastic team performance and we experienced a miracle at half time. Notable diary points:

1: We won 6-0
2: Baldy scored a hat trick
3: Jo Ive scored twice - welcome to the 2s Jo
4: Ruth getting in on the action and snatching a goal
5: We FINALLY scored from a short corner, not the planned routine but hey we're not proud
6: Hels F to Captain Lou 'Lou there's a big hole there'. Captain Lou to Hels 'That's because you should be there Hels'
7: Suzi, Suki, Lou and Fish running rings around the oppo and riling them big time.
8: Lizzy making some great runs on the forward line, and really unlucky not to score. She works really hard - maybe this week she will be rewarded with a goal that's if Baldy is prepared to share the glory.
9: Yvonne's knee making a full recovery, so that NPL can feel the full force of her defence strategy.
10: Ez picking up a slightly wayward pass from Ali with superior grace and elegance which dazzled everyone particularly the advancing NPL forward
11: Mags making some great saves - well we weren't going to drag you all the way over to Teddington without getting you involved. It's a team game after all.
12: There's a miracle at half time, Coach Duncan arrives for the team talk with the immortal words 'You're playing really well I've got nothing to say' - stunned silence all round really
13: Oli making some awesome tackles in defence - I won't bear a grudge about you not wanting to stand next to me in the warm up sprints.
14: Ali being taken out unceremoniously by an NPL forward - Fish commented on the look Ali threw the oppo on picking herself up off the floor. It was one of 'I don't know what your problem is but I bet it's hard to pronounce'
15: Ez getting lots of short corner practice, and picking off the NPL forwards with ease as they tried to take her on.
16: Final whistle - chaos panic and disorder amongst the NPL team - our work here is done.

Sat 29 Jan 3.45pm: Back in the NPL club house we decide to do Man of the Match, votes quite widespread but overall winner was Baldy. Fish said it wasn't the same without Oli's customary drum roll, but Ali had to point out that Oli had eaten so much her arms were too heavy to lift up !

Sat 29 Jan 4.15pm: Back at Staines feeling upbeat about the 6-0 win. Seems however that the Mens 2s have stolen our thunder this week and are Top Dogs with a 10-0 win. They also seem to be sporting very smart dark blue tops with PTOTY on them. They are all looking very good bit of a fashion statement going on there. We may have to rise to the challenge girls.

Ladies 3rd XI

The lovely 'young and mobile' Staines Ladies 3rd XI have worked out the average age of our team is 39, and therefore will be known in future as the '39'ers'

This week the Staines 39'ers were pitched against the hard to beat, top of the league, Ashford 2's. Staines started with focus and high energy following our usual dynamic warm-up. With coach Sticky calling/supporting on the sideline and Wendy and Tracey back from injury, Julie P came out of goalkeeping retirement (a one off special promotion) we were set to have a great game against our top of the league oppo. Start of the game looked promising as Staines had the upper hand for the first 10 minutes and kept most of the possession keeping Ashford from scoring till halfway into the first half. At half time with the score at 2-0 to Ashford, Coach Sticky gave a rousing, motivational and energising coach-speech. Staines started the 2nd half hard and fast endeavouring to close the gap. Juliet and an Ashford player were severely reprimanded by Umpire Clark ('he's a big softy really' - a spokesperson said) for an off the ball incident which included verbals and handbags at 50 paces! Anyway this event was neutralised by Juliet scoring and putting Staines on the map. The goal helped lift the team but the big push just came too late. Final score 1-4. Great team effort by all!

Doris: Juliet
Man: Ingrid Fear & Louise Clark

Ladies 4th XI