Ashford (Middlesex) Hockey Club

Ladies hockey Saturday 21.1.12
The Ladies 3’s game today was conceded by the opposition, so they had a 2-0 walkover and the three points keep them in 4th place. The ever keen 3’s squad decided to meet up at Short Lane to practice instead and coaches Bubbles and Mark Appleton turned up to put them through some drills. . Pleased to report that the 1’s won 3-2 away and scored in the 2nd minute (well done Nicky Benedict) and move up to 5th place in the Premier division. The 2’s were held to a 0-0 draw at home despite the opposition only having ten players, but still remain in 4th position. The full results were:

1st XI beat Hendon & Mill Hill 1st XI 3-2 (away)

2nd XI drew with Hendon & Mill Hill 2nd XI 0-0 (home)

Funnily enough, the two men’s games played at Short Lane were also 0-0 draws which is very unusual for our pitch/teams!

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Ashford Ladies 3s – Home to PHC Chiswick, WON 3-0 (Chloe Russell, Nicki Davis, Nikki Croxon)

So the Ladies 3’s were at home against Chiswick and we were ready for a good game! We started off strong, attacking down the right side hard with Chloe Russell working extra hard to get the ball down the line to Megan Hurley. Not long into the game this worked and the ball got back to Chloe in the D and she took a shot at the goal from an angle that didn’t seem possible to score from but she did and we were winning 1-0. This was just what we needed . In the second half we continued to all work hard and the attack came from the right and left side with Jenny Tippell in the middle fighting strong to get the ball up the pitch. Ellie Watson displayed some beautiful skills alongside Jenny as she went round their players without any trouble. Then Abi Frith got a break on the left and after going round a few people, got the ball to Nicky Davis who hit it at the goal for their goalkeeper to try and keep it away but Nicky was too quick and there was our second goal!

Our defence remained strong throughout the game with Charlie Poulter in goal making some saves but we didn’t have much to worry about with our defence working hard to clear the ball. We had a few chances to score, one of which was Chloe Russell showing true commitment when she dived for the ball but unfortunately missed and hurt her elbow. We also lost our left back, Irene Okello to injury for 10 mins but she came back on fighting and got the ball down the wing which then went into the D for Nikki Croxon to score her first goal of the season making it 3-0! Brilliant result for Ashford 3’s ! The start of many wins to come!

Ashford Ladies 2s – Away to Eastcote, lost 5-1 (Becky Hewes)

This week’s game saw the Ladies 2s travel over to regular rivals Eastcote. With two blinding wins under our belts we were buzzing for win number three. Even if we were in white! The first half started off with Ashford having the main possession and another win looked promising. With some fast breakaways our rivals they soon got their first goal. Hungry to come back Sam Clarey and Man of the Match Jules Steer, made some great attacking runs through the middle. Shots towards goal were many but Ashford struggled to score. A much worn out side finished the first half 3-0 down but fought to keep heads up with our loud supporter Jacqui Bashford.

The second half started with strong attacks from the Eastcote side who in turn added 3 more goals to their tally for the first part of the second half. Strong defending from Hilary Hull and Alex Saunders saw Ashford hold their ground to push back any more attacking runs from the opposition. With the ball now out of our half Molly Davis and Cath Evans made an excellent pairing down the right wing to see some goal scoring opportunities worry the oppo. Eventually with another tough attack down the right wing Jules Steer picked up the ball at p-spot for Becky Hewes to slap the ball bottom corner for a goal.

For what was a tough match for the Ashford side this was a very positive game with the entire team playing really well. Even if we did have Alex hit on the head with a ball, Sam winding herself and Nicola ‘Groomy’ Groom running out of water because she drinks likes a fish. Did I mention we were in ‘unlucky white’?

Ashford Men 2s – Away to Gerrards Cross, lost 3-0.

Having been thrashed the previous week, due to possibly the worst Ashford performance in recent years, we were not overly confident in getting a positive result this week against a top four team in this league. But as we started on Beaconsfield High School beach, which doubles up as a hockey astro on weekends, there was a distinct difference in mind-set than weeks past, for once we were up for the game. And it showed, we started the game strongly, with Steve Taylor and Robbie Grant utilising their pace and stick skills, and Jack Hayes running GX defence ragged. Ironically, our dominance was also our downfall. Having created a terrific opening and getting into GX D, we gave the ball away cheaply, and had over committed. GX slipped 3 or 4 passes and the ball was in the back of our net. Half time and one down, we were disappointed we weren’t ahead, we came out of the blocks after half time superbly again creating opportunities through Matt Samouel and the returning Paul ‘Shar’ Neyton. But again after dominating the period of play we gave away a cheap short corner and were punished. Being 2 down with 15 to go Ashford pushed on, but were once more caught out on the break have lost possession in the opposing 25.

A much better performance from the red and blacks, but having dug ourselves into a bit of a hole, we are going to have to keep up this level of performance to get out of trouble. Starting with Maidenhead at home next week.

Ashford Ladies 1s League – Home vs Mill Hill, drew 1-1 (Maria Cavilla)

Saturday saw Ashford ladies 1′s face (at the start of the day) league leaders Winchmore Hill and Enfield 1′s. A change to the line up saw Maria Cavalia start up front with Captain Lucy Uttley with Kim Downs playing in the left midfield role. It was also a case of half term “itus” as a number of the team were struggling with various bugs and aches and pains!

Ashford had memories of a bad loss against this team last season, so were determined to play far better. With Jacqui Bashford and Nicky Benedict intending to mark tightly in midfield and a strong back four of Wendy Baker, Kim Fry, Emma Hynes and Sophie Smart, Ashford started the game well. With the push back Maria drove forward and put Hill under pressure. Ashford earned a short corner early on that lead straight to another but the Hill defense cleared. They coped well with the Ashford pressure and passed the ball effectively producing attacking opportunities themselves that resulted in great saves from keeper Sam Grant.

Youngster Rasna Sandhu linked well in midfield, creating more attacking play, with Elize Brown coming on to the forward line. Ashford were forced to absorb a lot of pressure from Hill’s right side of the pitch, but kept them out. Half time saw the score remain at 0-0.

Early on in the second half Ashford conceded a somewhat frustrating goal, with all our team “freeze” when we hoped we had heard a whistle for a Hill foul in the D only for the oppo to play on a put the ball away! Lucy Uttley moved into left midfield and link well with Maria up front but even though Ashford earned a number of shorts and created chances Hill held firm.
Finally with only minutes to go Ashford forced another short corner that Maria converted. Ashford were delighted and with strong defensive play from Tracey Holland and man of the match Kim Fry held onto the 1-1 draw, celebrating much to Hill’s frustration at the end of the game.

Next week sees the half term break, so Ashford are back in action on 5th Nov away to Hampstead and Westminster 4′s.

Whilst the times against fixtures seem to have a bug, here’s the times for you as per the latests fixture sheet I have…but please, do check in with captains and let them know your availability…just in case there’s been another update!

SAT 22nd OCTOBER – also PLACE YOUR BETS SOCIAL from 7pm
ladies 1s vs Winchmore Hill HOME at 10.30
Men’s 1s vs Wallingford HOME at 12
ladies 3s vs PHC CHiswick HOME at 1.30
Men’s 5s vs Marlow HOME at 3
Men’s 2s vs Gerrards Cross AWAY at 12
Men’s 4s vs Oxford AWAY at 2.30
Ladies 2s vs Eastcote AWAY at 3

SAT OCT 29th
Ladies 3s vs Hendon & Mill Hill HOME at 12
Mens’s 2s vs Maidenhead HOME at 1.30
Men’s 4s vs Oxford Hawks HOME at 3
Men’s 1s vs Oxford AWAY at 1
Men’s 3s vs Phoenix & Ranlagh AWY at 2.30

Tickets are now available at £1 each or £5 per book for the Grand Draw to be held at our 90th Anniversary Ball on Saturday 24th April. The prizes are many and various:

Cinema in your living room – LCD TV, Blu Ray Player

Hockey Heaven? A selection of Ashford Hockey Club sporting goodies including personalised shirt by WeAdmire.net and hockey kit from TK

ZZZZ…..not now! £100 voucher from Zoppo Hockey

Turning pro? A hockey stick from The ProShop

Ladies Pamper Hamper! Mini spa day at Virgin Staines & other goodies

Picture perfect – A 20” by 30” canvas of your choice from canvasRus.co.uk

Thirst quenching – A selection of South African wines from Cape Wine and Food, Staines.

Restore and revive – a Kinesiology session with Devin Dyason

Time for tea with Teapigs.co.uk – teatime treatsDriving forward? A round of golf for 4 at Stockley Park

Smile  A digital photo frame

Howzat? A pair of tickets for Surrey county cricket at the BritOval

Bubblicious – A bottle of champagne

Bowled over? Glass bowl from Classic Miniatures

Plus others – Buy your tickets from Tracy/Lynne at Short Lane or Wendy/Hayley on ahcsocial@hotmail.co.uk, or buy on the night!

Due to teams in other leagues dropping out and/or other teams not moving up there has been a league restructure. The result has meant that the Men’s 2s, 3s and 5s avoid relegation this season!

Great news for all involved, especially the 5th XI who were furious about being victims of a mid-season league rule change which expanded the relegation zone just enough to scupper their survival chances.

This means all the Men’s teams stay put except for the Men’s 4th XI who jump into MBBO Division 3 thanks to their 2nd place finish.