Women’s 1st XI 6 – 0 Wapping 2s
What a game!! The OCs Women’s 1s showed UP on Saturday… and it felt great!
After a bumpy start to the season with mixed performances and results, the W1s, with spot on coaching and motivation from Lauren Moors, finally started playing the way we know we can. Pass and go hockey, working for each other off the ball, selfless leads to create space, and results in the D.
6 goals to us and 5 names on the score sheet. Sexy hockey indeed. Well done to goal scorers Lolly, Easy, Sammy x2, Sylvie and Dani, but everyone should get a mention for the great team effort.
Notable moments:
- Sylvie’s extra dramatic slide deflection goal. We forgive her the drama because it was her first ever goal for OCs!! Woohoo
- Easy showing up feeling sick but having a stormer and earning herself Dame of the Game
- Alex putting in an IMMENSE shift
- Sammy solid as ever and everywhere
- Noddy’s mega sprint and hit across the circle for Dani to deflect in.. also far too dramatic though 🙂
- Emma head butting the oppo but gaining some tasteful bruise-y eye shadow
- Dani working hard to stop Haz climbing up the top goal scorer ladder
- Noddy momentarily replacing her stick with an ax to earn herself a green card
- The smiles, banter and team spirit continuing well into the night at the Oktoberfest social.
Well done gals! Let’s take this energy into the rest of our matches.
Goal Scorers: Sam Kugler (2), Sylvie Adams, Lauren Burgess, Gabs McErlain, Dani Judge
POM: Gabs McErlain
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Women’s 5s 1 – 2 Epsom W5s
Despite great teamwork and skills, it was an unfortunate 2-1 loss for the Women’s 5th team this weekend. We started off with an amazing goal from Jenny however Epsom equalised and then in the second half they managed to score another goal. Well done to our amazing goalie, Eve Verow, for a great game with some amazing saves which earned her player of the match.
Report written by Chloe Higgins
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Men’s Hamstrings 0 – 1 Richmond Rogues
On a balmy afternoon in Richmond, the OC Hamstrings assembled — a motley crew of hockey wanderers from far and wide, united by one noble cause: to play match-winning hockey (and maybe earn bragging rights at the bar afterwards).
After the usual warm-up led by Jamie — complete with stretches that would make a yoga instructor proud — the team huddled for a tactical briefing. There was detailed intel on the opposition’s style, their strengths, and how they liked to play. Somewhere in that analysis, someone even managed to sneak in a reference to the Chinese Spy Scandal. No-one’s quite sure why; perhaps to remind us to keep our passes secret.
The Hamstrings burst out of the gates, dominating the first half with relentless pressure. The Old Cranleighans moved the ball at high tempo, unsettling Richmond and pinning them deep in their own half. Several chances came and went — the ball flashing across goal, sticks swinging in frustration — but somehow the scoreboard refused to budge.
Then came the moment of drama. Richmond finally broke through on a counterattack, their lone forward sprinting free. Jon East, channelling his inner superhero, dashed back to save the day — only to collide spectacularly with the attacker. What should have been a short corner (and maybe a polite green card) was instead awarded as a penalty flick. Richmond converted, much to everyone’s disbelief, and took a 1–0 lead into halftime.
The second half saw more of the same: OC piling on the pressure, Richmond clinging on for dear life. The hosts parked the proverbial bus, stacking their defence as if guarding the Crown Jewels. Despite the Hamstrings’ best efforts and slick passing, the equaliser just wouldn’t come.
When the final whistle blew, it ended 1–0 to Richmond — a frustrating result, but far from a defeat in spirit. The Hamstrings showed grit, skill, and flashes of brilliance that bode well for the next outing after the October mid-term break.
All in all, a performance that deserved more on the scoresheet — and one that proves this band of hockey misfits is starting to find its rhythm.
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Half time break, back on… at no point did our heads drop, and with some continued lovely moments of play and the end drawing nearer it became a battle of fitness as the number of interceptions started to go up. We had a few shots on goal but narrowly missed, the ball was then suddenly at the other end of the pitch but defenders did well to pass back through the mids to the attackers and another attempt, so close… 3 mins, 2 mins… suddenly a shot on goal and it goes in!!! Yeahhhhh well done to Jeanette, it was 3-2 whistle blew, game over, match won!!! Great effort 🙂
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Well, the first quarter at least with the Samurai under pressure in our own half mostly self inflicted by giving possession away… often.It was an early start for the Ladies 2s on the league’s slip date – a match that should have been our season opener. Unfortunately, the first time around, the Wanderers turned up to find a rather crucial piece of equipment missing: nets! So, the rematch was rescheduled, with one silver lining, we got to host this time.
The sun made a rare and glorious appearance (although binding in the first half!), and a healthy squad of fifteen players took to the pitch, ready to go. With co-captains Jax and Lea away (and no speaker to fill the void), Sophie stepped up to keep morale high, regaling the team with tales from her recent trip to Copenhagen. The story involved a free painting, a saw, some highly questionable packing decisions, and, inevitably, a unanimous vote for Dick of the Day.
With ten minutes to go, OC dug deep. A stick tackle on Sophie in the D earned a short corner, and a beautifully executed left-slip play saw Gabby send a pinpoint slap across goal, perfectly deflected home by Lily. 2–1, and game on.
The final minutes were spent almost entirely in the Wanderers’ D, but despite relentless pressure, the equaliser just wouldn’t come.