5th XI

Mens_Teams

Ladies
Teams

Ladies 1

Ladies 2

Youth

U16

U14

Home

Old Williamsonian Hockey Club

5th XI

Link to league table

Link to last weekend's league results

Captain : Kevin Haselden

2008
DATE		Opposition		Venue	Result
SEP	6	Tournament		H	-	-
	13	Wellcome Unicorns	F	A 3:00	W	2-1
	20	Ashford 7	F	A 11:30	D	2-2
	27	Anchorians 5	F	A 4:30	W	5-1
OCT	4	New Beccs 5	F	A 4:30	W	4-2
	11	Holcombe 6B	L	H 4:30	L	2-3
	18	Cobdown 2	L	A 2:00	W	5-1
	25	Ashford 7	L	H 4:30	W	5-1
NOV	1	Herne Bay 5	L	A 11:00	W	3-2
	8	Folkestone 7	L	H 4:30	W	6-0
	15	Gore Court 6	L	A 10:30	W	7-4
	22	Cobdown 3	F	H 12:30
	29	New Beccs 5	L	A 1:30
DEC	6	Sevenoaks 6	L	H 4:30
	13	Old Bordenians 4B	F	A 3:00
	20	Holcombe 6B	F	A 3:30
2009
JAN	3	-	-	-
	10	Anchorians 5	F	H 3:00
	17	-	-	-
	24	Holcombe 6B	L	A
	31	Cobdown 2	L	H 3:00
FEB	7	Ashford 7	L	A
	14	Herne Bay 5	L	H 3:00
	21	Folkestone 7	L	A
	28	Gore Court 6	L	H 4:30
MAR	7	Cobdown 3	F	A 11:30
	14	New Beccs 5	L	H 3:00
	21	Sevenoaks 6	L	A
	28	Holcombe 6B	F	H 4:30
APR	4	-	-	-
To download fixture lists for this season click here.

Match Report 15-11-08

Gore Court 6 4 : Old Williamsonians 5 7

OW’s development side enjoyed another fine match, played in a good spirit against sporting opponents, on a glorious Autumn morning at Sittingbourne.

The away side were on the attack from the first whistle, and dominated the first 20 minutes, virtually camping in the Gore Court half, as their superior midfield controlled the game. ‘Court survived an early scare when a Peter Wright short corned shot was deflected against the post, but Wright eventually opened the scoring with a neat lob over the ‘keeper following good approach work by Mike Tyrell. Within a couple of minutes, the Willies doubled their lead when Tyrell again delivered a teasing pass into the danger area, Wright touched it past the ‘keeper for Ben Stroud to score with a calm reverse stick finish.

Rare Gore Court forays were ably dealt with by Sam Heyes, and Oliver Vinnicombe, whose covering and tackling was, again, outstanding, and skipper Kevin Haselden was happy to watch and admire from the relative safety of his sweeper position. Jake Haddow harried and chased, frequently winning back the ball from unlikely positions and prompting fresh attacking moves with thoughtful distribution. The superiority of the away side at this point led to some over complicated hockey, with players holding the ball a little too long instead of making the simple passes that were available.

Willies increased their lead with a crunching short corner from Wright, but then saw ‘Court reduce the arrears when an underworked Laurence Claughton had a shot deflected past him off a defender’s stick. 3 – 1 at halftime and the Willies knew that they needed to score the next goal to prevent the improving home team from getting back into the match.

Josh Heyes, playing at right half, came more into the game after the break, making some penetrating runs, and linking up well with Josh Haddow on the wing. A number of dangerous crosses caused the home defence some discomfort and short corners awarded. Mike Tyrell extended OW’s lead when he slammed home the rebound after a good block by the home ‘keeper, though ‘Court then scored again following a good break through midfield. Claughton made a fine save from the initial shot, but the defence failed to clear the loose ball and it was forced home from close range.

Jamie Thomas continued his recent very good form on the left, getting through a lot of work as he foraged in midfield, and he set up further opportunities for his forwards. Peter Wright scored another short corner as the pressure told on the Gore Court defence, but the home side again broke through to reduce the arrears to 5-3. Willies switched yet another short corner to Tyrell, who scored with another crisp shot, and even Oliver Vinnicombe came close when his determined run saw him reach the unfamiliar territory of the opposing circle.

The younger players of both sides continued to play well, encouraged by their more experienced team mates, and both sides scored again, Wright hitting his fourth, and Willies’ seventh, when seizing on a loose ball and converting past the stranded home ‘keeper.

Credit should go to umpire Pete Meyers and his Gore Court colleague for their common sense approach that reflected the good spirit of this enjoyable encounter.

Match Report 8-11-08

Old Williamsonians 5 6 : Folkestone 7 0

This was a terrific performance from the home team, against a more experienced side that certainly presented plenty of problems for the Willies’ defence to deal with. The early exchanges were even and OW ‘keeper Lawrence Claughton had to be at his best to foil some determined Folkestone attacks.

But the young Willies players are gaining in confidence each week and it was no surprise that Jacob Newnham added to his impressive tally of goals at the senior level after 20 minutes, neatly sliding the ball past an advancing goalie whilst fending off the close attentions of the Folkestone defence. Further attacks saw Peter Wright and Brian Phipps go close before Newnham bagged a second, when a speculative shot was deflected past the unsighted ‘keeper by a defenders’ leg. The umpires briefly conferred, but the goal was rightly awarded.

This spurred Folkestone into more attacking play, but OW skipper Kevin Haselden continued his fine recent form, tidying up when necessary behind the very solid tackling and covering of Sam Heyes and Ollie Vinnicombe. Claughton made two further good stops from close range to preserve the Willies’ lead, but the introduction of Peter Heyes added extra speed and skill to the home attack, and relieved the pressure.

Folkestone were then most unfortunate to lose a player to injury, and Newnham then all but completed his hat trick, only to see his goal bound shot knocked in at close range by Jake Haddow. Both Jake and his brother Josh were again playing well and are beginning to settle in to these games against much older (and weightier) opponents. 3 – 0 at half time, but Willies knew that this game wasn’t won.

Having the unusual luxury of two goalkeepers, Willies brought on Sam Pepper for the second half, and moved Peter Heyes back into defence. The excellent midfield play of Jamie Thomas and Ben Stroud continued to dominate, with Amrik Dhinsa again showing good awareness and distribution on the right. For a while, the game was evenly poised but Willies had the greater goal threat with Newnham and Wright finding more space as Folkestone pushed forward.

The fourth goal came when the lively home forwards again broke free, Newnham finding Wright for a sharp finish. Sam Pepper was then forced into action twice in quick succession to make good clearances as the depleted away team had probably their best spell of the game, but Wright then slammed a lovely pass from Jamie Thomas high into the net to dash any hopes of a Folkestone comeback.

Still Willies pressed, and Jacob Newnham was unlucky to see a sweetly-struck reverse stick shot clatter the post. But striking colleague Peter Wright emphatically buried a short corner to complete a second half hat trick and a very satisfactory afternoon for the Willies.

Match Report 18-10-08

Cobdown 2 1 : Old Williamsonians 5 5

Willies won their first league points of the season with a good win against an improving Cobdown side, on a delightful sunny Autumn afternoon.

The early skirmishes provided chances for both sides, but both ‘keepers made good saves and it took a period of OW’s pressure before Cobdown finally conceded the opening goal when Jacob Newnham drove into the ‘D’ and fired a great cross-shot home from a narrow angle. But Willies’ defence had plenty to do to maintain the lead, with Kevin Haselden again outstanding in covering any Cobdown attacks that broke through.

Cobdown then looked to have scored an equaliser from a well struck short corner, only for sharp-eyed umpire Trevor Jordan to correctly disallow the strike for an infringement. The home side’s protests led to a short phase of disjointed play, with both sides rattled and more disputed decisions. Michael Tyrell took advantage of one of these and wriggled into the circle to score a neat solo goal and give the visitors the cushion that their generally superior play merited.

Willies made a couple of tactical changes at halftime, bringing Anthony Coveney back into his favoured centre midfield role, and moving the excellent Jamie Thomas to his natural left midfield post, Tyrell then moving to the right. These changes resulted in a much more cohesive shape and Willies stepped up the tempo of their attacking play, with Peter Heyes finding plenty of space with good running and inventive passing. Jacob Newnham then scored Willies’ third with another crisp strike and could have added to his tally but for some excellent goalkeeping.

Cobdown were not out of the game however, and Oliver Vinnicombe made some super challenges and Laurence Claughton some terrific saves before being beaten by a lofted strike that was knocked down past him, from almost on the goal line. Another good effort from the home side saw a Claughton make a great double save, then a defender cleared off the line to keep the Willies’ advantage. Brian Phipps was called back into defence to aid the cause, though Josh Haddow was pretty solid all day and very little got past his determined tackling.

Meanwhile, as the game opened up, Amrik Dhinsa and Jake Haddow showed some good touches to set Heyes free on the right wing on a number of occasions, and from one such move a fine cross was despatched by Peter Wright. The veteran striker thought he had scored another shortly afterwards, but his cleanly-struck short corner was ruled out as umpire Jordan hadn’t signalled for play to continue. The Cobdown defence also cheerfully suggested that the ball had been hit too hard!

Further intelligent running off the ball from Jacob Newnham, who is revelling in his centre-forward position, opened up the home defence, and Heyes, Tyrell and Thomas all came close to adding to the score before Anthony Coveney found Wright who struck home from 10 yards to complete the victory.

All in all, this was a decent performance from Willies, whose four senior players were delighted with the confidence, determination and skill displayed by their young colleagues. Cobdown played their part in a good contest, and would not have been flattered by a closer scoreline.