Men's 4XI vs Wimbledon M6

Hello everyone,

Well, another tough test for us and another result which pretty much tells the story. At least this week the oppo players were actually from the right team, but they caused us the same problems. And as was the case last week, we made it ridiculously easy for them to play the way they wanted to.

This was a match where no one could fault our effort or commitment, but it was one where, if we’re honest with ourselves, we simply came up short. Once again we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves and were unable to make the right in-game adjustments. Sure, we battled hard in a game which was actually pretty even, but it was the self-sabotage which gave us a proper mountain to climb.

Wimbledon were decent. They played fast, aggressive hockey with a gameplan to steal the ball and drive up the middle of the pitch, with supporting options on either flank. They did that number on us several times, three of which came off. We defended it better as they tired and we got on the front foot, but by that time we had left ourselves too much to do.

And in the final analysis, our goal threat wasn’t sufficient, our finishing and decision making in and around the D was mediocre at best, and our ball retention was at times absolutely hopeless. Yeah, we were missing some key players, but if we can’t get the ball to stick, if we can’t keep possession for even three passes in a row, and if we continue to turn the ball over at this rate, we’re going to see a lot more scorelines like this, let me tell you.

Spike

Made a couple of important saves when we were still in the game at 0-1 and 1-2, but for some reason decided to start playing in midfield. It’s okay to be at the top of the D when the oppo is breaking down the middle so much, but letting them go round you three times out of five suggests another strategy might be in order. Ground game was fine, made some noise and didn’t do anything completely stupid, but needs to revisit the one v one drawing board.

Maj

It’s becoming increasingly strange writing “Maj had another good game this week” every Sunday, but it’s true again. The big concern in this game was that Maj would get outrun by a bunch of boys a quarter of his age. In actual fact, this didn’t really happen. True, they concentrated their fire down the middle, but Maj’s defensive effort was enough to effectively eliminate our left side as a channel for them to attack down. He made a couple of top drawer interventions when Wimbledon did threaten, plus of course who can forget that amazing tit save from their last penalty corner. I particularly liked the fact that it didn’t make any noise, as if Maj had some kind of secret padding under his shirt (is this right?).

Farmer

An early casualty of oldgititis, Dave pulled up during the first half and wasn’t able to return. The site of him limping gingerly to his car was extremely sad, although that may still have been the quickest he’s moved all season. We will miss him while he’s out

Barney

Special guest appearance from the Barnster, and he had a typically action-packed but level-headed game. Oppo tried to get a bit more of their wide game going down his side, but invariably had to come back inside because they couldn’t get past him, round him or through him. Defended energetically all game and Wimbledon didn’t get much change out of him. Which will not be the case with his missus if she does decided to divorce him for playing hockey for literally the whole weekend.

Pringle

A decent shift I thought, with plenty of energy and competitiveness. Wimbledon did get through our screen a few times, but to give our defence credit it’s very hard to defend for 70 minutes, and to keep closing attackers down over and over again because when you’ve cleared the ball it just comes straight back. The patented Pring-o-matic long balls were more 50-50, but the tackling was solid, and he covered a couple of Serengeti’s worth of pitch, much to the delight of the travelling Epsom army.

Dave Lee

If Pringle covered a couple of Serengeti’s, Dave must have covered the whole Rift Valley six times over. Whatever they built the Lees out of, we should make battleships out of it. Ferocious in the tackle, limitless in field coverage, and more open and available than a tipsy divorcee at a swingers Bingo night, Dave actually wore down kids who have zero tread on their tyres. Very very close to being MoM, Dave was a driving force in midfield, winning tackles and making a nuisance of himself. His work deserved greater reward from the creative players around him.

Rich

Pretty much “ditto” here. Despite getting crunched by their keeper like a recycled tube of Pringles in a mobile compactor, he fought on. Despite still fighting a losing battle against gravity, as attested by the two tiny slivers of flesh left on his elbows and knees, Rich worked harder and more intensively than an adderall-addicted beaver with a hot new neighbour. And despite all that work, we still gave the ball away cheaply so he had to start all over again. Like a modern day Sisyphus in a sweaty white shirt, he rose to the task, but on this occasion the hill was just too steep.

Boydy

Opinions were mixed on Boydy’s game, and that was reflected in the two main duties he had to perform. In terms of applying pressure, getting stuck in and contesting duels in the Wimbledon half, you couldn’t fault him. He played with energy, commitment and determination with not a little success. That was exactly what we needed. But the part where we drive in on goal, where we beat full backs at pace with the ball under control, and where we complete basic passes to maintain possession, was not always so evident. Boydy had a good game but he needed to have a great game. The skills we see at training deserted the boy too many times just when we needed him to step up, and it is simply a fact that the next few games will require greatness. Tom, your destiny is there to be written.

Jack

The same goes for Jack really. We know the ability is there, and when he got himself amongst it - especially in the second half - we looked dangerous on the counter attack. That really gave Wimbledon something to think about when we pulled back to 2-4, and quite a lot of that pressure went through JMF. But it was on Jack’s flank that we needed the ball to stick every tune, where we needed error-free hockey to maintain possession, where patient sensible build up play would have allowed the forwards to find space and stretch the oppo defence. We have to keep the ball better in those situations, we have to be able to deliver >80% passes, and we have to win the time of possession battle. Jack fought hard all game long, and you can’t criticise that. We can hang with teams when we do that. But it’s not enough to dominate them.

Kwesi

A similar story for our new star signing. Kwez has obvious ability, strength and hockey smarts, and he worked hard in a difficult environment: first game, late in the evening, against a bunch of 15 year olds. It’s like Wile E Coyote coming out of retirement only to find Roadrunner has had sixteen children. Kwesi coped, he battled, and he disrupted very effectively. The creativity, ball security and passing accuracy columns will need more ticks in them next week.

Torbs

Decent showing all things considered, Torbs did give us that more patient, more cautious, more sure-footed midfield play, and he used the ball sensibly and effectively for long spells. He made himself available, found a bit of space and time, and attempted to find a white shirt who wasn’t immediately surrounded by defenders; and that’s really all we needed to do all game: make the oppo work hard, make them feel uncomfortable (and let’s be honest, who does that more effortlessly than Torben?) and don’t give them four goals on a plate. But unfortunately that only works if the whole team works hard and takes good care, and on this occasion not enough of us did.

Mandy

Starved of much in the way of useful or accurate service, Mandy had to do his own grunt work in this fixture. In this he was pretty successful, carving out a handful of opportunities and taking his goal typically well. Mandy helped us move the pressure up the pitch until in the second half Wimbledon were finding it increasingly hard to break out of their half. His positioning was good - it’s just a pity the passes never really got to him with enough pace, anticipation or accuracy. The fact that, as I write a full 24 hours later, he is still making his way home to Croydon on a bus is surely doubly frustrating for the lad.

Ludders

I’ve said in this report that we didn’t create enough, and that our play in the final third wasn’t good enough, but the fact remains that we _did_ have chances. A few of them fell to Ludders, and while they weren’t always clear cut - and let’s be fair to their keeper, he actually stayed on his line and made a few really decent saves - Ludders didn’t end up being his most clinical. We know the lad can score pretty much any type of goal, we’ve seen it time and again to the extent that it’s become almost an expectation; but in a game where we had a very small handful of chances - a one-on-one, a couple of flashes across the goal mouth, and a couple of goal line melees - and where we only lost by two goals, it’s frustrating that we weren’t able to convert any of them in what ended up being one of those ‘nearly’ games.

Nickels

A bright spot in an otherwise underlit match - and I mean that in every sense of the word - was Mr Nickels. Demonstrating ultimate versatility, he put in high quality shifts at right back, defensive midfield and going forward too. His work-rate was Lee-like, his tackling and disruptive play was of a typically high standard, and he weighed in with an absolute howitzer of a goal, right when we needed a shot in the veins. So for his all round play, his dedication to the club, and that goal of the season contender, this week’s MoM goes to Tom on the nod. Congratulations.

Although the history books will say we lost this match 4-2, I actually thought we defended pretty well for most of the game against a fast-breaking and pretty ruthless Wimbledon attack. Yes, they got through too many times and we need to get on top of that, but with some key players out, and the injuries beginning to stack up, we put up a decent fight in a game where it would have been easy to lose control. Perhaps it was another case of us inviting trouble round to dinner and then complaining when it jumps on the table, lobs the mashed potato behind the upright piano, and then takes a dump in the downstairs laundry basket. We have to be firmer, we have to be better, and we have to be more ruthless ourselves.

Two tough games coming up. Please stop getting injured, please come to training to try and work on our close control, possession and short passing, and please make yourselves available for the coming weeks with as much notice as possible. Still plenty of season left to get up off the canvas and come out swinging.

Socials

We’re pretty terrible at being club members, in my view, and part of the fun of being in a hockey club is going out, having a beverage or two, and making friends with other hockey chaps and chapesses. Furthermore I don’t want us to get a reputation for being a bunch of weird recluses who would rather stay at home doing jigsaws of locomotive engines, instead of coming down the clubhouse in some legendarily funky trousers and sinking a few jars in a convivial manner with the rest of the club. It’s boring enough being a librarian as it is.

So please do have a chat amongst yourselves and get a posse down this *Sat 18th October* for the ladies-run bingo night. It’s apparently decent fun. And of course you already have *Sat 15th November* in your diaries, when Britain’s hottest covers band make their debut appearance at Epsom HC. We also need raffle prizes donating, so raid your lofts, clear out your other half’s walk-in wardrobe or do what everyone else in London is doing and just help yourself to a load of stuff from your nearest high street shops, and let’s see if we can raise a few hundred quid for the new clubhouse.

See you next week,

Spike