Men's 4XI vs Old Cranleighan Warriors

Hi everyone,

Welcome to another edition of my ongoing series of short stories entitled “The 4s played well but the scoreline suggests otherwise”. If this season was a Disney film we’d still be in the sad bit at the beginning where the little rabbit’s mum has been run over by a lorry, the little chap’s feeling lost and lonely on a scary farm, and he’s not sure if the fox he’s made friends with is going to eat him. Yes, we keep finding ourselves in tricky situations, but all is not lost and we may yet end up with a happy ending.

This was a classic game of two halves, with a bit of bad luck thrown in, plus a couple of moments of madness. We had a few key players missing, sure, but we still turned up with a team strong enough to compete, and good enough to win. We have talented players throughout the squad, and despite a pretty brutal injury crisis there’s nothing wrong with our group, and no reason why we shouldn’t have got a positive result.

We started very brightly, and OCs did not like it at all. They had to work for everything, and the game was very tight from the off. Possession was probably 50-50, and although they looked possibly the more threatening in attack, our defence looked solid as a rock. Unable to get round the sides thanks to two genuinely excellent performances from our full backs, they were forced inside where they ran into our screen. After a few fruitless attempts at trying to plough through our lines they resorted to hitting long passes, none of which were successful.

Our midfield was leagues better than the last couple of weeks, too. High energy, a great press, and some simple passing kept OCs honest in the middle of the park, and kept the pressure off our back lines. Things were pretty even.

That said, they did get into our 23 a handful of times, and despite some stout defending, they forced a couple of short corners. We did too, but the difference is that they scored from one of theirs. It came just before half time, even though we all knew what was coming, and it seemed a bit harsh going into the break 1-0 down. However, it does go to show how important having effective corner routines is. It really is the difference between winning and losing.

As is customary with this M4 team, though, we responded with energy and guile, and deservedly got ourselves back in the game after a spell of really good pressure, a fantastic run down the left by Dave caused a melee on their goal-line with Jack tapping in.

OCs really didn’t like that and came straight at us. Throwing players forward and putting pressure on us, we needed some smart defending. We handled it well, and crucially were able to break back against them. The issues here was players dropping a bit too deep, so although we absorbed their attacks, won the ball, and cleared our lines, we were struggling to pose a threat. However, we were frustrating them, and had taken the sting out of their response. They started arguing and mouthing off like the tinpot toddlers were know they all are, so you know you’re doing something right.

That’s why it was so disappointing to concede a nothing goal against the run of play, their unbelievably annoying number 7 enjoying a piece of good fortune, and giving OCs a lead I’m sure they didn’t deserve.

We came back but our legs were beginning to tire. Despite some miracle defending in the last 15 minutes, another identical short corner routine gave them their third very soft goal, and pretty much the game. And despite having nearly all the possession to close out the match, we couldn’t find that killer ball, and our passes started to go astray.

Had we made better use of our short corners, and defended theirs better, the scoreline would have looked very different, and we might be looking at a W in the results column. But despite a really tough batting performance, we came up just short.

Spike

Picked the wrong week to have a sloppy game. Conceding two identically soft short corners was exactly what we didn’t need, and despite some decent kicking interceptions, we also didn’t need a yellow card for playing outside the 23 when we were on the front foot and looking to get back in the game. I mean, there are some home umpires who might have let that go. 3-1 down, ten minutes to go, no complaints from the oppo, a victimless crime. But no. Not this time. As they say, it is indeed an ill breeze that blows nobody any good.

Maj

Possibly the best game I’ve seen the lad have in the decade that I’ve known him. He looked confident, assured and robust, and let’s be honest, did any of us think he had those two head-height takes in him? Especially the one he deflected onto the bar. Literally Majic stuff. All of which might have added up to a MoM performance were it not for three things: 1) taking _that_ long to remove a pair of tracksuit bottoms; 2) falling out with Farmer by insisting he sub off literally on the half way line, as per England Hockey regulation 11.3, subsection iv, paragraphs 9-13; 3) when Spike said we’d start the second half as we started the first - ie with the same personnel - Maj started shouting “I was off at the start of the first half!” Which is true, but only because he was late and the injured Farmer had to provide emergency cover. I do sometimes wonder about the IQ of this team.

Molly

Solid game from the human foghorn. After a couple of initial probing passes which didn’t quite come off, he found his range when the midfield moved around more and started creating nice angles for simple Dave Duncan-style passes into the middle of the pitch. Molly defended pretty well, directing things in front of him and generally keeping us watertight at the back. Yeah, it would have been nice if he’d wrapped his stick round that Number 7’s massive, red, punchable head, but I appreciate hockey is a gentlemen’s game, and we’re can’t condone that sort of thing. Unlucky with a couple of their goals, but on another day there’s a clean sheet in there.

Jonno

Absolutely superb performance from a guy who gets better each week. He’s turning into possibly our best pure defender, with high levels of concentration, decent positioning, and nigh on perfect timing. He made some crucial tackles out wide, and covered really well, despite often having to run pretty much the length of the pitch. His passing was better too - that first pass from the FB is perhaps the most important pass in the game. It has to be accurate, it has to be safe, and it has the potential to be deadly. In terms of getting forward, I have no doubt that with a bit more fitness and experience Jonno will give us a fantastic option up that flank. Got a couple of deserved MoM shouts.

Farmer

With all these issues around hamstrings and calves, it’s no wonder he’s called Farmer. Kudos for putting his body on the line while we waited ten minutes for Maj to remove a single pair of trousers, and that’s now two games in a row where Dave hasn’t put a foot wrong. Shame it isn’t his feet that are the problem.

Pringle

Superb display from the man they call the Epsom steamroller. Tenacious in the tackle, creative in his range of passing, and unstoppable with a head of speed and a favourable tailwind, he was a veritable bowling ball scattering OC midfielders like the puny skittles they were. There were one or two runs which felt like you were watching a boulder crashing down a well-forested hillside, leaving only a path of destruction in its wake, while no one dared get in its way. When your fellow midfielder simply stands aside and says “go on, the rhino” you know the oppo are about to be Pringled. Plenty of MoM nominations deservedly ensued.

Nickels

I rate this guy. He makes hockey look easy. I’d hate to be a fancy pants junior Old Cranleighan trying to twist and turn my way through a midfield with him in it. I imagine it’s how the ancient Picts felt when they first came across Hadrian’s Wall and said “how the hell are we going to get round that?!” Tom made himself available, too, as we cleared our lines, offering a safe, strong stick to field passes from the defence, as well as making a terrific nuisance of himself in the screen. Sort of wish I’d put him in goal - those short corners would never have got past “the human bollard”.

Boydy

Another well-deserved chart smash from Boydzone. The boy is a scrapper who doesn’t give up possession easily, and has also fine-tuned his game to provide a genuine option going forward. He won plenty on the wings, sometimes two or three times in a row, and drove purposefully into the D. So it’s a shame that his shooting has all the venom of a small hamster tickling a budgie with a feather duster. Give it some welly, lad! Same with the final ball into top-D or the P-spot. There are three good reasons why you need to give it some gusto: 1) to make sure it reaches our arriving players; 2) to get it in the mix so anything can happen, deflections, short corners, whatever; 3) if you don’t your captain will write sarcastic things about you in the match report.

Jack A

A performance from the toppermost of silk-lined top drawers, freshly polished, and delivered from Harrods by a particularly polite van driver. I’ve said it before but Jack is just such a good hockey player. He is calm, controlled and clever, and he gives us a mature and creative outlet across the middle and top of the pitch. The Nureyev of the team, he dances through oppositions with grace and power, outwitting anyone trying to stop him defecting into opposition territory, and delivering a world class performance to widespread acclaim. It wouldn’t surprise me if he looked good in tights, too. Plus he topped an incredibly capable performance off by stealing yet another goal, the bounder! Was joint MoM losing out only on a tie-break situation, but with showings like this we’re looking at player of the season levels of ability and consistency.

Jack M

One of the most naturally gifted players in our side, Jack put together a pretty decent highlight reel in this game. With lovely stick skills and solid marking ability on show, his performance was one of the reasons our midfield looked much improved. With time he’ll no doubt develop a really fruitful understanding with the players around him - indeed you can already see it happening. The last piece of the jigsaw is getting that motor tuned to run the line non-stop all game. So that’s a booze and Quality Street-free Christmas for you I’m afraid, Jack my lad.

Kwesi

Some nice moments from the boy Francois in this game. He obviously has ability - I imagine a decent university hockey career, a couple of player of the season trophies perhaps, maybe a date or two with the ladies 1s captain to an agreeable little bistro just outside the city centre but still easily reachable from the ring road - the challenge now is to figure out how to translate that innate talent into a body that’s 20 years older. How do we best deploy Kwesi as a weapon? Where do his strengths lie? My guess is as an interior midfielder - he’s strong, he knows how to use a stick, and he can turn a man. In the meantime, training and playing matches will help develop that familiarity which is so important in a team game.

Mandy

Nice tidy game from the guy who my sources inform me was actually the bloke who played Big Bird on Sesame Street. Who knew? Suffering a little bit from a lack of service, Matt dropped back to come and get the ball himself, and after he did that we looked the more likely team. Not afraid to get stuck in, and with a reach of just over 13 yards, Mandy made the OCs defence work hard to get out or play out. He showed decent positioning, determination in his running, and, reassuringly, the usual amount of crazy.

Ludders

Early shout for TFC after locking himself out of his house and promptly arriving an hour after meet time, Ludders did manage to build some credit back for his high work rate, some great leads, and doing some dirty work to put the oppo defence under pressure. Not much in the way of clear cut chances for M’Ludd, but these will surely come with more fitness and experience with the guys around him. Alas, he found himself firmly back in the TFC spot in the 70th minute by, er, accidentally hitting the ball away and then giving the umpire some friendly constructive advice (I think this is right).

Dave

A trouser-splittingly thrusting performance from Lee Jnr. With an engine bigger than a 406 bus, and the focus and determination of a man pulling a particularly nasty splinter out of his own scrotum, Dave bossed the midfield from start to finish. He disrupted play, moved the ball with the confidence and expertise of a grandmaster, and set the tempo for the whole team, like some mad, sweaty conductor using a hockey stick as a baton during last night of the Proms. Dave’s running at the OCs defence caused them all sorts of problems, eventuating in our equalising goal, when I’m not sure the combined forces of Hannibal’s Alpine army and the Spartans at Thermopylae would have stopped him driving into the D. An extraordinary effort from the lad, and that’s why he’s this week’s *MoM*. Congratulations!

So we move into a rest week now. It gives us time to think about where we can make a few improvements or adjustments. Perhaps more importantly it gives us a fortnight to heal. I don’t have any real concerns about us as a squad: we have strengths all over the pitch, we play some lovely hockey at times, we’ve played a tough schedule against exclusively top half teams (and we’ve won two of them), plus we have some key players due back from injury and unavailability.

Alright, this first quarter of the season may not have gone precisely to plan, but I feel like we’re in a good place in what appears to be a very competitive division. If that OCs team runs away with the title then we can’t be far away ourselves: we matched them all game, and even had spells where we were on top. The scoreline tells you nothing about the game itself. There’s no real clear daylight between us and them.

So let’s have a good rest, get healthy, get ready for the second quarter of the season where we can really dominate, and let’s get up for our social: Saturday 15th November and we are hosting, so let’s make it one to remember.

Enjoy your week off, and I’ll see you on the other side.

Spike