H O C K E Y

BOY'S HOCKEY

UNDER-15/16

In order to make ourselves more competitive, we decided to strengthen our keen Year 10 team with a few experienced players from the age group above. James Dunn at centre half was always a reliable and solid defender, and Danny Gordon in goal showed considerable talent and courage in this vital position. The excellent skills and pace of Luke Pullen gave the forward line more potency and inspired the younger players to play with more confidence and raise their game.

The season began with an encouraging 5-3 win at Caterham. Elliott Shepherd was influential in this victory and deserved the Man of the Match award. His involvement in club hockey is certainly paying dividends.  Our next match against an unbeaten Eltham College side was more of a struggle, and we lost 0-3. We gave them a run for their money and it was encouraging to hear that we had provided their sternest test of the season. The  energetic Adam Sandhu and Tom Henderson kept us in the match, but our reliance on Luke to win the game proved our downfall against such a strong outfit.

The last game against Trinity was disappointing because of unavailability and our weakened side went down 0-3. We drafted in some under-13s,  who played bravely and skilfully but were overwhelmed physically.

Along with the players already mentioned, others such as Nathan Brown, Richard Chandler and Will McIntyre contributed steadily throughout the season.

I. O’Brien

UNDER-14

On the whole, this season’s hockey was much improved.  We didn’t win  any matches but achieved a good team spirit and never gave up. Our stick work continues to improve, but we came up against a number of physically strong and talented opponents who were used to playing regularly on astroturf.

The season began with a creditable 1-1 draw at Caterham. The team combined well, creating a number of goalscoring opportunities. Anish Mahidharia was outstanding in the centre of defence and fully deserved the Man of the Match award. We found it difficult to reproduce this early-season form in the remaining games against Trinity, Langley Park and Eltham College. Although we lost all three, the team played with great spirit throughout. Alasdair Culbert was always busy in goal, and Chris Wilkinson rarely wasted a pass in midfield. Adam Bowley and Jude Norvor, new to the sport, worked hard to establish themselves in the squad. Ian Allocca and James Moon were energetic forwards,  always prepared to chase lost causes on behalf of the team.

I. O’Brien

UNDER-13
Although the U-13's did not enjoy a particularly successful season in terms of results, nevertheless they played some very good and skillful Hockey. Playing all our matches on Astro Turf but only practicing on grass is very difficult but they acquitted themselves well. Guy Hughes is a tireless and skillful player in midfield, while Rob Oakley and Mattie Palmer are strong defenders with good positional sense. They played extremely well in our victories at Caterham and Eltham College.

UNDER-12
This tough season against strong opposition proved a real challenge for our Year 7 side. Playing the first three games in near-frozen temperatures did not  help what was a raw but developing team. Confidence was high, however, after the first game against Trinity, who only scored late in the match to force a 1-1 draw. Fine performances from Chris Strutt in defence and Hayden Mackintosh up front helped to deliver our best result of the season.

The team developed well over the following games without producing winning performances. Nonetheless,  a lot can be taken from this season in terms of the way some of the players improved. There were a number of fine individual performances, and Man of the Match awards were given to Lawrence Cast, Grant Donaldson and Toby Robinson.

G. P. Harrop

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GIRLS’ HOCKEY

SENIORS
At this level, fitness is the key, and we sometimes came unstuck against much fitter teams than ourselves, with bad losses against St George’s and Kingston Grammar.  The team battled hard against Alleyn’s and were unlucky to concede through a penalty corner.  Charlotte Bell covered a lot of ground in midfield, with Sam McIntyre supporting her in defence.  We had our chances, but Alleyn’s defended their lead well; final score 0-1.  Buoyed by the better performance against Alleyn’s, we then went on to play City of London Freemen’s.  All the team contributed well to the overall performance in a very even game.  Camilla Russell was Player of the Match for the improvements she had made and her determination to well.  A 0-0 draw was a good result against this school.  Our final game was also highly competitive, with another excellent performance from the team.  The final score was 1-1.  Sadly, just as the team had really got going, the season came to an end.  Let’s hope the girls can pick up where they left off.

YEARS 7-8

Many of the squad members were extremely committed to training.  As a result, their skills and knowledge of the game improved dramatically over the season.  All of the matches were competitive.  The team got off to a good start, beating Bromley High 4-2.  Chantelle Chambers got Player of the Match for some excellent runs up front and scoring two of the goals.   We drew 0-0 against Sydenham High, Netra Prakash showing  great improvement along with Lauren McAvoy in defence.  We went on to lose our next two games 2-1 and 3-0, despite hard work from all the girls, in particular Helen Foss and Nicola Wilson in midfield.  Bhonae Tayali also showed her natural speed up front but was unable to find the back of the goal against some excellent defending from the opposition.

YEARS 9-10

The Under-15 squad had a tough time of it this season.  They trained hard and everyone showed improvement, but we struggled to demonstrate this with our results.  We failed to play with any width against Croydon High and paid the price for it with a heavy loss against a very talented side.  The girls learnt their lesson and played very well against St George’s.  Jordan Wathen was a revelation in goal and Charlotte Bean scored.  Unfortunately we went on to lose 1-2.  After a long coach journey to Wallington High (we could benefit from a Tom-Tom in the minibus!) we were slow to start.  Wallington capitalized on this and scored two early goals.  We recovered well and had the majority of the possession after that but struggled to score; final score 0-2.  Again we came back strongly to beat Newstead Woods 2-0 with some fabulous passing and teamwork.

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