Men's Occasionals
Captain: Reece Straker
Coach: Rupert Barker
League: London Hockey League Division 1
The past season was one of two halves. It started with the quite inexperienced team struggling to find rhythm and dropping points in many games, with just a single goal separating the teams. Losing matches in the dying minutes was becoming a bit of a trait but the problem was more one of consistency than talent, as very often we showed how we could really play - just rarely for the full seventy minutes.
Coming back after Christmas, it was a different team altogether. From losing most games, we were beating the top teams convincingly and began steadily climbing the table. The Saturday league season finished with a mid table position, just a few points short of third and fourth, due to a very tough final game away at Indian Gym. In the end this was arguably a fair position, due to our hugely two-faced season in a very tight and competitive league.
The BUCS league was a different prospect, with us cruising to promotion for the second season running, but there were a couple of disappointing performances, which will have to be ironed out for the coming season if another successful Wednesday campaign is to be expected. A highlight of the season was the brilliant BUCS cup run, until it ended with a tough cup final loss to Birmingham who, although they weren't necessarily better than us, put in a stronger performance on the day.
Important match losses seemed a bit of an Achilles heel for the slightly inexperienced team as it also saw us lose the Varsity match 4-1. The Cambridge side was a very strong one and made it very difficult for us to impose the style of play that had been at the heart of the season's turnaround. Needless to say, this was quite a low point of the season; however we still celebrated the other teams' victories with them in true Occasionals style as we sported rather fetching retro tennis outfits.
Overall it was a very mixed season, but the form after Christmas and the great cup run gives me a lot of excitement about the coming season, as we aim for yet another BUCS promotion and strong cup run. Furthermore, developing this form and style of play with a strong continuing contingent means that I think we should be finishing in at least the top half of the Saturday league if not higher, and also winning the high pressure matches in all competitions - including revenge in Varsity 2012.
Reece Straker
Captain, OUHC Occasionals 2011-12
