Click on the links on the right to check out the match reports from OUHC's latest fixtures.

Men's Blues

5th November 2011
Brighton & Hove (A)

5th November 2011 – yep. 4th week, Michaelmas term– yep. First Blues match report in history – sure. Despite having a strong start to the season and playing just hours before Bonfire Night; the Blues side did not display their usual fireworks and flair in a loss to Brighton & Hove away. It was one of those days where the DOD nominations outweighed MOM nominations (circa) 100 to 1 and the DOD shouts were even flowing on the bus down to Brighton. Duncan seemed particularly keen to put someone else in the DOD picture in order to avoid an early grave (!). At one stage we thought that our driver (‘Lev) might have scraped a van’s wing mirror while parking but he avoided DOD as upon closer inspection it became clear that the van’s wing mirror was “not in hand” – ‘Lev proceeded to bottle his next attempt and was required to bin four fingers of Maxifuel (a Maximuscle*** product). In the end, du Saumon’s ferociously single-minded attitude (needed when swimming upstream) secured DOD for Mullo (not even playing on the day). MOM went to Sgt. Bigglesworth who, as always, put in a great shift for his troops. However, unless you have the hand-eye of this (Biggle)fish, we wouldn’t advise the 6 pints before driving home. ***Please note OUHC’s other sponsors: PwC, Aberdeen, Ashurst, Oxford Ltd and PwC.

Men's Occasionals

5th November 2011
Richmond
3-2
A midday pushback in Richmond meant an early start for the Occassionals. Having arrived well in time, there was sufficient time for Coach Barker to deliver a well-prepared teamtalk to set the tone for the match. The talk in training and post-matches in the last few weeks emphasized the need for calm in the closing stages of games where, rather than putting teams to bed and making use of their superior fitness, the Occasionals panicked and failed to capitalise on the plentiful opportunities they were creating. Our remit was simple – our hockey should replicate the manner in which a killer whale seeks and catches its prey. We were to be calm and serene on the ball, scan the location of our prey and identify areas of vulnerability and then, using a quick change of pace, were to exploit such vulnerabilities. To the credit of the side, this is precisely what happened for the first 15 minutes of the game. Deans and Mahadevan, spotting a vulnerability in the distribution of one of the Richmond defenders, applied some pressure: Deans nicked the ball off Richmond’s final man and followed this by beating the keep and applying a neat finish. The Occassionals continued to dominate for the following 10 minutes with Bennett’s cheeky dribble and reverse shot hitting the crossbar and four or five untaken short corners meaning the 1-0 scoreline after 25 minutes flattered Richmond somewhat. The next 5 minutes was a bit of a horror-show. Two short corners conceded, two goals conceded – to Richmond’s credit, on both these occasions, they countered quickly and were more clinical than their less experienced counterparts. So at half time, having had 70% of possession and the play and three times as many short corners as Richmond, the Occassionals saw themselves 2-1 to the bad. A blip at the start of the second half, saw another concession from a short corner: 3-1 down with 25 minutes to play was far from ideal. Poor umpiring coupled with more poor umpriing saw the Occassionals reduced to ten men on two occasions which only sought to make the prospect of a comeback less likely. That said, the side’s killer whale approach saw continued dominance, despite Richmond’s numerical advantage. With ten minutes to go, there was a shift formation to 3-4-3 and the passion, intensity and drive of the side to overturn the deficit, which was plain for all to see for the entirety of the second half, increased. With two minutes to go, Oxford secured approximately their tenth short corner of the game. A sling to the right post was craftily deflected in by young Jimmy Arch, whose celebration against his former club saw him receive a fine after the game. More of the same followed for the remainder of the match with the Occassionals earning another penalty corner in the final minute of the game. Unfortunately, a repetition of the strike-to-the-right-post-for-the- deflection-routine, was unsuccessful and Richmond, having had three short corners, no shots from open play, and three goals, secured a 3-2 victory. More of the same from the Occassionals – good performance, not-so-good result. The killer whale failed to catch its prey this weekend but will be back with a vengeance home to Hampstead and Westminter 3s next weekend.

Men's Infrequents

5th November 2011
Spencer Men's 4s
2-0
Saturday November 5th saw the Infrequents play a very strong Spencer Men’s 4s team. This was a huge game for us: we were coming off the back of a bad 4-3 loss to midtable Southgate Tumblers the previous week, and Spencer, prior to the game, were at the top of the league. We started strong right out of the blocks and after a few near misses; the ball was threaded through to Sam Hornby who very casually flicked it into the back of the net for his debut goal. The first half also saw a great save/interception from Andy Meredith which stopped Spencer from equalizing. Second half was similar to the first with the Is starting strong right from the off, and after a couple of short corner chances, Henry Taylor scored - also a debut goal. Final score 2-0 which put us at the top of the league with 16 points, this was a big win for us. Solid performances from Murphy and Luck at the back and a top effort from Scotty at the front who led a very strong and successful press for much of the game. Congratulations to Jamie Parkinson for his fourth consecutive man of the match (in the games he has played) and to Davis McCarthy for an impressive debut performance, showing some Aussie steel.

Women's Blues

5th November 2011
Tulse Hill & Dulwich
1-3
Two games for the girls Blues this weekend. First off an away match against Tulse Hill and Dulwich. El Capitano J-lyn made the departure time a ridiculous 8:30 (decision based upon last year's journey: involving an incident of which we do not speak and an average speed of 13mph). In actual fact the team arrived early, so decided to let van driver Signe practice U-turns in the nearest pub. Anwyay...the hockey ws slightly disappointing, resulting in a 3-1 loss. We'll use the standard excuses: decisions didn't go our way (Charman lost the coin toss for the 10th time running), the sun was in our eyes, NEWman spent all his time flirting with the umpire assesor and not running the bench, Totten blew her lid and got sent off, the paper cut on Ffrench's finger left her paralysed and unable to hit the ball...All in all the conclusion was (as demonstrated on the whiteboard 24 hours later) to draw a line under the whole debacle.

6th November 2011
Oxford H.C.
3-2
Luckily we had a chance to redeem ourselves the next day against rivals Oxford H.C. After a 15 minuet warm up on the playground apprartus - strength to weight ratio has certainly declined since primary school... - we assembled on the pitch. Why do we play hockey? Katherine MacKay: 'Because we enjoy it!', and we certainly enjoyed this match. Goals from Rawlinson, Shawn and Pop-p-eee-y put us at a 3-0 lead with 10 miunets to go, not quite that magic number of 15, still never mind. No 1 fans Mr M. Rose, Fidget and Thomas Jack the gayboy Durrans cheered: 'there's no way City will score 3 goals now'...but keen to keep the crowd entertained, Ms Dawko decided to politely inform the umpire of her horrendous stick trackle and, being the honest girl that she is, promptly left the pitch before even receiving her yellow. Substitute coach Alev made some tactical rearrangements and we held our 3 goal advantage. Back up to 11 players we then proceeded to concede several goals. Woopsie. GK Rachael Dellar put in some crucial saves to keep the scoreline at 3-2. The final whistle blew/massive sigh of relief. The team walked away with 3 points, a profound dislike of bandannas and KAT.i.e mild concussion, NB: control hockey balls with a stick not your head. Solid effort girls. Looking forward to a performance of military proportions against Exeter on Wednesday, followed by debrief at Park End Base Camp 2200 hours. Over and Out.

Women's Monkeys

5th November 2011
Reading
2-0
After a shaky journey, including a smashed wing mirror (oops) and the team trudging around Cowley trying to find the minibus, the Monkeys arrived at Reading for what was undoubtedly their most important Saturday game of the season. The first half was rather sluggish with Alex spending most of the half on the floor and the defence thinking it was appropriate to let Reading leave a high forward unmarked…twice. But then, in the words of Big Ol’ Pidgen, “we got off the bus”. Remarkable play by Katherine and Petho resulted in two outstanding goals from open play, I guess all the short corner practice paid off! Solid defending by the whole team meant we toppled the top-table team winning 2-0. Smashing. Celebrations continued the whole way home with a quick stop at “ladds garden centre” (thanks Rosie) and culminated in the “freshers’ challenge” in Vinnies which was deservedly won by Lucy and Alex. Welcome to OUHC. MOM went to Carina despite her feeble attempt to do a flip in a post match celebration and DOD deservedly went to captain Le Voir who managed to ruin the “Old Rosie” short corner (ironic?) with a not so elegant sweep and miss. But don’t worry, “it wasn’t her fault”… PS I think your short corners are great... just livid I'm not apart of them xxxx

Women's Hos

5th November 2011
Oxford Hawkes
4-0
The Host' match on fireworks day against Oxford Hawkes was another clear win with the final score of 4-0. This win was particularly pleasing given that we'd had to start without a goalie, warm-up or full team due to a Spuz-error involving an non-essential but highly enjoyable mini-bus trip around Oxford, with particular attention to dead-end roads. Not so much fun for Lulu-the-short however, who couldn't reach the peddles so stalled the whole way there...'Let's get outta here!...stall.' Spuz still managed to peg it around like usual despite her Park End cankle, and both Flora and Nat were cracking in attack. Lulu loves playing defence. Katie Hanssel provided the highlight of the day while waiting for the bus by saying 'ooh - such a walk of shame' about a passing real-life monk on Iffley Road. Her defence included 'what do do actual monks roam the streets?' Simone continues to bribe the team with fairy cakes.