Aard Lines
Match Reports for Aardvarks MHC
Saturday 11
January 2003
An Alister Bates
goal midway through the second-half of this First Round Plate match, saw
Aardvarks get past the Rangers Second Eleven, with a deserved 1-0 win. The game was in jeopardy as the pitch was
frozen in one corner, but a large amount of stamping, stomping and sand enabled
the game to take place. Aardvarks found
the Rangers’ keeper to be in excellent form and he almost prevented Aardvarks
claiming their first win of 2003.
Aard-Facts
·
This was also
the first Aardvarks win in a knock-out competition since the 11/11/00 (a 2-1
win against Leicester Hospitals B in the Junior Cup).
·
It was the first
win in the Plate since the first match of the new century (08/01/00), when
Aardvarks Carillon Falcons 1-0 at Moor Lane.
·
Alister’s goal
was his third in successive matches – the first time he has had such a run in
his Aardvarks career.
·
Alister is now
the top scorer for the season with 4, leaving Pete Hirst, Carl Jennings and
Julia Leake in equal second place.
Squad: Jayne; Susan;
Rachel; Helen; Jen; Sarah; Paul; Andy H; Andy J;
> Rich; Carl
>
The Aardvarks welcomed an
extremely tanned Helen back to the team.
The team then learned that they needed to last the whole 70 minutes as
we had no substitutes. This caused the
majority of the team some concern! The
game itself started promisingly with some flowing passing movements between
Helen, Sarah, Jen, Andy H and Paul.
Sustained pressure led to a short corner which culminated in a chance
for Paul 10 yards out. Fortunately for
the Aardvarks, Paul's knack of scoring goals had not deserted him as he calmly
slotted the ball into the bottom left hand corner. 1-0. The balance of play
then took a turn for the worse as SSC became increasingly dangerous on the
break. Careless surrender of possession
led to a number of chances for SSC which eventually resulted in them scoring a
well worked equaliser before half-time. 1-1.
The 2nd half started in
similar fashion but as the half wore on SSC seemed to be seeing more and more
of the ball. However, the defence,
comprising of Jayne, Rachel, Susan, Andy J & Rich, stood firm and limited
SSC to only a handful of half chances.
With 10 minutes to go and a 1-1 draw looking increasingly likely, Carl
intercepted a misplaced pass by SSC on the half way line and took the ball on
to score what looked to be the winner. 2-1.
Unfortunately, with just 5
minutes left, a sustained spell of pressure from SSC ended with, what has to be
said, a deserved equaliser. 2-2.
Number of players left
standing... 11... an achievement in itself!
Man of the match: The whole team.
Result - Saturday 2nd
November 2002
Season
11, Match 4 (Match 202) – Saturday 19 October 2002
Match report October 19th Aardvarks against Syston Saints – Final score 1-2
This was a very important game for Aardvarks, Martin explained in the pre-match talk that we were 2 points behind Syston who were 2nd in the league so a win, depending on goal difference, could put us in 2nd place. We had the usual lady line up although KateO was missing, but a different male line up, Andrew Hemsil made his 2nd appearance of the season and David made his first. The first half was very defence for Aardvarks with defence and Jayne making some very important tackles and saves. At half time I have to confess to being pleased with a draw and went into the second half hoping for a draw at full time.
Unfortunately we had a bad 10 mins at the start of the second half and conceded 2 goals in quick succession. I have no recollection of Syston’s 1st goal but their second was scored by mouthy baseball cap and he took the ball practically from the halfway line, it was a good very powerful shot. Susan carrying an injury from the first half had to go off so Sarah came into defence and put in some very good tackles (yes attackers can tackle as well as defenders). Aardvarks then come into their own and played some really good hockey, again putting together some very good forward moves often from a quick break. We really looked like scoring and wanted the game more than Syston. Then it came, a brilliant shot from Andrew Hemsil from a short corner, after a pirouette from Martin (there is no truth in the rumour that Syston’s keeper was still laughing at Martin causing him to miss the save). We continued to push hard but just couldn’t get that second goal. At the end of the day we were all disappointed not to have won but it was a very credible performance against one of the better teams in out league. In my opinion a very good performance from us all, but special mention to Sarah & Rachel who have both played excellently after their return from maternity, Jen who seems to really be enjoying her return to Aardvarks and Andy James.
Katherine Chapman
This was a tough challenge for the promising start
to the season. Two goals early in the
second half was cruel luck for Aardvarks who had a hard time of the first
half. Once the lead had been
established, Saints let go of the game and Aardvarks took over. Andy Hemsill’s first goal since the 4th
April 1998, from a short corner, put Aardvarks back in the game but time ran
out when it looked likely that a draw could be snatched. A good competitive game for Division 4. I don’t like losing though.
JONAH
Result - Saturday 12th
October 2002
Season
11, Match 3 (Match 201) – Saturday 12 October 2002
As we arrived for our first away match of the season the confidence of the previous weeks victory was disappearing rapidly as we realised the push back was approaching and there was no sign of Jayne. Martin gathered the troops and suggested that we could wait no longer and so we should start with a ‘kicking back’.!!! Everyone agreed on the basis that Martin had volunteered to step into the breach.
We took to the pitch and were ready to keep the pressure off Martin by scoring 4 or 5 goals in the first half, but with only seconds remaining before push back, Jayne appeared on the horizon and Martin lived to see the rest of the match. Jayne quickly kitted up and the game began,
First Half
We made a bright start to the first half with some good attacking moves without finding the final ball that would lead to the all important first goal that would unleash the flood gates. We controlled most of the first half with Rotweilers threatening only once on the counter attack, but this was dealt with firmly by a sweeping challenge from Jonah. The opposition centre-forward appeared to be suffering from some form of concussion from that point forward.
The first half came to an end and it was still all even.
Second Half
The second half started in the same manner as the first half and we were soon pressurising the opposition goal, however they were also putting everything into it. It was end to end stuff.
It
looked for a while like it may turn out to be ‘one of those games’ but then the
deadlock was broken. After a period of pressure on the Rotweilers goal Pete
struck a strong shot to the bottom left hand corner which could only be parried
by the opposition goal keeper. The ball ran free, time appeared to stand still,
but Julia was there, doing what all good left wingers do? It was in the back of
the net and we were in the lead.
The
first goal spurred us on and we took the initiative. Pete was determined to
continue his record of one goal in each game this season (One in one) and it
was becoming inevitable. A fine piece of individual skill left two defenders
standing and made enough space for him to drill a low shot into the corner.
Two
goals up, we were beginning to ‘showboat’ and were making the Rotweilers look
more like Poodles. Pete added a second goal and Martin finished off a good team
move with an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner. For anyone who Pete
hasn’t told (so that’s probably nobody) he has now scored three goals in two
games - Well done. He has also missed a
couple so there still room for more goals.
A
great team performance ended in a comprehensive 4 – 0 win. I think they call
that ‘Total hockey’.
After
the game Jonah gave his customary speech and informed us that long services
awards had been presented to Andy Hemsill and Ruth presented last years ‘Ladies
player of the year’ award to Jayne.
Several
of us, retired to the pub for a most enjoyable chip butty, a pint and for those
first there a sneaky preview of the Edward Jones improvised stand up comedy
routine.
Apologies,
if I have missed out anyone’s moment of brilliance due to my failing memory,
but it’s the taking part that’s important anyway. (Apart from between 1pm –2pm
on Saturday when winning at all costs is the only way).
Alister.
In
short:
Late
Barrs; temporary Leake (M) – helmet!!; Barrs – OK; 0-0, first half – how?;
second-half ; shots against???; Leake (J) notches; then Hirst (up for it); Leake
(M) captains’ goal; Hirst – 2nd from short corner; convincing win;
Barrs trophy; chips; small child; glass in car park; job done – slow start???
Waiting
for Alister’s report – JONAH semi-colon reports inc.
Result - Saturday 5th
October 2002
2 –
0yes 0! Official Game
Season
11, Match 2 (Match 200) – Saturday 5 October 2002
AARDVARKS
2 LOUGHBOROUGH CARILLON KESTRELS 0
(Groby Community College)
This historic 200th official match
occasion brought new and old members flocking to the squad, as well as bringing
2 players out of retirement – Jonah and Paul McGreevy. Jonah of course is officially back in the
squad after taking a year out, but Paul is clearly still in denial!
An early goal by Alister set the tone of the
match. We had a squad of 16 this week,
a great turn out (especially from the Treasurer’s point of view), but this
meant a lot of swaps and we did suffer a bit on the pitch because of this. Not too much though because we were 2-0 up
at half time thanks to a goal from Ben.
In the second half we kept the pressure on. Kestrels had nothing special to offer; a
couple of good players, but nothing the defence couldn’t handle. We should have been about 8-0 up by the end
of the match as the attack put in some great shots that were just oh so
close. Players should be encouraged
rather than disappointed by the near misses as if they keep pushing shots at
goal they might be spot on next time! Kate
O managed to collide with a player who fell and twisted his ankle in the process. He hobbled off the pitch, but fortunately
there was no foul play, so Kate stayed on the pitch.
The final whistle blew just after Kestrels were
given a short corner, so we had to play that one out and they managed to
convert it into another short corner.
Fortunately that one came to nothing, so the final score remained at
2-0. This was good for 2 reasons. Firstly it’s great to win, especially when
the opposition doesn’t score. Secondly
it would have messed up my headline, which I’d already formulated by then!
Thanks to the good turnout of supporters today as
well, and it was nice to see baby Aardvarks Megan Fuller and George Dent on the
sidelines. It’ll only be a few years
before you’re playing…
Chairman Jonah’s post match talk reminded us what a
great achievement it was for the club to have reached it’s 200th
official fixture, and well done to everyone who played. The celebrations moved to the Plough in
Ratby, followed by a very good bash at Martin and Julia’s house. Thanks to them for hosting, and well done to
Denty, who won the table-top table tennis knockout competition. (Or was it Rich – the stats need to be
kept!!!)
Aardvarks: Jayne Barrs; Rachael
Fuller; Katherine Chapman; Kate Osborne; Jen Smith; Sarah Dent; Susan Clemence;
Julia Leake
Martin
Leake (Captain); Rich Sharpe; Alister Bates (1 goal); Mark Jones; Paul
McGreevy; Ben Meakin (1 goal); Luke Meakin; Carl Jennings;
OZZIE (or Kate)
Season
11, Match 1 (Match 199) – Saturday 21 September 2002
AARDVARKS 1
RUTLAND OAKS 3 (Groby Community
College)
The first game of the
season. History would seem to indicate
that the chances of us winning were not good, as we are traditional poor
starters to every season.
Welcoming back Rachel,
Sarah and Jen to the team, we got off to a bright start, pushing forward and
putting Rutland under pressure. Plenty
of bright passing moves with Pete and Ben linking through the middle
particularly well, building on a lot of good work from Sarah and Jen.
Despite our good build up
work though, it was still hard to create clear chances, with the best effort
coming from Pete, bringing out a good save from the keeper. At the other end, the defence was tight,
restricting them to only a couple of chances which Jane comfortably dealt with.
The second half didn't
start quite as well. I think the main
problem being a lack of match fitness, as Rutland attacked us hard. It looked like their efforts were going to
be in vain though, as the defence were holding tight, until about half way
through the half. A free hit just
outside the area being swept in at the near post, even though it looked like
their forward was only two yards away from the ball at the hit.
This seemed to kick start
the half for us, as we went forward looking for an equaliser. Which duly came when debutant Andy James
picked out Pete with a good cross field pass.
Pete had the easy task of sweeping the ball into an empty net, with the
goalie stranded.
Unfortunately, Rutland’s
response was just as immediate. A quick
attack, a couple of missed challenges, and far too much time to line the shot
up meant that we were chasing the game again.
Rutland scored a third at the end as well, which flattered them a
little, as both umpires thought we should have been four up before they scored. Not a reflection on our forwards, but on the
dominance we had shown in the first half.
Congratulations to Luke as
well on his debut, showing plenty of promise. And in my mind, the team had
nothing to be ashamed of, as at times we played some very good hockey.
Bring on the
Loughborough!!!
Aardvarks: Jayne Barrs (Captain); Rachael Fuller; Katherine Chapman; Kate
Osborne; Jen Smith; Sarah Dent
Rich Sharpe; Alister Bates;
Ben Meakin; Luke Meakin (Debut); Pete Hirst (1 goal); Andy James (Debut); Andy Hemsill