It was a double winning weekend for Holcombe Hockey Club as both the women and men were victorious.

 

05/10/16   12pm

Investec Women’s National Premier League

Holcombe HC 4-2 Clifton Robinson’s HC

Scorers: Holcombe HC: Ellie Watton, Quanita Bobbs, Rebecca Titmuss, Emily Beeney.

Clifton Robinson’s HC: Jessica Bloom, Joanna Leigh.

Holcombe Park, Rochester

 

 

With both sides enjoying a week-long hiatus from domestic action, Holcombe re-started their campaign at home to Clifton Robinson’s on Saturday lunchtime.

The West-Country outfit have started the season strongly, winning 4 of their opening 6 games to sit 4th in the table going into Saturday.

With the absence of key signing Alex Danson, fresh from her Olympic triumph in Rio this summer, Clifton Robinson’s would look to Great Britain star Joanna Leigh to provide their firepower in front of goal.

Second-placed Holcombe went into Saturdays clash full of confidence after their Derby win away at Canterbury before the break as they looked to stay in touch with early leaders Surbiton. With the prospect of leading the division at the end of the day if results went their way, both sides went into the contest desperate for a valuable 3 points.

A strong opening period from both sides saw the game played at a frantic pace.

With Holcombe enjoying the majority of possession, a blistering counter attack on 19 minutes saw them take the lead. An early ball from Captain Leah Wilkinson was played down the line to Ellie Watton who cut inside the final defender before unleashing a vicious backhand strike.

Half an hour into the contest, Holcombe continued to enjoy success down the right flank and were rewarded with their second. A ball through to the baseline found Leigh Maasdorp who managed to play the ball across the face of goal for Quanita Bobbs to pounce in front of her defender and send the hosts into the break with a two goal cushion.

With a refreshed outlook for the second period, Clifton came out firing and earned themselves an early penalty corner seven minutes into the half. A slick worked move saw the ball deflected high into the net by Jessica Bloom to throw the game wide open.

Holcombe responded and pushed forward in search of an all-important third goal as the result hung in the balance.

With nerves beginning to build, two goals in 3 minutes from teenagers Rebecca Titmuss and Emily Beeney secured the points.

On 62 minutes, a fierce ball in from Captain Leah Wilkinson was deflected in by Titmuss before, 3 minutes later, Beeney converted from close range after another Maasdorp cross.

With the result and the points secured, Clifton won an overtime penalty corner that Jo Leigh duly converted with a straight strike for a deserved consolation.

The win sees the Kent side retain their second place in the league after Surbiton also picked up maximum points at the weekend.

Speaking after the game, Holcombe Head Coach Kevin Johnson said; “We are very happy with the win as our games against Clifton are always competitive affairs. It was especially pleasing to see our improved passing and movement result in four open play goals, an area we have been keen to improve our consistency in. I am delighted to see two home-grown juniors on the scoresheet too, which is a credit to both their efforts and our club junior development programme.”

Next weekend, Holcombe face the long trip north to Manchester to face Bowdon Hightown who currently sit eighth in the Premier League and will be looking to secure all three points once again in their longest away trip of the season.

 

06/10/16   2pm

NOW:Pensions Men’s National Premier League

Holcombe HC 2-0 East Grinstead HC

Scorers; Holcombe HC: Sam Ward, Nick Bandurak

East Grinstead HC:

Holcombe Park, Rochester.

 

 

After returning to the top of the National Premier League with victory at Loughborough last weekend, Holcombe’s position was to be immediately threatened when they hosted an in-form East Grinstead side at Holcombe Park on Sunday.

The Sussex outfit have enjoyed a strong start to the season and went into the game in third place, just two points behind their hosts.

With the return of Ashley Jackson; Great Britain’s all-time leading goal scorer to Holcombe in the colours of East Grinstead serving as a mouth-watering sub-plot to the highly anticipated contest, a large crowd rolled into Holcombe Park on Sunday afternoon in anticipation of a fiery match up.

In a largely subdued first half, both sides looked to grasp a foothold in the contest, opting to size up their opponent by keeping chances to a premium. The hosts were quickest to settle into their rhythm and applied a period of pressure high up the pitch.

From a long Iain Lewers aerial ball, Sam Ward earned Holcombe’s first penalty corner of the game on 7 minutes and after two re-awards, converted at the third time of asking to give the hosts an early lead.

East Grinstead responded with a penalty corner barrage of their own shortly after. George Pinner in the Holcombe goal however comfortably dealt with any goal-ward shots to keep his clean sheet intact.

With Patrick Smith in the East Grinstead goal remaining largely untroubled throughout the rest of the first half, the Holcombe defensive unit kept their opponents at arm’s length as the game drifted towards the interval.

The second half started brightly and once again the contest came down to a battle of the midfields.

As the game wore on, Holcombe began to assert themselves and dominate proceedings. Staying compact and disciplined in defence, Holcombe dictated the half well and created a number of openings.

Finally, with twelve minutes remaining in the contest, a long ball through from Dan Fox found its’ way to Nick Bandurak who beat the last man before chipping the ball over the on-rushing Smith to extend the lead for the home side.

With chances to actually increase their tally for the afternoon, Holcombe carved open an increasingly stretched East Grinstead side as they pushed in search of a way back into the game but the Kent side were resolute in the protection of George Pinner.

The win maintains the Kent sides’ position at the top of the National Premier League and speaking after the game, talismanic striker Sam Ward was very happy with the performance; “I’m delighted by the way the team played, it was a fantastic all round performance. It’s impressive to see the way the team are growing week by week.”

Next week, Holcombe face a long trip north for a crucial double header. On Saturday, the Kent side face Brooklands MU in Manchester before travelling back down to Nottingham on Sunday to face National Premier League second-placed Beeston in the tie of the Investec Cup third round.

Pictures supplied by www.groutphotography.co.uk