Saturday 19th
November 2011
Men’s 1s
Home v Tulse Hill
& Dulwich
Score: W
4-3 ( Tom Nissen, Richard Turner,
Joe Martin, Will Ostler)
Marchant
heroics ensures victory
Maidstone
1st XI knocked 3rd place Tulse Hill and Dulwich off their haughty perch in this
Southern Premier Division 2 encounter.
An
over confident Tulse Hill started quickly against Maidstone but though they
zipped the ball round at pace they were soon surprised to find the Maidstone
defensive unit difficult to penetrate. Maidstone were not overawed and launched
some of their trademark counter attacks and though they didn’t find the net
they ensured the away side knew that they were in for a real tussle. Mid way
through the first half the large partisan crowd were treated to two fantastic
saves from man of the match Darren Marchant as Tulse Hill and Dulwich at last
found a way through. The first saw them find an unmarked attacker in the D
which Marchant closed down with surprising speed to force the error. The second
was a dazzling low save to Marchant’s right as the away side looked set to
score. As the end to end action continued Maidstone followed this with another
dangerous attack, Tim Price’s probing run forcing the error and a penalty flick
which was dispatched by Tom Nissen. Tulse Hill and Dulwich hit back with a
scrambled goal before Will Hutchins found Rich Turner in the D who duly
restored Maidstone’s lead with a belting strike to the bottom left of the goal.
The home side went into the break 2-1 up and easily matching their opponents .
The
second half saw more attacking play from both sides but it was Maidstone who
continued to have the better of the game and the pressure they exerted on the
once confident away side soon told. Will Hutchins intercepted a Tulse Hill
sixteen yard hit and played in Joe Martin who was cool enough to slot the ball
home. This paved the way for a period of Maidstone dominance where they created
several good chances through Martin, Price and even veteran Chris Brinn.
Maidstone’s fourth goal finally came when Martin turned provider and smashed a
ball into the D for Will Ostler to superbly deflect home. At 4-1 and cruising
Maidstone suddenly threatened to implode and for a time it was Marchant in goal
who kept the three goal advantage with some outstanding saves. With the minutes
ticking by even he was unable to keep out goals from two short corners that a
now scrappy Maidstone defence had conceded. However thanks to a fantastic team
performance for the majority of the game and some heroics from Darren Marchant
Maidstone were able to close out the match 4-3, claiming their third win in a
row.
Maidstone next face Oxford Hawks, away on 26th
November.
Men’s 2s
Away v BBHC
Score: W
8-1 (Ollie Mitchell 3, Adam
Barlow 2, Richard Chilcott 2, Tim Chapman)
Momentum Leads
to Goals
Maidstone Mens 2s travelled to Erith to take on league
strugglers BBHC 2s. Maidstone had come
off the back of disappointing game against Canterbury, and the instructions
from training and the pre-game team talk were resonating in the ears of a team
striving to do better. All talk of the
benefits of taking the M20 over the M2, and the trepidation of playing on the
new Erith School sand-caked astro, was left quickly behind at the start as
Maidstone quickly built up momentum in their play. Possession was easy to come by and direct
passing enabled a series of ‘D’ penetrations which threatened the BBHC goal.
The deadlock was broken by Ollie Mitchell, who once again
proved his prowess in front of goal to add to his impressive season tally. The joy was short-lived as BBHC returned with
a goal to level the scoreboard.
Maidstone stuck to the task at hand and continued to pile on the
pressure: Andy Smith providing a constant aeriel threat, and Tim Chapman
proving too fast on the ball for the BBHC defenders to contain. Despite the ground conditions resembling the
decorative grass at greengrocers, Maidstone were efficient with good ball pace,
direct passing and purposeful touches.
Two more goals before half time put the visitors 3-1 up at the break,
and BBHCs hopes were dealt a blow with the loss of the centre-midfielder
playmaker.
The half-time talk rallied the Maidstone players into
improving further, and the resulting display was reflective of the work put in
on the training ground. The occasional
break from the BBHC team was dealt with maturity by Matt Emery and the
experience of Mark Christmas, even with the loss of Nelly Dibben to a blood
injury after his head intervened with a BBHC player’s follow-through. The penalty-corner resulting from Nelly’s
indiscretion was dealt with after Mike Smith made a string of saves. Maidstone piled on the goals in the second
half finishing with a season’s best of 8-1 (a little short of Greg Laurenson’s
20-0 prediction). Ollie Mitchell bagged
another hat-trick; Adam Barlow (2) took a nice deflection and a back-post
poach; Richard Chilcott also netted 2 including a disguised short-corner
strike, and Tim Chapman made up the numbers.
Despite the impressive scoreline, the ambition and drive of
the Maidstone Mens 2s to do better was evidenced by a post-match team talk
emphasising where improvement is needed.
Man of the match Matt Emery was awarded the water bottles to look after.
Men’s 3s
Home v BBHC
Score: L 2-3 (Ollie Priestly, Ian Lowe)
Unjust Scoreline
| Maidstone 3rds entered this fixture with a determination to secure their first points of this league campaign. Poor form up till now and a fluctuating team sheet has left them fixed firmly at the bottom of the table. Maidstone started brightly and had the better of the opening exchanges but were hit with a sucker punch goal early on to leave them trailing. A second BBHC goal shortly afterwards put the home side on the back foot but Maidstone were unfortunate not to take something from the first half when Matt Evans hit the post, Andy Berry was denied by the athleticism of the visiting goal keeper and Player of the Match James Beacon was denied by a last ditch challenge. After the break Maidstone were able to take control of the match, good passing play, dogged determination and team spirit were rewarded with 2 short corner goals in quick succession the first fired home by Olly Priestly and the second taken calmly by Ian Lowe. Maidstone camped in the BBHC half and wave after wave of attacks were repelled by the visitors, a series of short corners did not reap any benefit then a break away attack from BBHC gave them the goal they needed to secure the points and frustrate what was an excellent Maidstone performance and an unjust scoreline. |
Men’s 5s
Home v BBHC
Score: L
3-5 ( Simon Wood 2, Mick Emery)
Physical Oppo
Maidstone
5ths failed to adapt to the early push back, with some players needing 15
minutes to adjust to two very different styles of hockey. BBHC using the long
ball found themselves 2 goals up before Maidstone settled into their usual
passing game, and a deft deflection from Simon Wood pulled a goal back just
before the break. A good attack on the left from Johnny Hill and James Goodbody
won Maidstone’s first short corner, which skipper Mick Emery converted. The
physical approach employed by BBHC made Maidstone’s youngsters fearful of
making the challenges they would normally go for, giving BBHC more space to
attack, which meant more work for Mark Gibbons in central defence. BBHC scored
their third after a deflected through ball bounced off the post and into the
path of their centre forward. With Maidstone pushing forward again, the long
ball game employed by BBHC proved fruitful as they scored a further 2 goals.
Maidstone who finished stronger scored again through Simon Wood, but this
proved to be just a consolation. Maidstone can take heart from the fact that
they played better hockey all game than BBHC, but they must learn to adapt to
the older more physical style of playing.
Sunday 20th
November 2011
Ladies 1s
Away v
Ipswich
Score: L 0-1
High Intensity
Maidstone travelled to Ipswich this week with an opportunity
to climb up the Investec Hockey Women’s Conference East league table.
The visitors started well and the game saw action at both ends. Both
sides worked hard for possession and chances were created by both teams.
Although Maidstone were having the better of possession, it was the home
side who managed to breach the deadlock against the run of play two minutes
from half time with a wide cross-come-shot sneaking in at the near post to make
it 1 – 0.
Maidstone responded well and after the break came out strong with the
determination displayed in last week’s win. Ipswich pressed high and hard,
allowing the Kent side very little time on the ball. The remainder of the game
was played out at a high intensity but unfortunately Maidstone were unable to
grab the point they felt they deserved, thanks in part to the Ipswich
goalkeeper’s last minute save.
Player of the match went to Donna Shalders for some excellent work in
defence.
Maidstone host league leaders Surbiton at home at 12:30pm next Saturday,
looking to take some points into the winter break.