It was a case of mixed fortunes for Holcombe Hockey Club’s sides at the weekend.
08/10/16 6pm
Investec Women’s National Premier League
Holcombe HC 4-1 Slough HC
Scorers: Holcombe HC: Lucy Wood, Ellie Watton, Emily Maguire, Sarah Jones.
Slough HC: Philipa Newton.
Holcombe Park, Rochester
After recording consecutive away victories in the Investec Women’s National premier League, 2nd placed Holcombe returned home on Saturday night to face Premier League newcomers Slough. In front of a bumper crowd at Holcombe Park.
The Kent outfit, enjoying rich early season form, welcomed a Slough side that had picked up just one point from their opening 3 encounters, scoring just two goals in the process.
The visitors, after suffering consecutive 1-4 home losses were looking to pick up their first victory of the season to keep pace in the early exchanges of the Premier League season.
Holcombe named an unchanged 16 for the first time this season after the side secured victory at Leicester last week but started the game in indifferent fashion.
With the early exchanges being dominated between the 25’s; little was created in the way of clear-cut goal scoring opportunities. Early penalty corner opportunities fell to the visitors and Philipa Newton was on hand to put Slough ahead with a straight strike into the bottom corner.
With Holcombe still struggling to find their footing in the game, possession continued to ebb and flow but few chances presented themselves. Just before half time, Lucy Wood managed to level the scores with a goal from open play to send the two sides into the break on even terms after great initial work from Ellie Watton created the opportunity.
With some choice words at half time, Coach Kevin Johnson sent Holcombe out with a renewed sense of urgency and was rewarded with a blistering start to the second period.
With the visitors still reeling from Holcombe’s late first half equalizer, the hosts attacked with real aggression and were rewarded with an early second half goal through Great Britain International Ellie Watton.
As the spaces began to open up, new signing Quanita Bobbs began to orchestrate proceedings in the midfield as Slough became overrun. The subsequent overloads that Holcombe created were utilised well and further opportunities were created with aggressive attacking play.
With the penalty corner count rising, further goals from Emily Maguire on a straight strike and Sarah Jones on a worked move helped Holcombe seal their 3rd victory of the season and maintain their unbeaten start in a dominant home performance.
The result leaves Holcombe top of the Investec Premier League as their unbeaten start to the season leaves them 1 point clear of Clifton Robinsons in second place.
Speaking after the game, talismanic striker Sarah Jones said; “After quite a tight first half and conceding a goal against the run of play, it was really positive that we came out in the second half and started putting some really good patterns of play together, topped off with some really nice goals!”
Next week, Holcombe face East Grinstead on Saturday night at 4pm in the first of a blockbuster double header with the Men’s 1’s at Holcombe Park.
07/10/16 6.30pm
EHL ROUND 1: European Hockey League
KS AZS AWF Poznan 1-8 Holcombe HC
Scorers; KS AZS AWF Poznan: Patryck Pawlak.
Holcombe HC: Harry Trussler (x3), Sam Ward (x3), Nicholas Bandurak, Robert Field
Banbridge Hockey Club, Banbridge, Northern Ireland.
Friday night saw Holcombe make their debut in the European Hockey League; the world’s premier club competition.
The EHL welcomes the best club sides from around the continent with Round 1, the group stages, taking place at Banbridge Hockey Club in Northern Ireland. With only one side progressing from each group to the Knockout 16 Round in April, Holcombe faced tough competition from Polish side KS AZA AWF Poznan and the reigning European Champions; SV Kampong of Holland.
Knowing little about their Polish opponents, Holcombe began proceedings by dominating the early exchanges in front of a packed crowd at Banbridge.
Content to sit on a press just inside their opponents’ half, Holcombe were able to draw Poznan out of defence before turning the ball over and creating series of opportunities in the final third.
An early driving run from Dan Fox created an opening in the Poznan circle and Harry Trussler latched onto the ball after Nick Bandurak’s initial effort was saved to score the club’s first ever goal in European hockey.
The second followed shortly after in the second quarter when Bandurak’s low reverse-stick strike gave the Kent side a comfortable advantage at half time.
The third and fourth quarters bought with them a flurry of goals as Holcombe began to take advantage of their tiring opponents.
Three goals in five minutes from Sam Ward, Trussler and then Ward again sent Holcombe well clear before Patryck Pawluck grabbed a consolation from the penalty spot after a rare Poznan attack in the same time period.
Trussler completed his EHL debut hat-trick early in the fourth quarter with a fantastic backhand strike before Robert Field scored direct from a penalty corner for his first European goal.
Ward rounded off the scoring with 3 minutes to go to seal the victory and his own personal hat-trick in an emphatic EHL debut for the Kent side.
With less than 24 hours to recover before taking on the reigning European Champions, Holcombe had got off to the perfect start but still had plenty of work to do over the course of the weekend.
08/10/16 5pm
EHL ROUND 1: European Hockey League
SV Kampong 2-1 Holcombe HC
Scorers; SV Kampong: Sander De Wijn (x2)
Holcombe HC: Sam Ward
Banbridge Hockey Club, Banbridge, Northern Ireland.
Having played less than 24 hours earlier, Holcombe returned to Banbridge HC for a must-win game against reigning European Champions SV Kampong on Saturday evening.
Kampong, playing in their first game of the weekend, boasted a side littered with Olympic medallists, as well as the World Goalkeeper of the year David Harte and provided one of the main attractions of the group stages.
In front of a packed crowd in Northern Ireland, the two sides provided an exhibition of quality hockey in what was widely regarded as the game of the weekend.
Content to concede early possession and territory, Holcombe allowed their Dutch counterparts to dictate the early exchanges before easing themselves into the contest.
A tense first quarter saw Kampong create a number of chances as they started the game strongly. Resolute defending from Holcombe saw them weather the storm of that first period and begin to create pressure of their own.
Dan Fox’s pass mid-way through the second quarter found Nick Bandurak in the Kampong circle who saw his initial effort rebound off the post straight to the talismanic Sam Ward who converted from close range.
A well organised and stubborn resistance ensured Holcombe went into the half time break with their lead in tact after dominant performances from Fox and goal keeper George Pinner of real note.
Kampong came out with a renewed energy in the third quarter as Holcombe’s second game in 24 hours began to take its’ toll.
Seven minutes into the half, Sander De Wijn pounced onto a second phase rebound from a penalty corner after a great initial save from Pinner to put the Champions back on level terms.
With just a win needed to guarantee a ticket to the KO16 round in April, Holcombe began to take charge of the game and created more promising chances in the final quarter. Barry Middleton and Iain Lewers began to dominate the midfield and drive the debutants forward but were unable to beat the world goalkeeper of the year in Davey Harte.
With just 5 minutes remaining on the clock, De Wijn drove into the Holcombe circle before releasing a vicious backhand shot to put Kampong into the lead for the first time in the contest.
In response, the Kent side dominated the final exchanges as they pinned the champions into their defensive third but couldn’t find the decisive goal.
With Kampong’s routine win over AWF Poznan on Sunday, Holcombe unfortunately bow out of the EHL at the group stage in their first outing in the competition.
“This was a huge weekend for Holcombe Hockey Club, participating on the European stage for the first time in its’ history” said Holcombe captain Richard Lane.
“The boys played their hearts out and there were some class performances from both the experienced internationals and the youngsters who hadn’t played in this competition before. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite enough to beat the European Champions, but we’ve taken a lot from it going forward into the rest of the league season.
Next weekend, Holcombe return to domestic action, taking on unbeaten leaders Hampstead and Westminster at 6pm in the second match of a blockbuster double header with the Women’s 1’s at Holcombe Park.
Highlights of all of the games from EHL Round 1 can be watched on the EHL website at; www.ehlhockey.tv
Images Credit: EHL & www.groutphotography.co.uk
@BandurakWriting www.nickbandurakblog.wordpress.com