It was a great weekend for Holcombe Hockey Club with the men winning and the women victorious twice.
25/02/17 12pm
England Hockey Women’s National Premier League
Holcombe HC 1-0 Bowdon Hightown HC
Scorers: Holcombe HC: Quanita Bobbs
Bowdon Hightown HC:
Holcombe Park, Rochester
Saturday afternoon saw Holcombe welcome Bowdon Hightown to Holcombe Park in Rochester. The visitors made the long journey south from Manchester in hope of returning with just their second win of the season.
After returning just 2 points away from home this campaign, the Manchester outfit have struggled on the road but with finding themselves in a precarious position at the wrong end of the table, Kevin Johnson’s side were well aware of the threat they posed in a desperate hunt for points.
Fresh from last weekend’s 4-2 win on the road at Clifton Robinson’s, Holcombe welcomed youngster Rebecca Titmuss back into the side in place of fellow junior Emily Beeney, whilst playing without Ellie Watton and Erin Hunter who were warm weather training with Great Britain and South Africa respectively.
At a cold and windy Holcombe Park, the home side immediately settled into their rhythm, battening down the hatches at the back and forcing their counterparts deep into their own territory. The intensity and attacking prowess from Holcombe proved far too great for Bowdon in the opening exchanges and a number of chances went begging until the home side earned a penalty corner in the 21st minute.
Quanita Bobbs despatched a flick low to the goalkeepers’ right to convert the dominance of the Kent side. Once assured, the home side maintained possession well, moving the ball around the pitch with an assured confidence.
As time whittled down at the end of the first half, Bowdon earned themselves a penalty corner after a well worked move on the break. With the initial phase breaking down, Holcombe launched a counter attack of their own down the right hand side.
A flowing move that ran the length of the field ended with a despairing dive from Bobbs at the back post but she was unable to provide the finishing touch to satisfy an increasingly excitable crowd.
With the sides level at the break, Holcombe were left with a fragile lead after extended periods of dominance throughout the first period.
The second half saw the visitor’s muscle their way into the contest with a more structured defensive performance. With Grace Lawes remaining largely untroubled in the Holcombe goal, the home side were left to rue missed opportunities as the fluidity and connections in attack from the first half were lacking in the second.
As the half wore on, Bowdon’s confidence grew and the final minutes became a tense affair. Chances remained at a premium at both ends of the field and Holcombe were indebted to their back line in the final phases of the game to keep the Manchester outfit at arms’ length and secure the points.
26/02/17 12.30pm
England Hockey Women’s National Premier League
East Grinstead HC 2-3 Holcombe HC
Scorers: East Grinstead HC: Emma Lee-Smith, Lucy Bairner
Holcombe HC: Quanita Bobbs, Leah Wilkinson, Lucy Wood
Saint Hill, East Grinstead
With Holcombe’s fixture at East Grinstead postponed a fortnight ago due to a snow-covered pitch, the two finally got to lock horns on Sunday afternoon.
In a much anticipated clash, the hosts went into the weekend in second place with Holcombe just 1 point behind in third. With the previous day’s results going in favour of the visiting side, the two playoff hopefuls were well aware of the value of the three points on offer at Saint Hill.
East Grinstead came into the game after losing the previous day to fellow playoff-rivals, the University of Birmingham. Locking horns with their closest rivals in the league table on Sunday therefore brought with it an added pressure to an already crucial game in the race for the playoffs.
The opening exchanges were an intense affair and with the home side content to sit deep, Holcombe enjoyed the majority of the territory that accompanied the press. Moving the ball around well, Holcombe made some promising ventures deep into the East Grinstead half but were unable to create any clear-cut opportunities in front of goal.
11 minutes in, East Grinstead enjoyed a counter attack that resulted in their first penalty corner of the match. A viciously struck hit from Emma Lee-Smith found the bottom right corner to put the hosts ahead against the run of play.
With a new-found confidence, East Grinstead began to close down with a far greater intensity but Holcombe immediately settled back into their patterns of play and forced their opponents deeper into their own half. With just over 5 minutes left to play in the opening period, Holcombe had their reward.
After Sarah Jones was fouled on the edge of the East Grinstead circle, a well worked move from Steph Elliott and Emma Trunks found Quanita Bobbs on the edge of the circle. As the ball dropped on her reverse-stick, Bobbs unleashed a powerful strike into the bottom corner for her second of the weekend and restore parity to send the two sides into the break on level terms.
With so much riding on the game, the second half became an increasingly tense affair. Holcombe continued to enjoy the majority of possession and territory but the East Grinstead defence held firm to deny any clear-cut opportunities.
With just 10 minutes to go, the home side scored a crucial goal on the break to regain the lead. A swift counter attack down the right-hand side saw the ball pulled back from the baseline into the Holcombe circle. With Aurora Mears in the Holcombe goal committed, the ball squirmed through to Lucy Bairner who threw herself forward to convert from close range.
East Grinstead, having taken the lead for the second time in the contest, sat deep again in their own half, inviting pressure on their defensive circle. Holcombe duly obliged and looked to carve out an opportunity in front of goal to salvage the points.
With 4 minutes remaining and still trailing, Kevin Johnson removed Mears from goal in favour of an extra outfield player, with Emma Trunks donning the responsibilities of a ‘kicking-back’. His decision was almost immediately rewarded with Sarah Jones breaking through in the circle, only to have her shot well saved.
From the resulting play, Leah Wilkinson’s ball into the circle struck a defensive foot, earning an invaluable penalty corner with just over 2 minutes to play. A well worked move saw Vice-Captain Wilkinson convert to spark dramatic scenes as celebrations were accompanied by a frantic return of Mears to the goal, Leigh Maasdorp to the side-line and the kicking-back bib to the bench before the restart of play.
With just over a minute to play, a turnover in the East Grinstead midfield led to Bobbs playing through Captain Steph Elliott just inside the opposing half. Her through ball set Lucy Wood free of the trailing home defence with just the goalkeeper to beat. In an incredible turnaround, her calm finish from the right shoulder of the circle gave Holcombe the points from an improbable position just 4 minutes earlier.
Speaking after a remarkable game at Saint Hill, Quanita Bobbs said; “We knew coming into the game the importance of us getting 3 points away at East Grinstead. I felt it was a good competitive game between two top sides. With them being up 2-1 in the last 5 minutes, the pressure was on us to score, however we still managed to control the game and play our brand of hockey and in the end it paid off!”
Speaking after both of the weekends’ fixtures, Holcombe Captain Steph Elliott was proud of her team’s efforts; “We came into the weekend in a tough position in terms of missing players and wanting to get to 2nd place in the league. I’m really proud of the girls; they gave their all in both games and we deserved the wins. We fought until the last whistle and were clinical when it mattered most.”
The win sees Holcombe move 5 points clear of third, where 3 teams are currently vying for two remaining playoff-places with just goal difference to separate them. The momentum from two wins this weekend will be crucial towards securing the all-important playoff position ahead of the post-season in April.
26/02/17 2pm
England Hockey Men’s National Premier League
Holcombe HC 2-1 Loughborough Students HC
Scorers: Holcombe HC: Gareth Andrew, Nick Bandurak
Loughborough Students: Elliot Smith
Holcombe Park, Rochester
After losing on the road to second placed Surbiton last weekend, Holcombe returned home to face a Loughborough side still in search of their first points of the campaign and rooted to the foot of the table.
The now extensive list of absentees for the home side grew ever longer with George Pinner away with Great Britain in South Africa. The Students were also left to cover for Jonty Griffiths and Ed Horler who accompanied the Holcombe goalkeeper on the national side’s trip to the southern hemisphere.
Despite the differing contexts, both sides were desperate for three points as the regular season entered its’ final quarter.
From the first whistle, Holcombe pinned their opponents deep into their own half. With the Students opting for a zonal defence, the home side were able to move the ball around well and into pockets of space inside their opponents’ territory.
Early chances went begging for Holcombe as the travelling side were indebted to their stand in goalkeeper Gavin Adams for maintaining parity.
On turnover, Loughborough flooded forward, committing considerable numbers forward in attack. Their rewards came in the shape of consecutive penalty corners, both comfortably dealt with by Andy Perkins, making his Premier League debut in goal for the home side.
18 minutes in however and it was Holcombe who had the reward that their dominance deserved. A well worked move form Holcombe down the left-hand-side led to Rob Field playing in Nick Bandurak on the Loughborough baseline.
His ball across the circle found Gareth Andrew who spun to finish for his 200th goal in the National League; a truly phenomenal achievement.
Just 5 minutes later and the Kent side had doubled their advantage. Ali Bray cut in field from the back and fired a ball into Nick Bandurak who spun and drove into the Students’ circle before lobbing the ball over the on-rushing Adams.
Having broken the deadlock and provided a cushion, there was a sense of relief at Holcombe Park that was ultimately, to be short lived.
Loughborough immediately regained their composure and won another penalty corner, their fourth of the half. This time around, Elliot Smith made no mistake in firing low to Perkins’ left to halve the deficit.
As the half wore on, the patterns continued. Holcombe enjoyed extensive periods of possession and territory whilst Loughborough continued to commit vast numbers to their counter attacks but there were to be no more opportunities before the end of the first period.
Buoyed from their first half rewards, Loughborough played with a renewed confidence and intensity. Having survived the onslaught at the beginning of the game, they now began to dictate play on a number of opportunities and create some fleeting opportunities of their own.
Finding space in the middle of the pitch, Loughborough attacked with numbers and intensity but lacked the quality in the final third to capitalise on their opportunities. Holcombe, lacking the efficiency that led to a series of chances in the first half, struggling to maintain their dominance for the extended periods that they enjoyed in the first half but still carved out the better of the opportunities.
Adams was called on a number of times to make smart saves as the half wore on and Holcombe had two penalty corners well charged down before a third was cleared off the line.
With 2 minutes remaining, the visiting side withdrew their goalkeeper in favour of an additional outfield player but to no avail, as Holcombe earned a valuable 3 points whilst condemning Loughborough to their 14th straight defeat this season.
Holcombe’s manager Keith Martin was pleased with his side’s return to winning ways; “It was a really scrappy game where three points were vital for both teams at opposite ends of the table. With both teams missing players on International duty, Holcombe prevailed against a spirited Students team with Gareth Andrew netting his 200th National League goal.”
Next week, Holcombe welcome Brooklands MU to Holcombe Park in another crucial clash as the Premier League reaches its’ climax in a months time.
Pictures supplied by www.groutphotography.co.uk