U14 and U16 match reports

U14 Boys v Witney - Banbury 0 Witney 6

A youthful Banbury team came up against strong opposition from Witney on Sunday, and showed great character to contest the game right to the end. Captain Ashley Laverick showed great maturity to take responsibility for the defensive duties and was well supported by Finley McEvoy, Jamie Lamb, George Wilkes and Ben Labuschagne who all made several important tackles and clearances. Kit Lamb made some fine saves to keep the score line respectable and several times smothered the attacks of the skilful Witney attack. Up front Phillip Gunn and Harry Simons worked hard to make themselves available and Simons was unlucky not to nick a goal just before half time.

Going into the second half with a four goal deficit Banbury really picked up their game and started to play some more intelligent hockey. The midfield engine of Ben Britto, Oliver Davenport, Charlie Camp, and William Eagles all put in a fantastic effort to snuff out the strong Witney midfield and drive Banbury forward launching several attacks on goal. Jamie Jackson demonstrated his skill to put great pressure on the Witney defence and Banbury won a string of short-corners. Unfortunately however they were unable to convert, to score the goal their effort deserved.

With many Banbury players involved in their first Club match on a full size pitch, there are a lot of positives to be taken from Banbury’s performance, particularly the way that they came back in the second-half and kept on competing right to the end.

Squad: Kit Lamb. Ashley Laverick, Ben Labuschagne, Finley McEvoy, Jamie Lamb, Oliver Davenport, George Wilkes, Jamie Jackson, Phillip Gunn, Harry Simons, Ben Britto, William Eagles, Charlie Camp.

U16 Boys v Wallingford – Banbury 9 – Wallingford 0

Frazer & Tait Dominate with a hat tricks as Banbury Piranhas Open U16 County League with a 9 Goal Frenzy

The Banbury Piranhas took a week off from the senior league to play their first game in the County U16 league against Wallingford U16s. They ran out with an overwhelming 9-0 victory in a match where they played total hockey from defence to attack.

Banbury were 6-0 up at half time with goals from Tom Tait and Aiden Edwards, and two goals a piece from Luke Frazer and a dominant Kyle White. The defence of Oscar Allitt, Harry Camp, Sam Pick and Sam Collier was so effective that Goalie, Alex Hatzigeorgiou, had little to do. Any attack was effectively snuffed out and the ball was recycled and distributed expertly to the midfield an attack at great pace. The midfield guile of White, Oliver Davis, Frazer, James Davenport and Chris Atkins were dominant in possession, leaving Wallingford no room for manoeuvre to build any platform for attack.

In the second half Wallingford rallied and the Banbury defence worked hard to tackle and recycle the ball. Joe Whinmill, Christian Squire, and Tom Tait continually ran the Wallingford defence ragged opening up chances for the attacking midfield, and it was long before Tait got his 3^rd goal marauding in the Wallingford D. Not to be out done, Frazer got his next goal to bag his hat trick with yet another of his trademark devastating right wing attacks.

It was a great start to their County Championship campaign and sets the team up for their tough senior league assignment down at Wokingham next weekend.

U14 Girls …

Match 1 – Banbury 2 Buckingham 0 … (Holly, Lyndsey)

Match 2 – Banbury 4 Witney 0 … (Holly 2, Ellie, Amy Mobley)

Banbury played their opening matches in the EH Under 14 girls league today.

The first game was against a strong Buckingham side. Both teams took time to settle but after some end to end play Holly Mystkowski found the net after a cross from right midfielder Lyndsey White. Banbury gained in confidence and Lyndsey added to the score sheet 5 minutes later with a shot from the edge of the ‘D’ bringing the half time score to 2 – 0. The second half saw Buckingham putting the Banbury defence of Lara Yorke and Serena Goodhart under persistent pressure. With timely tackles from the pair of them and some fine goal keeping from Hannah Vincent they ensured that Banbury kept a clean sheet which resulted in a 2 – 0 win.

The second match against Witney gave Banbury an opportunity to develop their team structure. Louisa Heathcote dominated the centre of the pitch and with Amy Marshall supporting on the left and Lyndsey on the right, the Witney side found it hard to break through the midfield. Maisie Bird provided width at right wing and Amy Mobley continually ran at their defence at right inner. The combination of Chloe Whinmill, Riannon Brown and Ellie Ravenscroft always made it difficult for Witney to clear their defensive lines. Holly was ever-present in the ‘D’ and snatched 2 goals in 5 minutes, after constant pressure on their keeper. The second half saw Banbury capitalise on their lead and Ellie scored from a great position on their left post after a ball was crossed from the right. The final goal of the match came when Amy Mobley picked the ball up on the half way line and after beating 5 players, calmly slotted the ball past the keeper. The final score was 4 – 0.

An impressive start to the England Hockey league and a very encouraging performance by everyone.

Squad: Maisie Bird, Riannon Brown, Serena Goodhart, Louisa Heathcote, Amy Marshall, Amy Mobley, Holly Mystkowski, Ellie Ravenscroft, Hannah Vincent, Chloe Whinmill, Lyndsey White, Lara Yorke.

Weekend Results – Oct 15th/16th

Ladies 1′s - WON 3-1 (scorers Tash Nunneley x2, Ali Sturla)

Ladies 2′s - WON 3-0 (scorer Megan Moran x2, Carol Hicks)

Ladies 3′s - DREW 0-0

Ladies 4′s - DREW 2-2 (scorers Hannah Coppins, Rosanna Verdon)

Mens 1′s - WON 3-2 (scorers Royden Burt, George Brooker x2)

Mens 2′s - WON 2-0 (scorer Andy Miller x2)

Mens 3′s - DREW 3-3 (scorers Oscar Allitt, Lee Allen, Noel Britto)

Mens 4′s - WON – 2-1 (scorers Roger Mellor-Brook, Alex Whitmore)

Girls U14 – WON 2-0 (scorers Holly, Lyndsey), WON 4-0 (scorers Holly x2, Lyndsey, Ellie, Amy)

Boys U14 – LOST 6-0

Boys U16 – WON 9-0 (scorers Tom Tait x3, Aiden Edwards, Luke Frazer x2, Kyle White x2, Frazer)

Annuals subs now due

Your annual club subs are now due … please see website shop to pay via paypal, credit and debit cards.

All subs paid prior to Oct 31st will automatically be entered into a draw to purchase Olympic Hockey Tickets.

Kit Update

Buy your kit on line at the new BHC shop .. see tab above !!

In order to update and improve the overall image of our hockey club, the club has decided to standardise kit across all senior teams and we will be adopting and expanding the Zoti kit currently used by the Mens and Ladies 1′s.

In addition to playing shirts, shorts/skorts and socks, we have introduced a training top, training pants, white socks and thermal tops. The current Ladies red/blue skorts will be replaced with an all blue skort.

Kit will be rolled out as follows:

Mens and Ladies 1′s and 2′s - please purchase asap for this season (will be distributed when kit arrives)

Mens and Ladies – all other senior teams – Not compulsory to purchase now (but recommended) .. however compulsory for the start of next season.

Kit can only be purchased via the BHC website and will be delivered to you .. you will no longer be able to purchase kit from the club house.

The club has ordered stock of new kit which is due to arrive late November .. it will be distributed on a first come, first serve based on the date your order is placed via the BHC shop .. so don’t delay – order now to be first in the queue.

Laura Davis has very kindly volunteered to be the BHC Kit Master (!) so please contact Laura with any questions.

Mens 1st v MK – Report

When does a hobby become an obsession? Perhaps it helps to look at difference ends of the spectrum. James Clement is obsessed with Nandos, he travels 90 minutes every other Sunday to eat there. Simon West dabbles in Chemistry, he likes to see what fun he can cook up using his Junior Chemistry Set (Ages 7 -12), for him it’s just a hobby, take it or leave it. George Brooker is moving dangerously close to the obsession end of the scale, one more foam party, one more…..

It’s good to find out the team are taking things seriously this year, on Wednesday Westy admitted he has started doing 50 press up every morning (presumably to change from a stick to a carrot) and Sausage was caught by Laura doing seal slaps in their bedroom one evening last week. Despite MDBs dig that there are several “gym monkeys” in our team, things are moving in the right direction.

We played Milton Keynes on Saturday, it did not go well. The game threw up some interesting questions….

I scored a league goal, sadly it was an own goal therefore I imagine it doesn’t go down as my goal, shame. It was one of those horror moments when everything slows down and you realise you are about to make a complete prat of yourself. My mind sort of blanked it for the rest of the game but the memory has been coming back stronger and stronger, I need next Saturday to lay it to rest. In case you are wondering I miss trapped the ball on my reverse stick, then let their forward try and score, then kicked him, stick tackled him, tripped, swivelled and literally kicked the ball past Phil into the bottom right of the goal, magic.

There were some good things, Royden scored again with a great finish. Brooker is playing well, Chud got a vote for MOM. Tom Slay and Stuart showed they are not afraid to take on an entire opposition squad. Oh and we scored a good short corner.

We are trying to sort out next team night out, it’s looking like we will do 29^th October (Away Vs OGs) and go out in Richmond-on-Thames and then all stay in Barnes, keep the date free. Also please keep the 19^th November free more details to follow.

MOM – George Brooker

DOD – Charlie Murphy’s left foot

Mens Masters outplay Oxford Hawks

In the first of a series of Monday night matches at Kineton, Banbury Mens Masters secured a comprehensive 7-0 thrashing of Oxford Hawks Senators.

With Banbury fielding a youthful masters teams, they proved too strong for the more elderly Senators. Thanks to Ollie Gardner for umpiring.

Banbury scorers were Noel Britto (x3), Matt Allman, Steve Chidlow, Pete Whitehead and John Davis.

Annual Subscriptions

Please note: On checkout we will collect your name and address via Paypal. Please ensure you include the name of the person that is purchasing the subscription.

Senior, £110.00

Student (full-time), £50.00

Juniors, £40.00

Affiliation, £30.00

Social, £5.00