Mens Hockey

October 12 2024

Match Report – M2 v Banbury 5’s

MATCH REPORT M2 v Banbury 5's

This week, M2’s hosted Banbury 5’s in the early afternoon fixture. It was a friendly start to the match, with the Banbury forward pushing the ball to Wootton at push-back.

The first half was very much an even affair. Both sides had spells in control of the ball. The visitors pushed harder in the final third, but new keeper Jed kept Wanderers in the game with some fantastic saves.

Wootton saw the warning signs and pushed themselves to get a flurry of short corners at the end of the half, but none proved fruitful.

Wootton reciprocated the pushback at the start of the 2nd. The half continued where the 1st finished, very even through the middle of the park. Eventually, an overload on the counterattack allowed the visitors to take the lead. Wootton pressed hard for an equaliser, but it led to another Banbury breakaway and a 2 goal lead. Wootton’s pressure continued though, and another flurry of shorts finally saw Gregg slot the ball in at the near post.

The boys in pink couldn’t capitalise again though and another close, hard-fought match ended in a friendly and narrow 2-1 defeat.

Man of the Match Jed Langton

Excellent keeping, keeping the team in the game.

October 12 2024

Match Report – M1 v Sonning 3’s

Mark Chadwick M1, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M1 v Sonning 3's

The Men’s 1s travelled to Sonning on Saturday; looking to build on last week’s thumping home win against Oxford.

It was a close contest throughout and first-half chances were few and far between – with the most notable moment being a desperate, swinging tackle which no medieval knight would have been embarrassed by. Jacob Tye felt afterward that he “nearly got there”, which may have been true if he had been a foot taller. No one complained when the card came out – our first of the season.

The second half was equally close, and ultimately came down to both teams’ short corners. Twice Wootton went ahead – first through a Tye strike and then through a scramble which was eventually finished by Ethan Spencer. In between our goals though, a flurry of Sonning corners eventually drew them level a first time, then with two minutes to go, as we tried to see out a 2-1 win, another one trickled over the line via a couple of deflections.

Final score: 2-2.

A good performance in a close game, but disappointing to not come away with all three points. Important game next week against Banbury as we try to stay in touch with the teams at the top of the table.

Oh, and one more thing. In a world flooded with disinformation and ‘fake news’ – it’s important not to take everything you read online at face value. We were reminded of this on the bus on the way back, as we checked other scores in our league and found out we’d lost 2-0. This was an honest mistake, which we’re sure will be rectified, but it did make me wonder for a second whether I really hadn’t been paying attention to the game…

Man of the Match Lee Tozer

Lead the line well, bringing others into play and working hard on the press.

October 5 2024

Match Report – M1 v Oxford 4’s

Mark Chadwick M1, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M1 v Oxford 4's

M1’s were back home this week hosting Oxford 4’s. Wootton came out strong, controlling the ball with some nice play straight from the whistle. After 4 minutes Wootton won a penalty corner which Alex fired home from the top of the D for the first goal of the match with a clean strike. The game was pretty even but Wootton created the most chances to get a couple of goals, pressing around the Oxford D and having a few chances go just wide. Wootton’s 2nd goal was to come after 25 minutes from a well-worked penalty corner. Ollie received the ball at the top of the D and got a shot on goal, beating the Oxford defence and Ethan was on hand at the back post to ensure the ball was crossing the line. Wootton went 3-0 up only 2 minutes later after more pressure from the home side. Lee got the ball in the D, and squared it to Stu on the back post to set the score for halftime.

The 2nd half followed the same pattern as the first but with a couple more chances for Oxford, but the Wootton defence put in a great shift to eliminate the attacks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the clean sheet as Oxford made the most of a penalty corner. Following a goal-line clearance by Krzysztof the Oxford injector got a great hit from a wide angle finding the back of the net. The final score would come 10 minutes later following nice build-up play, Ollie would get his 2nd assist of the day finding Lee who made it 4-1. Wootton created more chances to add to their tally but the final score stayed at 4-1.

M1s will travel to Reading next weekend to take on Sonning.

Man of the Match Alex Blunt

Great defensive work and he opened the scoring.

October 5 2024

Match Report – M2 v Oxford Hawks 7s

Mark Chadwick M2, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M2 v Oxford Hawks 7's

A sunny afternoon in Oxford saw Hawks 7s vs Wootton Wanderers men’s 2s.

It started as a fairly even exchange throughout the midfield, with Wootton controlling the possession slightly higher up the pitch. But it was a Hawks counter attack that saw them take the lead mid way through the half.

The home side kept the momentum into the second half and slotted a 2nd goal. Wanderers eventually regained their composure and started playing some good hockey. A move of pinpoint passing allowed Chadders to get a shot away at the top of the D which he clinically rifled into the bottom corner. The game evened back out with both teams playing some quick passing hockey. New keeper Jed kept Wanderers in the game after clearing calmly in a busy D following a PC.

The team is improving every week, with some promising signs and improvements as we navigate a new league.
Finale Score Oxford Hawks 2 – Wootton Wanderers 1

Man of the Match Archer Godfrey

Demonstrating good skills and endless running.

September 28 2024

Match Report – M1 v Staines 3’s

Mark Chadwick M1, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M1 v Staines 3’s

Men’s 1’s little trip down to Staines started with glorious sunshine, a few hiccups with the goalie managing to bring himself without his kit and a few other late starters but everyone made it there in one piece with time to spare. First half ended in a 1-0 lead to Staines with a quick turnover ball and a cheeky pip through our goalies’ legs.

The second half we came out the play however one of the 5/6 short corners we conceded lead to a well-earned second goal for the home side. The initial shot was well saved great by Alex on the post only for the rebound to land directly at a players stick for the finish. Last goal of the match came in the last minute of play, we failed to convert a short corner as Wootton desperately tried to leave with something on the scoreboard. However, Staines managed to press quickly and overload us for a little tap past the goalie to finish the game at a rather disappointing 3-0 loss.

Despite the scoreboard the game was pretty close and some great hockey on both sides!

Man of the match was awarded to a new face on the men’s 1 roster Mitch with special mention to Matt Blackett who ran a small marathon during the game.

Man of the Match Mitch Jimes

Great debut for the first team.

September 28 2024

Match Report – M2 v Thame 3’s

Mark Chadwick M2, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M2 v Thame 3’s

Men’s 2’s welcomed Thame 3’s to our new pitch, knowing they would be full of confidence after a 7-1 victory the week before.

This proved to be the case, as the away team took control of the game with some clinical attacks, which Wootton struggled to deal with. Their pressing game was excellent as they overturned the ball high up the pitch and scored 4 goals prior to half time, without much being offered in return.

After a reminder from the skipper of our own pressing game and to play simple hockey, Wootton started the second half much improved. However, it was Thame who extended their lead, before a quickly taken free hit by Darren, found Lee who subsequently found the captain Mark, unmarked at the top of the D to fire in to the bottom corner. A second followed after a goal mouth scramble that was finally put away by Sam. The scoring wasn’t done yet with Thame grabbing a few more late on.

Final score 2-8, with Wootton hopeful of playing hockey for the full 70 mins and not just after half time, next week.

Man of the Match Mark Chadwick

Skipper leading from the front in adversity.

September 21 2024

Match Report – M2 v Leighton Buzzard Fledglings

Mark Chadwick M2, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M2 v Leighton Buzzard Fledglings

Men’s 2s headed over to Leighton Buzzard to open their campaign for the new season.

They faced up against a very quick and well-drilled side, which showed with LB mounting some heavily loaded counter attacks early in the game. It was one of these, followed by a sharp reverse stick shot at the top of the D that saw LB take the lead. And a 2nd didn’t take long to follow. But Wootton built again and started to create some chances of their own. Some excellent saves by Chadders in goal kept the score line to just the 2-0 at half time.

The second half was a lot more even, but it was the home side who got the 3rd goal from a penalty flick. Wootton gathered themselves again, and a loaded attack of their own saw “Spenney” score his first of the season, after Darren rolled back the years down the left wing. The away side kept pressing and creating but just couldn’t get that final shot to find the backboard. Archer and Lucas up top were denied by a flurry of outstretched saves and goal-line clearances. But ultimately it was not to be our day, but plenty of positives to take early on in the season!

Final Score: Leighton Buzzard Fledglings 3 – 1 Wootton Wanderers 2’s

Man of the Match Lucas Dadswell

Fantastic league debut from this young man, with the promise of more to come.

September 21 2024

Match Report – M1 v South Berkshire 3’s

Mark Chadwick M1, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M1 v South Berkshire 3’s

It was back to action for the Men’s 1’s this weekend as they hosted South Berkshire 3’s on the shiny new pitch looking for a strong start under new captaincy of Stu.

The game started strongly with chances coming left, right and centre for both teams. It was set out to be a close game from the start, with both teams winning a vast amount of short corners. However, the defences stayed strong as neither team managed to break the deadlock before halftime.

After a quick team talk and rest the teams headed back out onto the pitch eager to find the breakthrough. And it wasn’t long until Wootton did just that as a low reverse shot from Ollie found the back of the goal bringing delight to the team. Wootton continued their hunt for goals and found another not long after through a strike from Lee which gave the home side a two goal cushion with a quarter of the game left to go. A clean sheet wasn’t to be unfortunately as a well worked short corner from South Berkshire found the back of the net narrowing that lead to just 1 goal with just under 5 minutes to go.

The defence held on and coped with that pressure keeping the score 2-1 at the final whistle with Wootton taking their first points of the new season.

Man of the Match Krzysztof Skrodzki

For an amazing goal line clearance.

September 14 2024

Match Report – M2 v Saints 5

Mark Chadwick M2, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT M2 v Saints 5

WW2 played Saints 5 in the final friendly ahead of the awaited league start next week.

There were a couple of players making debuts for Wootton on the day. It’s great seeing new players and youngsters strengthening the team! A well played game where both teams were defensively strong. With not many chances being created in the first half. Saints came through a couple of times but Mark in goal wouldn’t let anything past. WW2’s best chance came when Ethan had a break through to get a 1 v 1 with the keeper who in the end made a good save!

WW2 took the lead in the beginning of the second half when Sam deflected a ball through the keepers legs after a strong run down side by Pal. Saints would pull one back shortly after to make it 1-1. The game got stretched due to the heat seeing the match end in a draw which was probably a fair result. There were some good attacking combinations and good defence work to build on going in to the league next weekend!

Man of the Match Hockey

Hockey was the winner!

September 7 2024

Match Report – Mens Select XI v Buckingham 2’s

Mark Chadwick M1, M2, Mens Hockey

MATCH REPORT Mens Select XI v Buckingham 2’s

Wootton Men’s XI travelled to face a strong Buckingham side in their 2nd pre-season friendly. They lined up with an unfamiliar formation, and the lack of understanding saw them let in a few early goals… followed by a few more. A change to the system they know allowed Wootton to build back into the game, creating some good opportunities but not enough to get on the scoresheet before half time.

Wootton kept the momentum building, and eventually broke their duck with a superb low drag-flick by Jacob from a short corner. It wasn’t long before Wanderers’ built the pressure again, and Jacob found the net again in a short corner routine. Towards the end of the 2nd half, a bit of fatigue set in which saw Buckingham make the most of their quick interplay to score a couple more.

The game was the perfect learning opportunity, with hockey being the overall winner!

Man of the Match Hockey is always the winner in a preseason game!

Hockey was the winner!