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Match Report – M1 v Milton Keynes 3’s

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MATCH REPORT M1 v Milton Keynes 3's

This week Wootton 1s made the short journey to face off against Milton Keynes.

With a slow but steady game developing in the first half. Wootton capitalised after a flurry of short corners, with Jacob Tye finding the bottom corner with a clean reverse hit, however the home team would equalise shortly after. Wootton continued the pressure and Lee Tozer rounded the keeper before half time to bring the score to 2-1.

The home team then took advantage of several mistakes in the second half and turned the game around to snatch the victory 3-2.

This wasn’t the best day for Wootton, with various disagreements with decisions which ultimately resulted in defeat. Plenty to work on at training before hosting Marlow next week.

ChrisTutton

Man of the Match Chris Tutton

A confident controlling game in the middle of the park.

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Match Report – M1 v Oxford Hawks 5

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MATCH REPORT M1 v Oxford Hawks 5’s

The Men’s 1s hosted Oxford Hawks this week for the early afternoon pushback hoping to bounce back from recent defeats.

The 1s started strong setting the press and eventually winning an early short corner which lead to an Alex Blunt screamer into the top right hand corner of the goal. The pressure continued and not long after the 1s converted their second through a couple of aerials, the last creating a 1v1 for captain Stu to convert and bring the team a 2-0 lead. Hawks managed to get one back of their own before the break and the half finished 2-1 to the Wanderers.

The second half kicked off with the same intensity as the first, with the 1s on the hunt to restore their 2 goal lead and that pressure led to a well read interception from Ollie who drove into the D and finished smoothly into the bottom corner to give us a secure cushion to protect. This lead was vital for the 1s progression back up the table, and the ones held on ensuring that the hawks didn’t convert to keep the score at the final whistle 3-1 to the Wanderers marking a big improvement from recent performances.

AlexBlunt

Man of the Match Alex Blunt

For an excellent all round game and top drawer goal as the cherry on top.

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Match Report – M1 v Henley 3’s

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MATCH REPORT M1 v Henley 3's

Wootton 1 traveled to Henley for their latest league match. The match started at 3 p.m. so the lights were on.

The first few minutes were very optimistic. The Wootton team gained a significant advantage on the field, getting into several advantageous situations, but unfortunately they were unable to capitalise on these. Then the game got closer and unfortunately the home team turned out to be more effective in front of goal, scoring two goals before the break.

For the second half Wootton went out very motivated following the half time pep talk. After a few minutes of the game a goal was scored by Jed on the rebound after Chris Tutton drove into the D. Wootton were on the front foot and tried to take the advantage, but unfortunately still the finishing was lacking. The home team tried to counterattack, but the guests successfully stopped the repeated attacks. The result did not change and the match ended with a scoreline of 2-1 for Henley.

It was another very competitive match, and the result was influenced by considerable fatigue, because once again the away match took place without substitutes.

Jed Langton

Man of the Match Jed Langton

For showing up brilliantly throughout the match

Mens1 team

Match Report – M1 v Banbury 3’s

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MATCH REPORT M1 v Banbury 3's

M1s were looking to build on their great form in the last couple of home games against Banbury 3s.

The sun once again made the new Wootton pitch look great! The game started with Wootton putting good pressure on Banbury, and an early chance came when Ethan worked his way down the line, crossing the ball to Stu who got a good shot off but the keeper made a good save. Banbury started the scoring through a penalty corner about halfway through the first half. Wootton kept their spirits up and it wasn’t much later before Ethan found the back of the net after more pressure from Wootton. 1-1 at halftime.

Wootton came out with a high level of belief for the 2nd half taking control of the game. This was met head-on by Banbury also stepping up. It was the visitors who got their 2nd goal, through another penalty corner. Wootton fought their way back once more and Lee Tozer found a small gap between the keeper’s leg and post to get our second. After this, the game started to get more physical as both teams were fighting for the winner. A couple of cards got Wootton on the back foot, but good teamwork kept the game at 2-2 until the last event of the game, where Banbury were awarded another penalty corner as the final whistle blew; which Banbury made the most of and snatched the victory. Final score 2-3.

No game next weekend so we will reboot and come back stronger in 2 weeks.

SteveSpencer

Man of the Match Steve Spencer

Rolling back the years, beating players and speeding past the Banbury defence.

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Match Report – M1 v Sonning 3’s

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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…

Lee Tozer

Man of the Match Lee Tozer

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

Mens1 team

Match Report – M1 v Oxford 4’s

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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.

AlexBlunt

Man of the Match Alex Blunt

Great defensive work and he opened the scoring.

M1sTeam

Match Report – M1 v Staines 3’s

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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.

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Man of the Match Mitch Jimes

Great debut for the first team.

M1sTeam

Match Report – M1 v South Berkshire 3’s

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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.

Krzysztof_Skrodski

Man of the Match Krzysztof Skrodzki

For an amazing goal line clearance.

M1sTeam

Match Report – Mens Select XI v Buckingham 2’s

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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!

logo PNG file

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

Hockey was the winner!

M1sTeam

Match Report – M1 v Milton Keynes

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MATCH REPORT M1 v Milton Keynes

Our Men’s 1’s headed to Milton Keynes to attempt to wrap up the season in style knowing that a win, and some other positive results would see them finish nearer the top of the table than the bottom, which after an awful start to the season would be an excellent outcome.

For the first 15-20 mins you could tell the team were already looking ahead to a well-earned summer break and maybe a drink or two on their night on the tiles they had planned for that same evening, it was not hockey that was on display. However, a few meaningful forays into the MK “D”, lead to several short corners one of which was lifted into a defender’s body on the line and a flick was awarded, up stepped Lee only to see his effort ping off the foot of the post and away to safety. This seemed to give Wanderers a sense of anger and injustice as they thought the ball had crossed the line from the short corner, they took this and turned it into some good passing hockey, opening up MK on several occasions and the breakthrough came as Lee got the goal he missed out on with the flick. A second followed shortly afterwards as skipper Ollie skilfully made his way forward and dispatching the ball in the net. Half time reached with Wootton in control and not really being troubled by MK 0-2.

A bit of a reminder from Ollie and Cam at half time that this was still a league game and that the lads should leave everything on the pitch for the last game, meant the second half started much more positively than the first, with more short corners allowing Wanderers to display their repertoire (pass Dan!!). Unfortunately, they found the MK keeper on good form and saving shot after shot, so it was from open play that Wootton found the net twice more, Chris finding himself with time and space to pick his spot and Captain Ollie crowning the season with another fine solo goal to make the final score 0-4 to Wanderers and to see the lads finish 5th in the final reckonings.

Match Report – M1 v Milton Keynes

Man of the Match Ollie Dunn

Man of the Match was awarded to Ollie for his 2 goals and great leadership.