Stevenage Hockey Club

Stevenage M1 – 4 (John Mould, Gary Brown, Danny Blackburn, Larry Hamilton)  Old Southendians M1 – 2
Stevenage were up against a confident Southendians side on Saturday. The visitors had the previous week won 9-0 so Stevenage knew they were in for a tough game.
The away side started the game with a fierce tempo not allowing their hosts to settle and flying in with strong tackles.  Both keepers had tremendous games , early on it was Dingley who produced some classy saves in the home goal, on one occasion making an unbelievable triple save which kept the scoreline level.  Stevenage finally got going and evened up the percentage of play, Brown had a good effort saved after fine work from Swinyard. The home side then took the lead when Graves and Oliver combined to put Mould through who with little effort roofed the net with a powerful flick.
Old Southendians then had an almost immediate chance to equalise but the awareness of Strickland and another fine save from Dingley kept them at bay.
Right on half time Brown smashed a penalty corner on to the post and Matt Oliver failed to put in the rebound.
As the second half started Stevenage pushed from the off and were rewarded when from a penalty corner Gary Brown fired home to make it 2-0. It was nearly three when Oliver crossed for Blackburn whose effort went wide.  Tim Wright and Graves were holding out any threat coming through but were powerless when an away forward broke through rounded Dingley who had no chance of stopping him, before calmly slotting home to make it 2-1. The away side then added the pressure and again Dingley  made some outstanding saves not to mention some impressive defending from the back four of Graves, Wright , Hamid and Strickland.
Danny Blackburn then ran through and created a one on one opportunity against the impressive away keeper, he made no mistake as he fired the ball from the top of the area to give Stevenage a 3-1 advantage with a trademark finish and rolling back the years.  The goal of the game came a few minutes later when a great team move involving  Swinyard, Blackburn and Mould was cooly finished by Richard “Larry” Hamilton who after running and starting the move calmly passed the ball over the oncoming keeper.
At 4-1 it looked game over however the visitors had other ideas and made it 4-2 with a superb reverse strike from a penalty corner.  Stevenage still piled forward looking for more goals and Ben Oliver almost scored when Hamilton found him in space but again the away keeper was in fine form. Not to be upstaged there was still time for Dingley in the other goal to produce an acrobatic leap and push a Southendians strikers effort over the bar.
The last action of the game saw Graves hit a penalty corner to Mould who was unable to convert past the advancing keeper.
A crucial three points which sees Stevenage move three points of the promotion places.

Wapping L1 - 4  Stevenage L1 – 1 (Steph Oliver)
Stevenage got off to a storming start dominating play from the off. Stevenage put great pressure on the opposition creating some good opportunities. The well drilled wapping side found it hard to break Stevenage down, especially with player of the match Jess Day returning from a head injury, in the end of the first half they managed to and opened the score line. Stevenage went into half time  1-0 down but with their heads held high knowing it was all to play for, unfortunately wapping came out really wanting the win and it seemed they weren't leaving without it and soon scored two more goals. Stevenage ladies never gave up and answered back quickly with great support and teamwork. After a superb ball across the D by Jude Weston, Steph Oliver swept the ball in straight past the wapping keeper with ease. Stevenage fought to the bitter end however one more goal went past them giving the opposition a flattering win of 4-1 which Stevenage did not deserve. A very unfortunate result for Stevenage.

Men:
M2 Won: Hertford - 2  Stevenage - 6 (Chris Hall 2, Andrew Gardner 2, Mitchell Snares, Ollie Holt)
M3 Won: Stevenage - 6  Winchmore Hill - 1 (Nick Crocker 2, Niall Anderson, Harry Wheeler, Tufty Barlow, Zeddy Wilcock)
M4 Won: Blueharts - 0  Stevenage - 8 (Harp Mann 3, Ian Brown 2, Khalid Mehmood 2, Ryall Schwartz)
M5 Won: Hertford - 0  Stevenage - 3 (Sam Hobbs 2, Mike Tyler) With the captain and one of Fantastars highest goal scorers away, how would the 5s cope this week? With a win that’s how! Building on their success against the league leaders last week, Stevenage started strong against an organised Hertford. Wave after wave of attacks were sent by Stevenage, resulting in a goal by Sam Hobbs, placing the ball between the keeper’s legs to put the away team ahead.  Stevenage continued their attacking mentality with a mixture of structured passing and movement by Roger Hammond and Shane Parmar. This build up play lead to a ghosting run in by Michael Tyler to put the 5’s 2 goals up before half time.
In the second half, Hertford come out strong, moving the ball around well. The Stevenage defence continued their dominating display from the first half to keep the Hertford attack out. Hertford were awarded a short corner, a save from Mike Hammid produced a break-away opportunity, with Richard Mcgavigan picking the ball up outside his own area and used his pace to carry the ball deep into the opposition half laying the ball off to Sam Hobbs who calmly lifted the ball over the Hertford Keeper to make it 3-0. 
Another good performance by the 5’s who welcome their captain back next week. Second place in the league is maintained, with goal difference separating 3 teams fighting for this position.
M6 Lost: Stevenage - 0  Luton - 10 The Luton Town umpire said she was really impressed with our youngsters in particular as they never gave up and kept on battling hard through out the game even when the score line was getting greater. Well done everybody and thanks for the hard work Saturday.

Ladies:
L2 Lost: Cheshunt - 4  Stevenage - 0
L3 Lost: Saffron Walden - 2  Stevenage - 1 (Daisy Mould)
L4 Won: Stevenage - 4  Shefford and Sandy - 3 (Jo Sinar, Becca Hamilton 2, Vicky Marquiss)
L5 Lost: Stevenage - 0  Tring - 10

Stevenage L1 - 4   Waltham Forest L2 - 0 (Caz Ayles 2, Sasha Parker, Ellie Biggs)

Lucy Harvey's shot lead to Stevenage's fourth goal.

Thurruck M1 - 5  Stevenage M1 – 3 (Blackburn, Brown, Mould)
Stevenage were involved in a feisty encounter in Essex against Thurrock on Saturday which saw several sin bins and one red card.
John Mould’s side started brightly and within the first minute had an opportunity to take the lead when from a short corner Gary Brown had an effort ruled out for a high ball.
Ben Oliver then saw an effort well saved before at the other end Tim Wright made a goal line clearance.  Tempers started to flare when some strong tackles started flying in on both teams, Brown got carded as did a Thurrock midfielder.  The home side then took the lead when they exerted heavy pressure on the Stevenage goal. Tim Dingley was helpless to prevent the ball going in as his defence looked on.  Paul Graves and Chris Strickland then started an attack down the right flank which resulted in Richard Hamilton squaring for Danny Blackburn to strike at goal, the shot however was saved by the keeper. Thurrock then broke again with pace on the counter attack and again an isolated Dingley could do nothing to prevent a second goal going in. The match was becoming very open with both midfields trying to control the field of play with Graham Swinyard and Matt Oliver putting in some good challenges.  By the end of the half Thurrock were looking the more likely to add more goals to their tally but smart defending from Graves, Wright and Stevie Hamid kept them at bay.
In the second half it seemed like all hell was about to break loose with challenges flying in and cards being shown!  Early on the home side missed an open goal before John Mould found Danny Blackburn. Blackburn went round the keeper before calmly reverse flicking the ball home over a defenders stick to give Stevenage a lifeline. This then gave the visitors the momentum and after a great ball from Graves to Hamilton, Stevenage broke with pace as Ben Oliver crossed for Gary Brown to make it 2-2 with a quality finish!
Stevenage had the opportunity to take the lead on several occasions over the next ten minutes but could not seem to find the net, the best chance falling when Matt Oliver tried to cross to Swinyard who would have had an open goal had the pass been accurate.
Then after some great play acting from the home team they re-took the lead with a strike from the top of the area. Soon after it was 4-2 when a mix up gave the Thurrock forward a one on one with Dingley who again could do little to prevent the killer goal.  Thurrock then had two players sin binned before Stevenage Keeper Dingley was harshly shown a straight red card for colliding with a Thurrock forward who went to the floor like Christiano Ronaldo and was back up again as soon as the red was shown. Graves then put on the pads and straight away faced a penalty which he was unlucky not to have saved. At 5-2 and a keeper down it was a mountain to climb for the visitors and it got worse when a Thurrock forward off the ball hit Brown with his stick and Brown got sin binned for retaliation, amazingly the home players unsportingly action was unseen by the official.  The game was getting untidy now and challenges were flying in. Late on Hamid won a short corner which Mould converted to make the score 5-3 with an impressive drag flick. It could have been closer had Chris Strickland not had a great strike well saved.
The final score went 5-3 to the home side but this left a nasty taste in the visitors mouths who eagerly await their hosts visit in the New Year.

Men
M2 Won: Stevenage - 3 Winchmore Hill and Enfield - 2 (Chris Watson, Peter Hamid 2)
The mens 2 started the week top of the league and thanks to a hard fought game they finished the same.
The first goal came following some of the best build up play Stevenage has put together this year so far. Dan Farnham made a run down the right wing as Oliver Holt and Mitch Snares joined up passes which left the opposition looking stationary.  Dan Farnham’s run took the last remaining defenders away allowing Chris Watson to take position at the top of the D so when he received the pass from Oliver Holt he had more time than he needed.  With a small step to position his feet he shot with most impressive power that flew over the head of the keeper and leaving a dent on the crossbar. 
Stevenage started the second half in good spirits and took another few opportunities to leave the score line 3-0 with two goals from Peter Hamid (left).  However Winchmore Hill simply did not want to give up, they sneaked two goals which left a tense last few minutes where Stevenage had to dig deep to keep all three points. 
M3 Won: Letchworth - 0  Stevenage - 4 (Tufty Barlow, Bailey Dingley, Steve Scholes and Dutch sensation Roderick van Eijl)
M4 Won: Stevenage - 12  Letchworth -4 (Ryall Scwartz 5, Khalid Mehmood 2, Tom Wooley 2, Ian Brown, Seb Rose, Will Hammond)
M5 Won: Cheshunt - 0  Stevenage - 1 (Sam Hobbs) A difficult game for the 5s, who lost the away game at the start of the season 1-0, and were missing a few key players this week. Stevenage came out fighting, and completely over ran the spritely visiting side for the first 15 minutes, frustratingly on numerous opportunities thanks to the impressive acrobatics of the Cheshunt keeper. However, the home side started to lose shape and were relieved to see the end of the half still goalless. The second half carried on in the same vein, until the last ten minutes or so, when the fighting spirit seemed to return to Stevenage, launching a barrage of attacks against the ninja-like keeper. Eventually the home side were rewarded when after many attempts, a Dave Wells short-corner was funnelled into the goal by Sam Hobbs. A hard fought win, but will need to be improved on to remain in the higher realms of the league
M6 Lost: Shefford & Sandy - 9  Stevenage - 0  This week the 6th IX had a change round of some of the players positions with a different playing format which seemed to work well this week, the first half was really good an all round good effort and only 2 goals conceded better than previous games, not quite sure what happened in the second half we played just as well but conceded a further 7 goals just tired legs for some us I think

Ladies:
L2 Won: St.Neots - 0  Stevenage - 2 (Debs Church, Hannah Collard)
L3 Lost: Stevenage - 2  League Leaders Leighton Buzzard - 4 (Daisy Mould 2)
L4 Lost: Bedford - 7  Stevenage - 1
L5 Lost: Bedford - 3  Stevenage - 0 A gutsy performance again led by skipper Roz Davies and were unlucky to lose 3-0 to Bedford 5’s
 

Stevenage M1 – 5  (John Mould 2, Danny Blackburn 2, Roderick Van Eijl)   Witham M1 – 2
Stevenage hosted league leaders Witham on Saturday and were hoping to bounce back after last weeks disappointing defeat.
With several players suspended or missing it was going to be a tall order for Mould’s side to beat an in form and well drilled Witham outfit who also had a couple of players out.
As always Stevenage’s strength is attacking so the game was played quite openly and both teams let the hockey do the talking. Witham had the first real opportunity but Dave Church made a good stop to keep the scores level. Paul Graves marshalled the home defence with Tim Wright and both players made some good early challenges to thwart the visitors early advances.  The best chance for Stevenage early on fell to Danny Blackburn who after a great ball from Richard Hamilton saw his effort saved by the Witham keeper.  The first goal in a even match fell to Stevenage, when Richard Hamilton squared the ball for debutant Roddy Van Eijl to roof the net with a classy finish.  Soon after it was two when Chris Strickland and Jon Oliver combined to win a short corner , from which John Mould flicked home to give Stevenage a two goal advantage.  It maybe should have been three when Blackburn slipped the ball to Mould again but he wasted his effort after the keeper put him under some good pressure.  Witham then showed why they were league leaders by exerting tremendous pressure on the home sides goal. The defence of Graves, Wright , Striuckland and Stevie Hamid made some tremendous challenges but it was not a surprise when Witham got a goal back after a tremendous move.  The resulting goal gave Church no chance and gave the league leaders the break they needed .  From the restart Roddy Van Eijl was given the opportunity to score again however his effort was brilliantly picked off the goal line by a Witham defender.
In the second half both sides came out fighting with challenges flying in strongly and fairly. Stevie Hamid who was having a good game was unfortunate to be sin binned for a couple of late challenges but this did not deter Stevenage who kept to their attacking methods.  Witham were pushing for a equaliser and it looked asthough the Witham forward was about to provide this until Dave Church made the save of the game and tipped the ball over the crossbar to keep his side ahead.
Jon Oliver was the creator in midfield and sent Van Eijl on his way again this time his effort was illegally stopped on the goal line and resulted in a penalty stroke being given which Mould converted to make the score 3-1. Witham again like Stevenage attacked all game, it was end to end and the visitors almost got a second when after a barrage of penalty corners Chris Strickland was forced to clear a shot off the goal line. To the crowd on the sideline this was a game which could have been 6-6 with all the chances and the great performances from both keepers.  The killer goal came when Matt Oliver set Richard Hamilton on his way, Hamiltons shot was saved by the keeper but Danny Blackburn was there to follow up diving across the floor to fire home and make it 4-1 and hopefully game over.  This however started another volley of attacks from Witham who deservedly got a second goal with another fine move and a reverse stick finish which gave Church little chance of stopping.  It could have been 4-3 but for another fine stop from Dave Church and a Witham forward line becoming just a little frustrated at the form the home keeper seemed to be in.
Tim Wright then broke forward after intercepting a loose ball he tried to find Jon Oliver who was unable to finish due to some impressive defending from Witham.  Both sides had chances to score notably for the home side Graves from a short corner and Mould after a great ball from Matt Oliver.
The fifth and final Stevenage goal was the move of the match it involved several players with quick passing and slick movement, it ended with Matt Oliver firing the ball to Danny Blackburn who rifled home with little time and space a first time shot with gave the advancing keeper no chance and Blackburn his second goal of the match to seal a great victory against the league leaders who also played a tremendous part in this game and would have probably any other day scored a few more as well.  The final whistle went a few moments later to give Mould and his team a very morale boosting victory and more importantly lift up the table.

Harpenden L1 - 5   Stevenage L1 – 2 (Caz Ayles, Jude Weston)
Stevenage ladies faced top of the league Harpenden this week so they felt the pressure from that first whistle. The well drilled Harpenden side attacked hard but Stevenage played well to keep out the shots with Jo Howlett clearing off the line and Jess Day making some great tackles as centre back. But after a good few attacks the opposition managed to slip one past going into half time with the upper hand. Unfortunately Harpenden wanted more goals and scored 3 in quick succession but despite the scoreline Stevenage didn't let it get their heads down and produced some counter attacks with great passing and supper across midfield between Carly Seaton, Jude Weston and sweeper Jo Biggs.  it wasn't long before Caz Ayles found herself in front of goal opening the scoring for Stevenage. The good work from Stevenage continued and after a lovely ball from Lucy Harvey out wide to Jude Weston who then drove the ball and shot as soon as soon as she was in the Harpenden D, the keeper didn't have a chance as she just watched the ball go into the far corner. Harpenden scored another against Stevenage and unfortunately it was just too late for a comeback.

Ladies:
L2 Won: Stevenage - 5  Shefford & Sandy - 0 (Nicki Reynolds 2, Alife Gunther 3)
L3 No Game, opposition cancelled
L4 Drew: Rickmansworth - 0 Stevenage – 0
L5 Lost: Potters Bar - 12 Stevenage - 0

Men:
M2 Won: Stevenage - 5 Letchworth – 3  (Ollie Holt 2, Dan Farnham, Graham Swinyard, Andy Blaxill) A well fought game between the two local teams resulted in 8 goals and 2 injuries.  Firstly Stevenage want to wish the Letchworth defender well who was slightly injured in the game but fortunately was able to continue, but also thank the opposition goal keeper who quickly helped a Geoff Trew when he took an injury.  Probably the worst game for Geoff to get injured (is there a good game to get injured in?) as he was a clear favourite for man of the match till then. 
An open end to end game saw the score line at half time being 1-1 with plenty left to play for on both sides.  Dan Farnham scored the first of Stevenage’s goals from an excellent deflection from a short corner miss hit from Andy Blaxill.  Both teams were young and fast paced, attack after attack saw the Letchworth keeper make some outstanding saves which knocked the wind out of the Stevenage front line a little.  What did they need to do to score? Well the answer was give the ball to Oliver Holt.  2-1. M2 defend in numbers
With Letchworth fighting back to 2-2 the rule of give the ball to Oliver sank in and Stevenage were 3-2, however Letchworth quickly follow up with another leaving a drawn score line. Another breakthrough came with only 10 minutes left on the clock when Andrew Blaxill finally hit the target from a short corner giving a tiny bit of breathing space for the home team, however they weren’t going to give up and defend the last 10 minutes from the back.  Besides, the defence had been in tremendous form all game, notably by man of the match Tom Shearn and the rest of the squad took up the mantle leaving Chris Perry, Terry Kingston and Tom to calm down and recover after very impressive performances.
Stevenage had the wind against their back and they could smell another goal, pressure on pressure and a never give up spirit gave a final push which left midfield stand in Graham Swinyard with a reverse shot goal in the closing minutes to the cries of joy from the side line support.
M3 Won: Blueharts - 3 Stevenage 5 ( Nick Crocker 3, Harry Wheeler, Jack Nevill)
M4 Lost: WGC - 4 Stevenage - 3 (Harp Mann 2, Ian Brown)
M5 Won: Berkhampsted - 2  Stevenage - 5 (Josh Poulton 2, David Spicer, Andy Davis, Dave Wells) A nippy November lunchtime saw a bare 11 travelling to Watford to play against an experienced Berkhamstead side. Stevenage struggled in the first half, missing some of their regular defensive personnel (although ably assisted this week by Martin Elliot, Stuart Jones and Paul Mould), and Berko quickly managed to overwhelm the visitors to score, despite narrowly missing out on several attempts. However, just before half-time a more co-ordinated approach from Stevenage resulted in a smart cross from Richard McGavigan allowing Josh Poulton to even the score. The second half saw two very different teams emerge – Stevenage came out fighting, and Andy Davis scored within the opening minutes, from which point Berko weakened visibly, and the cracks started to appear. Buoyed by their lead, Stevenage got the bit between their teeth, squeezing out a further three goals from David Spicer, Josh Poulton and Dave Wells, as well as two other attempts that were disallowed. A very strong performance from the 5s, notably some generous assists from Richard McGavigan, and decisive closing down at the back by Paul Mould.
M6 Lost: Stevenage - 1 Winchmore Hill & Enfield - 6 (Aaron Swartz) Well done to all who played Saturday much better game all round and we held them to 1 all at half time and against a good well established team. Again tired legs got the better of us near the end but never the less a good game and our first goal of the season.