A mixed bag of results for Winchmore Hill & Enfield Hockey this weekend!
For all matches occurring on 2nd November 2024.
Men’s First Team Match Report
WHE Men 5-1 West Herts 3’s – Away
Goal scorers: C. Foad (2), D. Mather, A. Scholefield, J. Turmaine
Player of the Match: A. White
“In a dominant display, WH&E 1st’s secured a convincing victory over West Herts. Whilst the latter may sit at the bottom of the league, they were still very much a threatening side- thankfully the boys were very much up to the task with a commanding 5-1 victory.
The game began with Colin Foad setting the tone via a cool finish to open the scoring- brilliantly assisted by none other than Alex Scholefield. Scholefield himself then consolidated the lead by slotting in the second from close range. Joe Turmaine made it 3 thanks to an emphatic short corner strike.
The fourth goal was a lovely tip-in from Dan Mather, showcasing precise teamwork and skill. The ever clinical Colin returned to the spotlight by netting our fifth from another short corner, to round off a polished overall team performance.”
as written by A. Scholefield
Men’s Second Team Match Report
WHE Men 1-3 Old Haberdashers 1’s – Home
Goal scorers:L. Trevill
Player of the Match: D. Smith
“First loss of the season for Winchmore 2’s, against a strong Old Haberdashers outfit.
Better team won, lots to work on and back at it next week for a local derby – with Winch looking for a bounce back!
Captain cal voted no individual DOTD this week and to give this to the entire team.”
as written by C. Hunt
“The audacity of Captain Cal to not provide the team with DotD nominations was rash. Luke received a yellow card during the game and this was very much Donkey of the Day worthy of votes.
This being said, a match report that is a bit more in depth:
From the get-go the WHE play felt a bit sloppy and lethargic as if we weren’t in the game properly. The two teams general play was much more favoured towards the away team, with WHE causing their own problems. Old Habs had quite a few opportunities in the first half however failed to convert these, or pull off a decent short corner routine. WHE did have their fair shot at a few counter-attacking plays though including an expertly passed through ball to Harry whom was at Top D ready for a 1-on-1 with the keeper before being stick tackled from behind. Pretty much the only glorious chance we had in the first half.
We came out in the second half having had a team talk and the play did pick up slightly, however it was Old Habs who capitalised first with a counter-attacking goal of their own. Not to be defeated though, WHE picked themselves up and had a few close opportunities straight after conceding, with Harry’s trickery finding its way through a couple of players and putting the ball on the P-spot for Luke to slot in through the legs of the keeper. 1-1, game on.
It wasn’t too long after that though that Old Habs found their feet and short corner routine after finally converting one not 5 minutes after the equalising goal, after a barrage of blocked shots, with the final one converting. It was from here that the team slightly crumbled again as Luke was stupidly sent off (as in Luke is stupid), and then conceding during this time. We didn’t have too many opportunities after that – but a very tough game and a loss of an unbeaten streak.”
as written by L. Trevill
Women’s First Team Match Report
WHE Women 1-1 Wapping 4’s – Away
Goal Scorers: S. Deane
Player of the Match: K. Smith – shoutouts to Gem, Pip and Vicky all earning some votes too.
“Donning the 50 shades of white kit, the Women 1s head to Lea Valley this week, following the break, to take on Wapping 4s. The pre-match warm up was consisted predominately of relayed travel adventures of the last week (or weeks in Sam’s case), with players having been to New Zealand, Mexico, Spain, Scotland, Wales and Broxbourne, and then some stretches and drill towards goal.
With the game underhand, we found ourselves having to get use to a couple of things – firstly a bouncier than normal pitch, soon realised as easily stopped passes weren’t so easily stopped, and secondly a goalie who liked to leave her line, realised as she joint the forwards in the middle of the D and prevented some great crosses across the D by Vicky. Adapting though, we soon found our stride as we pushed to be the first team on the scoresheet…and for a moment we were, but unfortunately the short corner goal was disallowed. The first half continued with both teams trying to apply the pressure, but with Nic in goal doing ballerina style saves (her words not mine) and our defense holding strong, we went into halftime with the scoreline evenly matched at 0-0. What was also evenly matched at this point was the number of cards having been given, with Karen leading the way with a green, only for a Wapping player to also get a green for the same offence about 5 minutes later.
Starting the second half with a formation change, we went in strong with B, Sam and Kate leading from the mids, as we found ourselves primarily on the attack. A foot in the D by Wapping meant we had another short corner opportunity, which saw us get on the scoresheet this time as Sam slipped the initial ball to Shell, who’s first attempt was kept out by the goalie but Sam’s rebounded slip to Shell went in. With Winchmore in the lead, much like the card situation, Wapping decided that anything we can do, they could also do, as they scored from a short corner about few minutes later to equalize. Not deterred, we continued onwards aiming for that second goal. With Kate mastering the bouncy pitch and intercepting Wapping’s passes, Gem running the right to create plenty of chances and a solid press, the opportunities came but unfortunately were not converted – for example Harriet’s attempt made it past the goalie but was stopped on the line by a sneaky defender and a back post opportunity was missed by mere centimetres. Fortunately though Wapping were also unable to convert any of their attempts, as the defensive line held strong, so the final whistle blew with the score as 1-1.
Other moments of the game to give a shout out to: Ambers serious injury…a broken nail and B’s quick thinking slide to avoid Karen’s ball almost taking her head off.
Whilst we didn’t come away with the win, we did come away with a point, the game was enjoyed and the opportunities are there – they’ll come soon enough! (That’s what I envision Matt (Vicky’s partner) would have said if he been given the correct start time by Vicky and hadn’t arrived after we’d finished).
Player of the Match – Kate – with Gem, Pip and Vicky all earning some votes each too
DotD- Vicky
Oh and one last point – if anyone has any packets of micro-rice, Karen would love some!”
as written by S. Pearson
Women’s Second Team Match Report
WHE Women 4-0 Old Uxonians 1’s – Home
Goal Scorers: K. Allan, C. Briers, A. Rayson, A. Reekie
Player of the Match: S. Gleeson
“Our pre match talk was a reminder of how to against an oppo who like to get up close and personal with us and a further reminder of what has been working well for us these last few weeks.
Off we went and took the game from them. One early break from them in the opening minutes and after that, WHE just took over and pretty much dominated the game. We moved as a unit on most phases and just kept composure.
We took the lead early through some great passing up front and Alice scoring through a rebound. We stayed in attack and earned 2 shorts only for Kareen to deliver a well below normal standard injection for the first one followed by a potentially hockey career ending embarrassing one for the second – but on we went. Next phase of play saw more creative passing and attack which saw Anna deliver a cracking goal that the oppo had no chance of saving and no one was poaching! The second half we came out strong and worked really well using the channels, both left and right, great passing work. Back into their D we pushed and the shorts started to come again. Fortunately, Kareen remembered how to inject and our 3rd goal came from Caroline delivering a precisely placed and weighted strike that cut through their defenders. At some point thereafter, Kylie decided to hit the deck just on the D, at least there was some interaction causing it, unlike Lisa who won Moose of the Match for apparently tripping over herself and having an impromptu lie down on the astro.
Sula spent the match here, there and everywhere. Jab tackling everyone in her path and breaking any hopes of an oppo resurgence.
Our tight pressing worked throughout the game and our last goal came as Kareen picked their 16yd hit, just outside the D, passed to Charlotte on the top of D and in we went again with a rebound goal coming from Kareen to make it 4-0.
At the end we looked so casual and had to be reminded that we had just won. Well done all, another great effort!“
as written by C. Gonella
The ladies did not concede a short corner whilst photos were being taken, hence no short corner photo from the 2’s!
That’s all for the sixth week of London League hockey!
