Category: 2020-21

By Posted on Posted in 2020-21, Ladies, Mens, Summer League Tagged with ,

Our men’s and ladies’ teams were back in action over the weekend with friendlies against some familiar faces from Hertford.

First up were our ladies who after a slow start got into their rhythm and played some really nice hockey. Passing in neat triangles to get out of trouble, and using both wings to good effect, they came back from a goal down with a well-executed short corner put away clinically by Lucy Cohen into the bottom left corner. In a tight final 10 minutes both sides had chances to seal the game but both keepers were on top form making some fine saves. However, it was Hertford who finally stole the winning goal with a deflected shot wrong-footing Nicole in the Winchmore goal.

Nevertheless, an entertaining game and good match practice for the upcoming Southgate Summer League.

#WinchmoreWatching

The men’s game followed straight after with both sides looking forward to a competitive game, and a special spectator keeping a close eye on proceedings from the side line! In a tight first half Winchmore took the lead with a good finish from Tim Legierse on the left after good work down the right by Tom Pearson and Harry Stone, but this was soon cancelled out by the visitors who forced a goal from close range at the near post. 1-1 at half-time and it was Hertford who started stronger in the second half, with the familiar face of Nick Umney finishing neatly on reverse stick to beat the Winchmore keeper from close range.

However, Winchmore were not done yet, and came back strongly in the last 20 minutes with two goals from Adam Machray and one from Dom Smith following up after a partially blocked penalty corner in the closing minutes. 4-2 the final score, but it was just great being back out on the pitch together.

The Southgate Summer League starts this week. Check out full details on Fixtures Live:

By Posted on Posted in 2020-21, Juniors Tagged with ,

Despite a 9am start on a Sunday morning, 30 juniors managed to drag their parents out so they could take part in our end of season tournament last weekend! With the second half of the season disrupted by COVID lockdown restrictions, it was great to see so many keen to play and show off their skills on the slightly bumpy “MUGA” pitch at the club. Many also having grown about 6 inches since we last saw them!

After a nice warm up and a bit of stick and ball time to get them ready to play, the juniors were put into 5 teams – Red, Green, Orange, Yellow and Purple (of course!) – with each team playing each other once in a round robin format of 10 minute matches. Considering many of them had not picked up a stick for 4 months, there was some great play all round with 26 goals scored and some hard fought matches. And it all came down to the last game, Red versus Orange, to decide the winners. A win for Orange would see them champions, but a draw or loss would mean Green would take the crown. Red battled hard, but Orange just managed to sneak home with the winning goal coming two minutes from time.

The final standings

A great morning of hockey and a nice way to wrap up the winter season. Watch this space for news of more junior events during the summer.

By Posted on Posted in 2020-21, Ladies, Mens, Mixed Tagged with ,

Hockey returned on Easter Sunday with a mixed 6-a-side tournament on the MUGA at the club. Five teams battled it out in competitive but friendly games on a hot sunny afternoon, as our members had their first chance to play some hockey since the beginning of December.

It was great to see so many players back on the pitch and enjoying themselves once again. With a busy programme of summer hockey coming up, it was a nice little warm up for the Southgate summer league which starts in May, as well as upcoming local friendlies and weekly 6-a-side MUGA sessions we have running throughout the summer.

Contact your team captain to find out how to get involved in any of our Summer hockey activities, or contact us now if you would like to join us – we will be delighted to welcome you to the club.

By Posted on Posted in 2020-21, Ladies, Mens, Mixed, Summer League Tagged with

With the easing of lockdown restrictions only happening from 29th March – a time when the hockey season would normally have finished anyway – it should be no surprise to most people that the league season has now been officially abandoned. A disappointing end to the season, but entirely the correct decision.

However…summer hockey will be here shortly! From the beginning of May, we will be starting our 6-a-side hockey on the “MUGA” at the club. We are also in the process of arranging friendly fixtures with neighbouring clubs and looking at entering teams in local summer leagues. So if you are interested in playing hockey with us, or arranging a fixture against us, please do get in touch. You can find all the relevant contact details here.

See you on the pitch soon.

By Posted on Posted in 2020-21, Ladies, Mens Tagged with , ,

WH&E L1 0 : 5 Teddington L2

‘Twas the last match before Christmas at Southbury Leisure Centre. The Ladies 1s were a few women down but rallied support from lovely Pippa, Kate and Charlotte. We came out and played strong from the get go against tough Teddington and held our own for most of the first half, letting only 1 sneak past the diving Nic.

The second half again we had moments of beautiful 1, 2s between Lucy, Karen and Pippa, Mia taking on 5 women and winning the ball, Helen and Charlotte pressing strong against their defenders and Reanne playing strong wherever she ended up playing. Sam had a great game until she got a nasty cheek ball from close range and had to watch the remainder from the bench. Beth stepped into her position and played solid defensively shutting them down. Unfortunately, we then conceded 3 goals in the last 20 minutes, even with Nic making amazing diving saves! It was a tough loss against Teddington but come 2021 we will be sure to come out even stronger

WH&E M1 3 : 4 Bishops Stortford M3

The men’s 1s were playing Bishops Stortford 3s in a late push back, under the floodlights at Hockerill College, hoping hockey would be the winner.

Both teams started off defending well, the early stages mainly played in the middle of the pitch with very few chances at either end. WHE began to take control of the match and broke the deadlock with a neat deflection at the near post by Colin after around 20 minutes. The 1 goal lead would be taken into half time, kept intact thanks to a brilliant save by Balazs from a penalty flick, given after a short corner had hit a foot on the line.

The second half started off in a similar fashion, with WHE continuing to apply the high press backed up by solid defending, this has been an effective feature all season. The lead soon increased to 2-0, Josh putting away a reverse stick strike, and WHE were in control of the match.

This must have upset Stortford and the umpire, who for some reason felt the need to call the captains together to calm things down. The match then turned on its head and started to resemble a basketball game. Jason was verbally given a green card after an innocuous challenge. The umpire didn’t have any cards to display, some players were unaware that the team was down to 10 men, and Stortford scored two quick goals to draw level.

Back to full strength and Hill restored their lead almost immediately. Some quick passing found Josh in the right wing area, who dribbled into the D and played the ball into the goal from a narrow angle. After checking with the umpire at the other end, the goal was reluctantly awarded.

As the match progressed, WHE were unsure of what decisions the umpire would make, so it became difficult to keep up the momentum and high press. This allowed Stortford an easy way out and they scored two more, within 15 minutes of their first.

WHE kept pushing for an equaliser, and the ball broke free to Harry in the D who put it in the goal, however it would not count due to an earlier foot. The match finished 4-3 to Stortford, with WHE looking forward to the return fixture to put a few things right…

WH&E M2 3 : 4 Letchworth M5

The men’s 2s went down by the same scoreline as the men’s 1s in another tight match. However, a re-organised line up shows good promise for the future and the team will be raring to go when league hockey returns in the New Year.

No match for the Ladies 2s this week…