Grand Masters Hockey World Cup- Cape Town, South Africa
ENGLAND LX CLUB Over 60's
Day 1 Wednesday 15th September
England LX 60+ 3 - South Africa B 1
The 1st match against South Africa B XI – an unknown quantity - so we set off with a little apprehension. First choice was which end to play from and who was it that chose that we were to play directly into the sun?! (As if by magic it had disappeared by half time). We started well with the midfield not allowing them to dwell on the ball and so began to dominate, which resulted in a number of short corners the first of which the goalkeeper made a good double save from Mark Watson and Mike Harris shots and the third resulted in a penalty stroke from a foot on the line . This was expertly converted by Parmjit to the goalkeeper’s right.
We dominated midfield and the opposition mainly tried long balls which
were dealt with comfortably by our defence.
We continued to dominate
with Geoff Lucas and Dave Durrans prominent but tended to play too
much down the centre or in straight lines and at half time we were
disappointed not to have added to the score.
Andy Barnes joined the fray and got into a good position with his first touch but his effort was saved. We continued to create chances and a move down the right and a lobbed shot cum cross was swept into the net by Max Hamber. Shortly after another short corner resulted in a penalty stroke , this time for stick interference at the follow up , which Parmjit this time slotted to the goalkeepers left.
The game then became a little scrappy and in a rare venture into our half we gave away a penalty corner for not being 5 yards from a hit just as the final whistle went. From their only short corner Bill Goodrich save the shot but it rebounded to one of their players whose first time hit went in the corner.
One down six to go!
Day off.
England LX (O60s) 5 v England LX (O65s) 0
The O60s were soon in
front through a Mike Harris strike and then we expected to push on but the
O65s had other ideas and their combative mid field denied us the time and
space.. Nigel Stofton and Doug Barnes tackled well for any breaches that
were made.
We did have chances but were not clinical in front of goal and
Alan Dures dealt well with any shots and it was still 1-0 at half time.
The crucial second goal came as the mid field began to dominate and stretch
their older opponents and a Geoff Lucas pull back provided Trevor
Denison with the opportunity to slot home the second. The 6Os then began to
take complete control and Parmjit looped a third after good work from Roger
Girling. The fourth came from a switch across the back from left to
right with Dave Read sending Dave Durrans away and his cross along the face
of the goal allowed Trevor Denison to deflect in a fourth. Trevor
Denison’s pace down the left was causing havoc and an astute pass from Roger
Lomas set him on a fine run down the left to the byline and led to Max
Hamber tapping in at the far post to complete the scoring.
England LX (O60s) 16 v De Zestigplussers (O65s) 0
Pre match attention
centered on captain Ray Jeff. Sensational treatment from the lovely Moira
had put his dodgy knee into such fine working order that it was immediately
replaced with a new ailment. Would he put his now suspect back to the test
in this crucial third day encounter? No said Moira and Ray had to take a
back seat , or rather a front seat on the bench as manager. What an
auspicious decision that turned out to be.
Parmjit scored within the
first minute with a fine finish and went on to complete his hat-trick within
the first ten. Roger Lomas then added two from penalty corner strikes and
Parmjit added a further two.
Neither were allowed opportunities to score
any more in the second half but England LX O60s continued to dominate and
goals came in regular stream adding another nine second half goals. Is this
16-0 a record score for an LX team ? No doubt some of our elders can give an
authoritative verdict.
Probably easier to say who didn’t score but next
seven in no particular order came from Geoff Lucas , Dave
Durrans another brace from Trevor Dennison , two from Bill Pickersgill –
promoted to left midfield , and a short corner from Mark Watson. This was
fantasy hockey but the dream world was not without its nightmare moments.
Bill Goodridge , having done nothing right or wrong was substituted with
Dave Ewing and LX played with eleven outfield players. Andy Barnes resting
himself for future needs showed his mastery of tactics within the rules.
Your correspondent lost consciousness and the nightmare grew more vivid.
What strange affliction made him imagine in the 54th minute coach
and captain put the aforementioned goalkeeper now without goalkeeping
kit into the center forward position and his first touch was to stop the
ball (with the stick borrowed from Ray) and his second to fire the ball into
the net, this to be followed , mirabile dictu , with a second goal four
minutes later!
The unreality of the situation was reinforced by the
ecstasy this produce among our lady supporters , the like of which Bill had
given up all hope of inspiring whilst encumbered by his goalkeeping kit.
Finally a word of appreciation for De Zestigplussers although with an
impossible task they stuck to it with enthusiasm and were second to none in
sociability in the post mortem session at the bar.
England LX (O60s) 2 v De Zestigplussers (O60s) 2
This was a tight match in which LX put together a close
passing game at the outset and although they took the game to the De
Zestigplussers, the oppositon managed to negate much of what was thrown at
them. The first LX short corner from Mark Watson found the goalie’s pads and
the second was also saved. LX were unlucky not to be awarded a stroke early
on and then to have dubious penalty corner awarded against them ten
seconds later.
Parmjit Bolina’s dribbling was tightly defended by at
least one man, whilst Trevor Dennison’s speed and passing on the left did
not directly result in any goals.
Mike Harris’s work weaving through the
opposition and linking with Geoff Lucas and Roger Girling was often swept up
by the opposition.
LX had the majority of the game with De Zestigplussers
occupying their third with their front three over the half-way line when
they cleared the ball from defence. On these occasions LX defenders had to
contend with De Zestigplussers’ centre forward drifting up and back in front
of their left midfield.
Around the LX circle there were a number of
attacks which were thwarted and counter attacks mounted with short passes to
supporting halves and midfield, keeping De Zestigplussers under pressure.
With a change of personnel in defence and midfield to spread the pressure
load LX earned a further penalty corner which Roger Lomas put to the
goalie’s left foot. The opposition brought their attack deep into the LX
circle winning a corner and the first goal of the match was scored
from the left by their centre forward with a deflection inside the
right post, putting them 1 – 0 up.
LX heads did not go down and despite
the opposition’s attritional attacks Dave Durrans beat his man on the right
and his cross a yard off the line was jabbed into the roof of the net. The
scorer unrecognized by the Technical delegate, Mr Morley Pecker, due to a
lack of shirt number was dubbed Doppio Zero ( Double Zero or no number/ as
his shirt was inside out after a long night out with South African friends
), was later identified as Max Hamber. Score 1 – 1.
At half-time with the
same score line the mood was upbeat, our back-injured, now non-playing
captain Ray Jeff instilling confidence in his spiel that LX should win the
game. The line-up remained unchanged at the restart. The opposition left
defence continued to get away with verbal and physical abuse of tricky Dave
Durrans as he put the opposition under repeated attacks. However, a bit put
out by this developing pressure situation, Dave found his remonstrations
resulting in a yellow card putting him in the sin-bin.
De
Zestigplussers’second goal unfortunately came from an intercepted pass from
defence which they fed to one of their front runners who put the ball inside
the left post past Bill Goodridge. Again Max Hamber equalized from a cross
in front of goal, supplied by Dave Durrans who retrieved the ball on the
byeline when the opposition stopped, thinking that the ball was out of play,
to make the score 2 – 2. Apart from Max’s shots into the goal other LX shots
at goal did not find the backboard. It is certainly fortunate for LX that
Max could not make the South African Trials and so came to play for LX in
this World Cup.
With the final corner awarded at full-time the LX
injection went wide of the mark and the switch foundered when an opposition
defender put the ball wide to end the corner and the match.
This was always likely to be LX’s toughest match but the LX team was worth a
win but could not better a strong opposition in De Zestigplussers.
England LX (O60s) 3 v Germany 1
Having suffered a draw with Netherlands ‘B’ it was
imperative that LX secured a win against a German team that responded to
predictions of a defensive game, relying on set pieces and breaks, to win.
LX played their best game to date in the tournament and the short passing
game and excellent support play from all players, each with a strong team
ethic, gave them a distinct territorial advantage throughout the match. Any
threat from the Germans was snuffed out by solid marking, secure defending
and impressive tackling back by all midfield players. Despite such LX
dominance it was late in the first half before the ball went wide on the
right to Geoff Lucas who supplied a pass to David Durrans who scored with a
well hit shot from a narrow angle. Shortly before half time, LX made it 2-0
with a quickly taken free hit by Pami Bolina. He drifted into the circle
unopposed and as the Germans challenged the decision he scored from close
range on the left of the goal.
Despite continued LX dominance in the
second half Germany were awarded a disputed penalty stroke that Bill
Goodridge managed to get his hand on but the ball slid into the net. Fired
up by this unexpected set back LX built more pressure through exceptional
team play, patience and a new resolve to find the wingers. By this stage the
German tactics were under some pressure due to the superior fitness , of all
those capable of being on the pitch ,in the LX team. The patience and
pressure paid dividends with Trevor Dennison supplying an excellent cross
from the left. The Germans were deceived by Geoff Lucas who looked to be
taking a reverse stick shot but Roger Girling struck an angled shot from his
open side, past a transfixed German rearguard. Further chances came the way
of LX but the best opportunity fell to Andy Barnes who fired a shot at the
keeper’s pads.
The feature of this LX win was the blossoming
confidence in the team play through a short passing game
England LX (O60s) 7 v Sables 0
This was a very one sided encounter which ended in a
7-0 victory for LX O60s. Sables achieved their target of keeping the score
down to less than ten goals.
LX started well , despite having no less
than 7 people under treatment wiyth the lovely Moira. Trevor Dennison firing
home from a worked short corner in the first two minutes. Mark Watson
converted a second short corner five minutes later.
Despite the good
start LX only scored one more before half time when Parmjit Bolina seized
upon a partial save and flicked it into the net.
Sables continued to
defend solidly. , with their keeper making a number of good saves. Ray at
last played some hockey as a warm up for the evening dancing but LX did not
score again until half way through the half but three goals were added in
quick succession through Bill Pickersgill , Parmjit and Andy Barnes.
David Read scored from a pass from last action of the game from a short
corner slip .
LX dominated the game and forced no less than 22 short
corners but the final score did not reflect the difference between the
sides.
Thirteen of the team have now scored in the
competition
Needing only a win of
any score in this final match to convincingly beat the Dutch Over 60’s on
goal difference for the Tournament Trophy and send the still optimistic
Dutch onlookers back to the beer tent to drown their sorrows, eleven weary
LXers took to the field against eleven equally weary international
mercenaries from Alliance.
Playing sensible hockey from the start, the
LXers took early control, and goals from Roger Lomas, Geoff Lucas and Pami
Bolina ( 2) quickly settled all nerves and a retreat of the remaining
despondent Dutch onlookers.
The final goal came from a renowned jinky run
from Dave Durrans (albeit slower than usual ) easing through the pain
barrier, giving Andy Barnes the opportunity to mishit from one metre out,
and Indian Gymkhanas goalkeeper , Michael Scott, to miss a save too, the
ball trickling over the line. The end of a long Tournament
The LXers had
given their all, a very professional performance, and another convincing
win, with any occasional Alliance foray easily quashed.
