University of Portsmouth
Hockey Club

Narrow cup defeat leaves 5 team elite feeling sick as a parrot

The fairytale underdog story came to a grizzly end on a cold wet afternoon in London. We made the journey full of optimism; 11 eager beavers ready to lay it all on the line in the name of victory.
However the wind was taken from our sails before pushback when a certain someone realised he'd left his Astros in Pompey. Not the ideal start to proceedings but thankfully Fresher Toby saved the day and we went out to face our fate.

We lined up with a Jose Mourinho­esque tactic, parking the bus and hoping to hit them on the counter attack. The strategy worked well until around the 30second mark, at which point, like a dagger through the heart, the opposition managed to breach our defence with some quick sharp skills and our Sassy goalkeeper was left stranded. Not the start we were looking for but we were determined to show our bouncebackability and refused to ever let our heads drop. Unfortunately it became apparent that our opponents were perhaps that little bit stronger than us and 1­0 quickly became 2 and 3 and 4... It wasn't an entirely one sided affair however. A quick 16 to Lesbo on the left allowed him use his eagle vision and pick out a run from Toby up the left wing. He had pace to burn and left their defenders in the dust but his final ball across the D was narrowly missed by our darting strikers. That flowing move gave us the realisation that we could hurt these guys on the counter and moments later it proved to be the case. We delved into the Stoke City tactics book and decided to tonk a 16 all the way up towards our forwards. Carl never gave up on the effort and galloped after it like a stag in mating season, managing to get clean through on goal and winning us a short corner as their defender had no option but to foul him. Unfortunately we were missing our injector through injury so Taylor stepped up to the plate and accidentally on purpose injected it to the side of the D where Dave was stood. This unexpected ball seemed to dumbfound the onrushing defenders too as Dave was given time to control the ball and get a clean hit on goal, narrowly missing the post by inches.

We regrouped during half time with the score at 7­0. An impassioned speech from the captain between the sticks reminded us that hockey is a game of two halves and that we had nothing to lose. In all honesty their goals just became boring and forgettable and it was the flashes of brilliance from the boys in purple that this game will be remembered for. We were pushed back deeper during the second half which just allowed us extra space in behind to utilise our rapid forwards. Some piercing 60yard through balls from our defence allowed our attackers a few opportunities and once again we gained a short corner when Carl ran through like the wind and their defender used the back of his stick in desperation. Unfortunately this injection was slightly worse than the first and nothing came of it.

Shortly after that some intricate passing between the centre backs allowed us to pick out Dave in the centre of the park and he managed to drive through their defence, take the ball into corner and hold it up like a young Thierry Henry. Unfortunately we didn't create a chance from his effort but
the dazzling 50yard run will live long in the memory. As the game crept towards the final whistle we decided to mix up our short corner defence. Sas in goal opted to run out and 4 brave defenders took to defending the line. I suspect Taylor is regretting that decision today as he managed to save the ball on the line with his knee, resulting in a penalty flick and plenty of crying.

The final whistle brought the enthralling encounter to an end at 18­-0. While the result wasn't quite what we had wished for we can take plenty of heart from those flashes of quality and our 'never say die' attitude

It was our first cup game we played this season against Queen Marys and we played extremely well winning 8-0. The weather was varied throughout the match with sun at one point and hail the next, but this didnt stop our desire to win which lead to Steph scoring the first goal very early into the match. The rest of the 7 goals were scored by Gio with 2, Annie with 1, Steph with another goal and Clem with 3. The whole team played very well which is shown in how there were three man of the matches; Clem, Georgie and Smithy , however special mention to Steph who had an excellent game and to Anna who spent her time shivering in goal as she didn’t touch the ball once. This win has boasted our confidence and are ready for our league match next week.

Men’s 2s were back again at the formidable fortress of Langstone. The scene was set, conditions were ferocious however that did not stop the purple army from supporting. With a bad couple of results in recent weeks the men’s 2 turned to its secret weapon “Big Ern” who had an absolute blinder of a game keeping the team’s first clean sheet.

Big Ern can’t take all credit for the 15 nil romping, we still had to score the goals. And with Helmer leading the front with 5 goals bringing his overall tally to 9 in total which is not bad seeing he looked like he had something up in his wheelbarrow region he done well. More goals came from the mercurial talents of Grogan, who scored a goal which can only be described as a ruddy good goal, also clinical finishing from Callum as well increased the margin. Men’s 2 have now started the quest of becoming a very ruthless side and hopefully the form carry’s on to next week, onwards and upwards.

MOM-Tappers

Dick of the day –callum

We started our second game of the season against Surrey University very strongly with many good tackles and near misses on goal. The first goal of the match was scored by Surrey which was hugely disappointing to all of us, however we soon recovered with Geo scoring a goal to make it 1-1. We went into the second half with the motivation to win, but unfortunately we couldn’t score which led to Surrey scoring 2 more goals. We had many tires at goal but we were unable to catch up to Surrey’s two goal lead. Even though we all gutted from our loss of 3-1 we all played well and are motivated to win our next games. Our man of the match was Georgie Wisbey and our Dick of the Day was Annie Milroy

Portsmouth Uni 1s  3 – 3  Brighton Uni 1s

Starting with a minute’s silence, the game began with a similar quietness with apparent nerves shining through. A cagey start saw Pompey create early chances with Max Shahani having one shot deflected over the fence. Brighton ran most of their attacks through their welsh center forward – looking, at times, dangerous on the break. It was Portsmouth that dominated the possession, only relenting through unforced errors resulting in turnover of possession. Despite the solidity of the Portsmouth defense it was Brighton that opened the scoring in open play. However, this was short lived with a well put away short corner by the inform James ‘Rabbit’ Speke. Tempers were running high in a match that was closer than it should have been, George Brooker received a green card for chat – which was arguably incredibly harsh. After Half time, both teams began with a fiery tempo. Portsmouth went 2-1 up after a clinically finished goal from fresher, James Evans in open play. Brighton then quickly equalised, which was frustrating for Portsmouth as the possession was dominated by the away side. Before the end of the play Portsmouth scored once more, which was once again quickly equalised by Brighton through a penalty flick – The game ended 3-3, a frustrating result but lots of positives were taken away.

MOM – Harry Quartermaine

DOD – George Brooker

The Portsmouth Mens 3rd team travelled to Imperial Medics, after a lengthy bus journey the Portsmouth boys started a bit slowly. A well-fought first half saw numerous scoring opportunities but it seamed that both teams’ strikers were firing blanks. At the halftime whistle the score was tied with both teams goalless. Imperial Medics came out charging after the break and found a sense of urgency that they lacked in the first half, this stifled the Portsmouth defence and Imperial were able to convert one of their chances.

Portsmouth woke up after the goal, and was able to win a short corner from a lovely piece of skill from Dean Cuthbert. A well-executed short corner saw Alex Jefferys score for Portsmouth off a rebound.

This lifted Portsmouth’s heads and they had the run of play and a goal looked imminent. Imperial had a quick break on a counterattack and were able to convert, putting the score to 2-1.

The final whistle sounded as Portsmouth were awarded a short corner, Portsmouths final chance to draw level, but some heroic defending from Imperial Medics defence subdued the attack, drawing a close to the match.

Final Score: Imperial Medics 2 – Portsmouth 1

MOM: Ryan Young

DOD: Alex Jefferys

01/10/2014
UPHC Ladies 1st XI - 5 vs. Brunel - 1

UPHC Ladies 1st XI made a strong debut in their first game of the season with a 5-1 victory against Brunel in a friendly fixture. During the first half of the game both Giorgia Woods and Annie Milroy scored fantastic goals, yet the score soon became 2-1 when the team conceded a goal from a short corner despite many strong saves by the keeper. In the final half of the game Portsmouth continued their strong performance which was rewarded with another goal from Milroy and 2 more goals from Woods, securing herself a hat trick. MOM was awarded to Geri Mallard due to her excellent defending skills and overall performance, while DOD went to a deserving Steph Lurshay who successfully managed to leave her kit bag in the Union car park. Luckily the team pulled together and managed to assemble a full spare kit that she could wear in the match.