CELEBRATE IN STYLE!

 

The End of Season Dinner is on Saturday 23rd April. 

We have a limited capacity in the clubhouse, so buy your ticket early to avoid disappointment! 

We are hoping this event will be as popular as ever and in anticipation of selling out, we have booked a LIVE Band and a photo booth.

Tickets are on sale as from tonight at training from the bar or from Mazza and James until the end of the season. 

When buying your ticket, please specify what table you would like to sit on, eg ‘2nd XI men.

Tickets are £35 each, but players from the youth section wishing to attend

(those playing in the U16 sides or in year 11 or below) tickets are subsidised to £30.

 

1ST XI REPORTS:

The Ladies 1s were hugely fired up for the home match against Norwich Dragons and determined to build upon their 3 points last week.  They started well, moving the ball around, with some great linking play in the back three and into midfield, which then gave them good options going forward. Within the first ten minutes they created a great opportunity for Alice Melvin to drive the baseline and with a very acute angle, find the back of the net. Loughts continued to dominate the play for much of the first half. Linking passes and creating chances. The opposition did put Loughts on the back foot a couple of times, but thanks to experience in defence and some expertly timed sliding tackles from Sarah Smith and great saves from Liz Gifford in goal their break away chances were thwarted. Jenny Farrow managed to add to the goal tally with another good passage of play, with Tash Patient driving through the D and linking up with Jen, who fired the ball home.

 

After the break, the Ladies came out fighting again and continued to dominate play initially however, after a couple of mistakes, Dragons took their opportunities and created a couple of chances, dealt with by Gifford and a few near misses with deflections from defenders just going wide. However they stayed strong, with more diving last ditch tackles from Smith they managed to keep a clean sheet, winning the game 2-0. A very positive result with hopefully more to come from the last few games of the season!

 

The Mens 1s hosted Havering on Saturday afternoon, both teams in need of a result. The last meeting between the sides ended in a 3-3 draw, so both teams knew they had a chance of victory. The game started after a minutes silence acknowledging the strong links between Old Loughtonians, Havering and the Wilson family.

 

The game got underway with both teams trying to settle into the contest, both squandering possession and goal scoring opportunities. The breakthrough came when the ever calm Aleix Roset slotted away a short corner allowing Loughts to draw first blood. The second goal came from the bearded Aussie Shane Watson, who managed to deflect a ball enroute to his face into the goal to a loud yell of 'Crikey Mate!' aimed at teammate Harry Kempe, whose deflection deliveries of impending doom are well known within the team!

 

The following two goals were well taken, by Ed Mortimer and Luke Camilleri, both contenders for goal of the season and would have been a talking point on 'Hockey Match of The Day' Saturday evening. The final goal for Loughts was probably their best of the afternoon, with good team play to create an opportunity for Oliver Didham to slide the ball past the goalkeeper to Owen McLaughlin for his first goal for the 1st XI. The game ended 5-0 to Loughts, who will look to build on that performance with 3 tough fixtures coming in the lead up to the end of the season.

 

After the match, Shane Watson had this to say 'Look, I really struggled with today’s game, I just miss my South African housemate and buddie Ross, I really hope he's doing well on international duty! The boys today played really well and gave maximum effort and we reaped the rewards. A big challenge is ahead of us in the last three weeks but we can get there.'

 

After the game both teams joined in the clubhouse to commemorate and raise a glass to Tom and Graham Wilson, a Loughts shirt signed by teammates now hangs in the Clubhouse in memory of a true friend and an outstanding player. 

 

U18 GIRLS PROGRESS TO SEMI-FINAL OF THE CUP:

The U18 Girls were excited to have the home draw for their quarter final match against Norwich Dragons on Sunday and having initially struggled to get players together they managed to secure a strong team and were ready for a fight!

 

Loughts started really positively with Lucy Price scoring within the first five minutes. With some end to end hockey, Dragons then managed to pull one back to make it 1-1. Loughts continued to create chances going forward winning a corner which was deflected in by Captain: Tash Patient. 

 

Celebrations as Tash Patient deflects in the second goal!

 

Some good defence from the Loughts back four of Annie Redmond, Megan Wells, Alisha Evans and Katie Brooking meant that Dragons' break away attacks were broken down. The silky skills of Price resulted in another chance shot at goal and the rebound was put in by Emily Sanders but Dragons hit back just before half time making it 3-2.

 

Loughts started the second half positively and had a job to do and again dominated passages of play, but the game was end to end with both teams creating goal scoring opportunities, Hannah Lieper in the Loughts goal making some great saves and commanding her D. Alice Melvin went on to find herself some space in the D and strike to score the fourth, with another coming from Emma Albery from a tight angle at the back post. At this point a couple of mis- tackles and lapse in marking gave Dragons a few more opportunities with them slotting one home not long before time. Final score 5-3 to Loughts and the team head through to the semi-final match away at Wakefield.

 

Overall a very well fought game, with the Loughts girls showing grit and determination, and creating some great goal scoring opportunities. Well done to all players involved and thank you to Jay Fox the Manager for all of his hard work, and to the girls who helped out at last minute.  Team: Hannah Lieper, Annie Redmond, Alisha Evans, Katie Brooking, Megan Wells, Tash Patient, Alice Melvin; Emma Albery, Lucy Price, Hannah Sydenham, Emily Sanders, Eden Price, Molly Gayler. Coach: Danni Jewell.

 

U16 GIRLS FIND THE GOING TOUGH:

The U16 Girls put up a brave fight against tough opposition in the regional clusters on Sunday. Faced with an incredibly difficult draw, the girls played 3 matches, won 1, lost 2 – scored 4 goals and conceded 5. In their first match they came up against a strong and physical Wimbledon side and despite having much of the possession and several chances they struggled to convert. With five minutes to go, Wimbledon scored from a well taken penalty corner. The girls quickly forced another attack but the Wimbledon defence held strong.

 

The second match was the highlight of the day – playing an East Grinstead side who looked physically much stronger than the Loughts girls. The girls played some creative, flowing hockey and scored four goals. The first from a well worked penalty corner – Liv Corry pounced on Caitlin Black’s shot to calmly convert. The second was from another short corner – Charlotte Collier receiving the ball from a left slip and firing into the penalty spot for Chloe Stack to deflect into the top corner. The third and fourth goals came from open play – Zoe Wright won the ball in her own half and surged 50 yards down the pitch into the D – and calmly slotted the ball to Charlotte James-Pajwani to beautifully convert on the far post. JP made the fourth goal with a wonderful zig zag run from the 25 into the D where she struck the ball towards the far post for Louise Childs to deflect past the Wimbledon keeper.

 

In the final game the girls were up against a quality Surbiton side containing several England players. Although they went down 4-0 to four exceptional strikes from the top of the D - the girls were incredibly disciplined, ran tirelessly and marked well.

 

Whilst the results didn’t go in Loughts favour the girls played some excellent hockey. They looked strong on the ball, they worked hard and adapted well to some advanced tactical play. Great credit to the girls for their effort, their resilience and most of all their team spirit. Never once did they give up and they stayed positive and supportive to each other throughout the day. Special thanks to Miranda too for coaching the squad, her planning, insight, determination and support of the girls has helped them all grow as players throughout the season.

 

Girls U16 Team

Back Row: Liv Corry, Georgie Batt, Zoe Wright, Amelia Harvey (Capt), Charlotte Collier, Imogen Cayley, Venetia Bailey, Louise Childs.

Front Row: Stevie Southall, Charlotte James-Pajwani, Melissa Brooks, Phoebe Menear, Caitlin Black, Emily Lord, Chloe Stack

 

EASTER CAMP:

Easter Hockey Camp – Wednesday 6th/Thursday 7th/Friday 8th of April at Luxborough Lane.  Please note: given the popularity of this last camp the club will be enforcing a strict book in advance policy and will not accept bookings after the closing date of Friday 1stApril – so don’t be an April Fool and miss out!