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Reports

03.11.07 South Open Premier League Division 1 - Oxted 2nds 1 Holcombe 2nds 4

Oxted’s recent run of good results came to an end as they were deservedly beaten by a strong Holcombe side.

Holcombe started the game with much more intent than Oxted, putting the Oxted defence under a lot of pressure whenever they had the ball, and not allowing them or the Oxted midfield to settle on the ball and provide the Oxted forwards with the fast ball that they like.  It was no surprise therefore when Holcombe went 1-0 up after 10 minutes, although Oxted can only be disappointed with how the goal came as they gave the ball away on the top of their own circle, thus allowing the Holcombe centre forward a free run on goal.  This seemed to spur Oxted into action and they had their best spell of the match so far, dominating the game for the next 10 minutes.  Unfortunately their final ball which is so often so clinical was sadly off target and a number of chances, including a plethora of short corners went begging.  At this point Oxted’s heads seemed to go down, and Holcombe attacked with new vigour.  They played some very fast attacking hockey, which Oxted were unable to repel.  Oxted had one let off when Holcombe missed a penalty flick, but not learning from Holcombe’s first goal, gave the ball away their own 25 for Holcombe’s second goal and then over committed to leave Holcombe with a 4 on 2 for the third.

Oxted regrouped at half time, and knew that given their 2nd half performances this season they were still in the game.  Unfortunately despite playing some much better hockey in the half, things just wouldn’t go their way; passes that would normally be stopped weren’t quite, fifty-fifty balls that would normally be won were being lost, and they were unable to break the Holcombe defence down until with about 15 minutes to go a move down the left saw the ball passed to Alex Lavigne, who beat 4 defenders with some great skill and passed the ball to Joe Kourea to guide into an unguarded net.  Oxted still felt that they could get something out of the game at this point, and knew that another goal would really put the pressure on Holcombe, but when a free hit was awarded to Holcombe just inside the Oxted half Oxted switched off just long enough for Holcombe to take the hit quickly and for their skipper to sneak in front of his marker to deflect the ball home.  The game ended soon afterwards with the 2nd half having finished an even 1-1, but Oxted having left themselves far too much to do by their poor start, and not having made something of their good spell in the first half.

The only silver lining for Oxted was that they retain 2nd place in the league on goal difference from Chichester, but a good performance will be required to hold onto this next week as they host the undefeated league leaders Havant (Oxted County School 1.30pm).

Oxted: Earl; Day, Hepburn, Gates, Mason; Brown, Dunn, Adamson M; Adamson R, Kourea, Lavigne;

27.10.07 South Open Premier League Division 1 - Oxted 2nds 3 Canterbury Pilgrims 2

Another good all round team performance by Oxted, saw them come away with 3 points again on Saturday to maintain their position of 2nd in the table.

As with most Oxted 2nd team games the game started at quite a frenetic pace, with Canterbury having a shot on goal within the first 2 minutes as the Oxted defence failed to pick a loose man up inside the circle.  Oxted showed why they are such a threat at this level however, as a flowing move involving Mike Adamson, Alex Lavigne, Richard Adamson and Joe Kourea saw them have their own shot on goal not 30 seconds later.  As the first half wore on however Canterbury began to impose themselves on the game; Oxted were unable to get to grips with their unusual 3-5-2 formation, and their 5 man in midfield began to dominate possession and started to create chances for their forwards.  Fortunately for Oxted these were thwarted by the defence of Steve Day, Lewis Hepburn, Matt Park and James Mason, keeping the score at 0-0.  A tactical switch by Oxted midway through the half, moving to a 4-4-2 formation enabled them to gain a foothold in midfield as the dual centre half pairing of Miken Amin and Mike Adamson started to stem the Canterbury attacks.  This allowed the wide midfielders of Stuart Brown and Lee Mcilwraith to attack more and help the Oxted forwards to begin to create chances of their own.  Neither side had broken the deadlock however as half time approached and it looked as if the half would end up 0-0 when an individual moment of brilliance from Lee Mcilwraith put Oxted 1-0 up.  Picking the ball upon the left hand side just inside the Canterbury half he beat 3 defenders and then fired the ball past the advancing Canterbury keeper to give Oxted a deserved lead.

The 2nd half started much as the first with play flowing from one end to the other, with Canterbury creating a number of chances but finding Oxted goalkeeper Ed Earl in impressive form, as he denied them with a series of fine saves.  Oxted continued to attack at pace when they could and one such move saw the ball go from Richard Adamson on the right to his brother Michael on the left, to Mcilwraith who found Joe Kourea at the top of the circle for him to power home to put Oxted 2-0 up.  Just after this centre back Matty Park who has been in imperious form this season suffered a blow to his knee and had to go off.  Oxted were thus forced to reorganise and Canterbury took advantage of the ensuing uncertainty at the back to get a goal back.  Oxted’s fast flowing hockey continued to threaten however, and they were soon 2 goals ahead again as a move involving Adamson, Mcilwraith and Kourea saw the latter fire home.  They were unlucky to not add a 4th as after Kourea had hit the post Stuart Brown was fouled as he was about to put the ball into an empty net.  Unfortunately for Oxted only a short corner rather than the penalty flick that they were expecting was given, and true to Oxted’s form this season this was not converted.

Just as if it looked Oxted would run out 3-1 winners they conceded a sloppy 2nd goal with 5 minutes to go to give Canterbury a sniff of the draw.  Oxted showed their increasing maturity as a side however by keeping the ball well under pressure from Canterbury, to maintain their lead and take all 3 points.

Next week Oxted travel to Holcombe to play their 2nd team who will be looking to bounce back from a surprise 2-1 defeat at Lewes.

Oxted: Earl; Day, Hepburn, Park, Mason; Brown, Amin, Adamson M; Adamson R, Kourea, Lavigne; Mcilwraith

21.10.07 - Surrey Cup- Epsom 3 Oxted 2

On Sunday Oxted travelled to Epsom in the Surrey Cup.  Despite leading 1-0 in the first half and then 3-2 with 2 minutes to go they were defeated 4-3 in golden goal extra time.  Whilst disappointed with the result they can take heart from the way they competed with a first team opposition and the fact that they started the game well, dominating the first 15 minutes, something that they have not really done in the league yet.  They still need to work on their short corner routine however as if they have been able to convert the number that they had, Epsom would not have been able to recover.  Oxted’s scorers were Mike Adamson who scored from a seemingly impossible angle on the left hand side, Dom Flannery and Alex Lavigne.

20.10.07 South Open Premier League Division 1 - Oxted 2nds 2 Woking 2nds 0

Saturday saw another good performance by Oxted, especially in the 2nd half, which with other results going their way moves them up to 2nd in the league.

Oxted’s opponents this week were Woking, who despite previous results this season, Oxted knew to be a well organised and drilled side, and certainly no pushovers.  Once again Oxted started sluggishly, they were not able to string their normal passing game together and found themselves engaging in a dour midfield battle for supremacy with Woking.  Fortunately for Oxted Mike Adamson was in the mood for a battle and he inspired his midfield colleagues Lee Dunn and Stuart Brown to up their game, which enabled all of them to start feeding the forwards with some more productive possession.  Towards the end of the half Oxted began to impose themselves on the game, with one particular move involving 5 Oxted players and some flowing hockey, deserving a goal, but only bringing a fine save from the Woking keeper and applause from the crowd.  Oxted were also unfortunate not to be awarded a penalty flick when some quick thinking by Joe Kourea saw him steal a Woking free hit, and pass to the unmarked Alex Lavigne in the circle.  He was fouled by the keeper as he was in the process of going round him, but only a short corner resulted.  This was not converted and the score at half time remained 0-0.

Oxted started the 2nd half with much more purpose, their right hand side of Lewis Hepburn, Stuart Brown and Richard Adamson were beginning to impose themselves on the game, with Adamson winning numerous short corners with his surging runs.  Unfortunately for Oxted their short corner routine was not really firing, and a number of opportunities were missed.  Oxted did finally go into the lead however when Mike Adamson went on a great run beating 3 players and the keeper; it looked as though the keeper had pushed him too wide for him to achieve anything, but he managed to turn and get a cross in to the far post where his brother Richard was on hand to supply the finishing touch.  Soon afterwards an Oxted short corner did work, with a straight strike form Joe Kourea finding the back of the goal.  Two nil is never safe however, so Oxted introduced the experience of Graham Foggin into the midfield and he helped the defence of Steve Day, Matt Park James Mason and Lewis Hepburn and goalkeeper Ben Shorten ensure that the final 20 minutes contained as few threats to the Oxted goal as possible.
Oxted therefore ran out 2-0 winners, and have now conceded the least goals in the league, as well as moving up to 2nd place – not a bad achievement for their first season in the league.

Next week Oxted take on Canterbury Pilgrims, who currently lie 3rd in the league, in what promises to be an exciting encounter.  The game starts at 1.30pm at Oxted County School.

Oxted: Shorten; Day, Hepburn, Park, Mason; Brown, Dunn, Adamson M; Adamson R, Kourea, Lavigne; Foggin

13.10.07 South Open Premier League Division 1 - Oxted 2nds 3 Lewes 2nds 2

Oxted continued their impressive start to the season with a hard fought 3-2 victory at Lewes on Saturday, which sees them move up to 4th in the league. Following the previous weekend’s disappointing start against Chichester Oxted were determined to be faster out of the blocks this week, and they achieved this by playing higher up the pitch, putting Lewes on the back foot from the start of the game, and playing the game the way that they wanted to.  It was therefore not a surprise when Oxted went 1-0 from a short corner, Joe Kourea flicking in from the top of the circle.  Oxted continued to have the better of the game after the goal, with their forwards creating further chances and obtaining further corners, but they could not score that all important second goal, and with Lewes always looking threatening when they had the ball the lead was by no means secure.  When the equaliser came however it was in a disappointing fashion; Oxted were threatening down the right but gave the ball away with a poor cross, and had committed too many men forward leaving Lewes to break forwards and create a 2 on 1 with Matt Park the last Oxted defender.  Despite his and goalkeeper Ben Shorten’s best efforts Lewes were experienced enough to take advantage of the situation and level the scores. Oxted were stung by this and continued to press forward, especially down their right hand side, with Lewis Hepburn, Alex Watson and Richard Adamson combining particularly well.  It was from one such move that Oxted gained another short corner which from which Kourea played a one two with Adamson and put the ball into the Lewes net via a Lewes foot, only for the umpire to blow for an Oxted foot!

The score therefore remained 1-1 at half time, with both sides feeling that they could win the game.  The second half started fairly evenly, both sides putting pressure on the opposition defence and creating opportunities, but it was Lewes who broke the deadlock when a foul by a retreating Oxted forward was penalised with a short corner.  It looked like the corner routine had broken down, and Oxted had cleared the danger, but Lewes reacted quicker to the loose ball and slotted home for a 2-1 lead.
Oxted reacted well to this set back however and replied virtually immediately with a great move down their right hand side eventually seeing Kourea cross the ball for Alex Lavigne to slam the ball home at the far post.  The force was now with Oxted and a good move through the midfield, where Mike Adamson was by now bossing the show, saw the ball come to Kourea at the top of the circle; he shot past a startled keeper, to put Oxted 3-2 ahead.
Instead of continuing to press forward however, and put the game beyond Lewes, Oxted seemed content to sit back on their lead, and hold out for the last few minutes of the game.  This put the defence under undue pressure, and it required some excellent defending from the Oxted back four to keep the Lewes forwards at bay.  They held out however to give Oxted another hard fought 3 points.

Next week Oxted take on Woking at home on Saturday in the League, before travelling to Epsom in the Surrey Cup on Sunday.  Both games promise to be tough encounters, but Oxted are beginning to settle as a side and must be hopeful of getting something out of both games.

Oxted: Shorten; Hilder, Hepburn, Park, Mason; Watson, Dunn, Adamson M; Adamson R, Kourea, Lavigne; Earl

6.10.07 South Open Premier League Division 1 - Oxted 2nds 1 Chichester 2nds 2

Oxted knew that this week’s game would be a much sterner test that the previous week’s game against Holcombe 3rds.  Chichester had finished second in this division last season, and have a number of players who had been playing at this level for a few seasons.  Oxted on the other and are newcomers to the division and were weakened by the call up of regulars Alex Watson and Lewis Hepburn to the 1st team.

Despite getting lost on the way to the ground Chichester were, much faster out of the blocks than Oxted and put the home side under pressure from the start.  Their forwards continually got in front of their Oxted markers, thus allowing them to lay the ball back to their 4 man midfield who were then able to further pressure the Oxted defence.  Fortunately for Oxted the Chichester short corner routine was not firing and the numerous chances that Chichester obtained were not converted.  Even when Oxted won the ball in defence however they were not able to string a set of passes together to enable them to attack, so despite the best efforts of goalkeeper Alex Chapman and centre backs Steve Day and Matt Park, it was no surprise when Chichester opened the scoring from a flowing move.  Fortunately for Oxted Chichester were unable to add to their lead and when half time came with the score still only 1-0 Oxted knew that if they played the way that they could in the 2nd half then they would be in with a chance of getting something from the game.

Oxted started the 2nd half much better than they had started the 1st; following their promotion from the 3rd team Stuart Brown and Mike Hilder had settled into their right sided roles, and the team began to impose their fast flowing attacking style on the game.  It was not as smooth as the previous week, but gradually the chances began to come, and form one particularly incisive move Oxted equalised, Mike Adamson played a great through ball from midfield, which his brother Richard ran onto.  He beat the keeper and then played the ball back into the path of the advancing Brown; a Chichester defender illegally tried to stop the ball with his hand, but could only deflect the ball into the path of Joe Kourea who buried it deep into the goal.  The game was much more even at this stage, Oxted when they attacked at pace were threatening the Chichester defence who were beginning to panic, but Chichester were by no means out of it, and had chances of their own.  Just as it seemed as if the game would end up 1-1 Richard Adamson intercepted a Chichester clearance and powered forward; his pass was aimed at an unmarked Alex Lavigne at the far post, but was intercepted by Kourea, who was illegally stopped from shooting by the Chichester goalkeeper.  Unfortunately in the melee of players the umpire could not see the foul and the danger passed.  Chichester broke and tried to grab their own winner, just as it seemed Oxted had cleared this they gave the ball away on the half way line and a great bit of skill from the Chichester forward saw him round the keeper and shoot home to put Chichester 2-1 up.  This was the last action of the game; no sooner had Oxted taken the push back than the final whistle went.

Oxted were disappointed to lose the game in this manner, but if they are honest they could, and probably should, have been more than 1-0 down at half time so were lucky at this point to still be in the game.  They should however look back with pride on their second half performance and realise that if they play like that every week they will compete in every game that they play.

Oxted: Chapman; Hilder, Day, Park, Mason; Brown, Dunn, Adamson M; Adamson R, Kourea, Lavigne; Trim J