Weekly SCORE-pion 07-10-23

Men’s 1s 5-0 vs Wallingford

Harry Hewitt-Chick

It was nice to have a home match after starting the season with 2 away games. Having played Wallingford twice in preseason, we knew that we would be in for a very competitive game of hockey.

The first half was a contest of the midfield, and both teams playing some great hockey. Goals from Raj (x2) and Tim meant Abingdon went in 3-0 up at halftime.

A couple of yellow cards in the second half limited the flow of the game, but 2 pin point drag flicks from Tim boosted our advantage.

The match ended 5-0, but was a well contested fixture. Abingdon have now won 3/3 and are yet to concede a goal in open play.

PotM: Raj Sadhra

Goal Scorers: Tim Chilvers (3), Raj Sadhra (2)

Assists: Marnix (2), JP, Tim Chilvers, Ed Carver

Ladies 1s 1-1 vs Banbury

PotM: Rhian Evans

Goal Scorers: Annie Cook

Assists: Tash Knight

Men’s 2s 4-1 vs Reading

Will Green

 A tough game this week, Reading putting relentless pressure on our defence but Tom Skirrow scored against the run of play from a PC. Reading's pressure did pay off shortly before the break with a P-flick which Stu almost saved.

After countless saves from Stu, we took the lead through a P-flick of our own taken by Will. The game got quiet feisty in the 2nd half with numerous green cards and going down to 9 on two occasions. The defence stood firm against wave after wave of attack before Ben Hyde scored a late double to secure the points for Abingdon.

PotM: Stuart Cardy

Goal Scorers: Tom Skirrow, Will Green, Ben Hyde (2)

Assists: Ben Hyde, Will Green, Ollie Huxley (2)

Ladies 2s 2-2 vs Kidlington

Emma Bell & Laura Cardy

It was derby day for the Ladies 2s… Kidlington. Always proves to be a tough battle, and after winning 7-0 in consecutive weekends, the nerves were high…and so was the temperature! 

It was 1-1 at half time, so we knew we had a big half ahead of us. We played some great hockey and got what we thought was our winning goal, with 5 mins to spare. However Kidlington went at us on the counter attack and equalised.

PotM: Charlotte Cardy

Goal Scorers: Emma Bell, Rachel Hossack

Assists: Ava Bremner, Claudine Trigg

DoD: Claudine Trigg... she will be delighted to tell you the reason! 

Ladies 3s 2-0 vs Buckingham

A performance to be proud of, the Ladies 3s drove to the beautiful grounds of Stow School to demonstrate how much of a team we now are and the progress we are making. 

From start to finish the team worked to demonstrate all the skills we have been learning in training, holding possession, calm on the ball, creating space, passing, moving onto the posts, coming back to defend with play and all importantly talking to each other

Attacking from the off, lovely passing to create goal opportunities, a spate of end to end play led to a prolonged period of attack later into the first half. Finally a smashing ball into the post from Ruth at right back, created a couple of rebound opportunities with Olivia G and Rebecca nearly getting on the end of a goal, Ella on the back post got the goal.

The second half was more of the same fast pace, holding possession and attacking with defence pushing up to support and create opportunities to switch play across both sides. Buckingham broke a couple of times but did not get into our D. Some great defending to cut off the threat early. Oh so many chances kept out by a very capable young goalie from Buckingham. Over half way through the second half, a long corner got upgraded to a short following a howling stick tackle saw the second goal from a new face to the club, Kate T, being in the perfect position to receive a rebound and power it into the back board. The ladies didnt lose focus or energy and continued to attack through to the end.

Well deserved first win.

PotM: Lauren Dalley & Kate Thatcher

Goal Scorers: Ella Infante & Kate Thatcher

Men’s 3s 6-1 vs Aylesbury

Lee Daglish

After last week’s frustrating draw with Thame, the 3’s were looking for a statement win in their campaigns home opener. An unfortunate late withdrawal of our captain and a whole host of debutants meant the opening exchanges were tense as both sides searched for an opener. It was clear Abingdon were the better of the two sides but Aylesbury proved a tough nut to crack. Abingdon opened the scoring 25 minutes into the half with Ash D and debutant John B finding the net to put Abingdon 2-1 ahead at the break.

Stu C and Will G offered some valuable insight from the sidelines, that and some key defensive adjustments made by the back four meant our press was far more effective in the second half giving breathing space and a strong platform to build from resulting in Abingdon quickly extending the lead with goals from Ash, John, and Lewis S putting the result beyond a doubt, at this point Vic T stepped up to score his first goal for the club in emphatic fashion with an incredible Tomahawk from a scuffed short corner routine.

PotM: John Boumphrey for 2 goals on his Debut and a solid all round performance

Goal Scorers: Ash Davidson (2), John Boumphrey (2), Lewis Singleton, & Victor Rill

Assists: Chris Yates (3), Ric Singleton, & Greg Hughes

DoD: Stuart Cardy for some questionable footwear choices

Men’s 4s 2-2 vs Tring

Trevor Wiggins

The 4s packed their buckets and spades and made the trip to early pacesetters Tring for our latest adventure.

Tring put us under pressure straight from the start and were soon a goal up despite Ollie’s efforts. The 4s kept playing our usual passing hockey and a sublime pass from Tom put Dewi 1 on 1 with the Tring keeper with Dewi coming out on top and scoring his first league goal.

The second half went pretty much the same way with Tring applying plenty of pressure and eventually scoring. The 4s kept going with Oscar and Alex combining to score our second goal. This lead to a few nervy last minutes for a tiring 4s team but we held on for the draw.

PotM: Ollie Trewavas

Goal Scorers: Dewi Atkins, Gewei Wang (Alex)

DoD: Trevor Wiggins

Mixed 2-3 vs Great Milton

Trevor Wiggins

Trevor the traitor made his first appearance this season and was among the “willing” volunteers who played for Milton to even up the teams.

The game was a little bit disjointed to start with but eventually settled down. Milton applied plenty of pressure during the first half and took a while to find that elusive final ball.

The second half initially started the same but Abingdon stepped up there game and started finding the Milton circle regularly and eventually scored from a short a second goal followed not long afterward with Greg coming out on top during a 1 on 1 with Trevor the traitor.

In stepped Ric Singleton who in a very brief appearance for Milton and despite saying he would only sit up top and not do anything scored a cheeky goal and assisted a second to give Milton the lead and the game.

This was Mimi’s first senior game and was an impressive performance against experienced players.

PotM: Hannah Brockwell

Goal Scorers: Hannah Brockwell, Greg Hughes

Assists: Dewi Atkins