West Bromwich Hockey Club News Articles

3rds victorious in post-Christmas friendly

Nobody — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 21:29:13 +0000

West Brom were hosts to Streetly, in the first fixture of 2019. The home side started off strongly creating several chances, early on. Wez Price, Jack Reeves and Yash Jiwa all left frustrated by the young, Streetly goalkeeper.

It wasn’t long before the opening goal and it was the visitors who were first on the scoresheet, against the run of play. Awarded with a penalty corner, Streetly capitalised on a well worked routine to beat both Frost and Dowen inside the left-hand post.

West Brom quickly dusted themselves off and continued to play with the same intensity. Mark Jones impressing with his forward runs from the full-back position, to support the attackers. The stags equalised in timely fashion, before the break. Kuldip Randhawa forcing the visiting keeper into a save, where it fell to Price who ‘fizzed’ in the rebound.

With the half time whistle imminent, West Brom went into the break level, despite having more shots on goal.

Both sides came alive in the second half, having shaken off the rust and stepped up a gear. Streetly played with two strikers up high, who seemed more interested in fancy flicks to try and break down the West Brom defence. Having had 35 minutes to settle into the game, Duncan Fellows and Aidan Dowen were as solid as ever. The latter straying into unfamiliar territory with an uncharacteristic run, out from his own D and up the right flank.

Chris Gatheridge capped off a fine midfield performance, with a goal which put the home side in the lead. Finding himself at the top of the opponents D, with his back to goal. Gatheridge struck the ball cleanly, on the turn, giving the Streetly keeper no time to react.

West Brom continued to press forward, looking to add to their tally. However, committing men forward opened them up to the counter attack. The visitors finally broke through the West Brom defence and managed to square the ball across the D, for a simple tap in.

In what was a competitive, end-to-end game, a draw looked to be on the cards. However, Wez Price was on hand to reclaim the lead. The West Brom forward allowed the ball to come across his body, controlled it well, and struck it cleanly to score his thirteenth goal of the season.

The stags then seemed happy to play down the clock. The defence continued to hold strong and midfielder Tom Davies dropped deep, to deal with anything that got past the experienced centre backs.

3-2, A good result for the first outing after Christmas. Every player can be proud of their performance today, a true team effort.

Man of the match: Mackenzie Porter.

A strong, confident performance from the youngster who played all game at full-back. Always looking to receive the ball and remaining calm under pressure.

3rds win at Market Drayton

Nobody — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 19:51:08 +0000

Despite midweek fears of a player shortage, West Brom scraped together a side and traveled to Market Drayton for what was to be an emphasising victory.

With six of the regulars absent, the travelling stags recruited Will Howl from the badgers, recalled Wez Price from injury and Wayne Thompson returned for his third and possibly final appearance of the season.

The visiting side started the game strongly, with good attacking intent but it was the home team who scored first, against the run of play. A short corner routine managed to sneak past Jules Frost on his right hand side. West Brom didn’t allow this to disrupt their tempo. They continued to exploit the wings and soon found the equaliser through Wez Price. The ball was crossed in from the left, Josh Dowen flicked the ball on to Wez who drilled the ball in low and hard, to the keepers right.

West Brom continued to threaten Market Drayton’s goal, scoring twice more only to have both goals disallowed. One of which, Josh Dowen hit the backboard, literally a second after the whistle was blown. The visitors continued to pile on the pressure and eventually took the lead when Mark Jones latched onto a loose ball in the D, to secure the lead going into the break.

After a chance to recompose themselves, West Brom came out in the second half with all guns blazing. Wez Price found the net with a trademark individual effort. Twisting and turning past two defenders on the top of the D, and smashing it into the bottom left corner.

The visitors added their fourth from a short corner routine. Price took the shot, which was palmed out high by the keeper. Tom Davies picked the ball out of the air and hit it back into the D. Jones was once again in the right place at the right time, to double his tally and provide an encore of his emphatic celebration.

Market Drayton hit back once again, with a short corner of their own. A misunderstanding amongst the defence, allowed the home side to fire the ball underneath Jules Frost for the second time today.

West Brom ended any indication of a Market Drayton comeback with a late flurry of goals. Wez Price opened the floodgates, completing his hat-trick with a direct strike from another short corner.

Callum Taylor added his name to the score sheet, with the best move of the game. Josh Dowen took a self passed free hit, catching the defender off guard. He passed the ball inside to Davies, who found himself free on the top of the D. A first time pass found Shabbar Butt, who instinctively played the ball across the face of goal with a sweet reverse stick pass. Callum was then on hand at the back post, to sweep the ball into the net and take the visitors’ tally to six.

Tom Davies put in a shift today in midfield, Playing in a more attacking role and capped his performance off with a goal. The visitors mixed things up with an alternative short corner routine, playing the ball to Davies who struck the ball low and hard to beat the keeper.

The final goal of the game came after some link up play between Dowen and Davies, to get the ball into the opposition D. A jab tackle knocked the ball free only for Callum to slap the ball home from the penalty spot.

A positive performance all round today against a younger inexperienced side. Will Howl had a promising debut, making some key tackles late on in the game. Mark Jones claiming a starting spot on the left wing, after scoring twice and Wayne Thompson providing that solid holding role, in the middle of the pitch.

However man of the match had to be Wez Price for an impressive hat-trick on his return from injury, after 5 weeks on the sidelines

Stalemate at Aston

Nobody — Wed, 14 Nov 2018 21:41:11 +0000

Team inconsistencies caused havok as second placed West Brom hosted third place Lichfield. The home side were once again missing several key players as they faced off against fellow poromotion candidates, Lichfield 5ths. With skipper, Josh Dowen absent this week, responsibilities fell to brother, Aidan to rally the stags to deliver the result. Disaster struck early as a disorganised West Brom conceeded more-or-less from the push back. A direct ball through middle, caught out both the defence and the goalkeeper. The visitors were ahead.

The inital game plan was scrapped and players were reverted back to more familiar positions. Despite their best efforts West Brom struggled to create chances and were often caught in possession. The home side never really seemed to step out of 1st gear and continued to be their own worst enemy. Eventually Their luck changed and a penalty corner saw the stags equalise. A standard short corner routine, found Pete Icke at the top of the D, who slipped it to Jack Reeves to flick the ball past the oposition goalkeeper. The equaliser changed the momentum of the game, but unfortunatley the half-time whistle came before another goal and the sides went into the break tied at 1-1.

The home side looked more assertive after the break, showing a bit more fight and the urgency that was so often lacking in the first 35 minutes. Unfortunatley a poor pass, gifted Lichfield the ball with the space to run into the D and put the visitors back in front. The game proved to be tough without the players to link up play between the defence and attack and frustration began to show amongst the West Brom players. However luck shone in their favour once more when Pete Icke found himself with space in the oposition D. On the turn he struck the ball cleanly, to beat the keeper bottom corner.

With ten minutes remaining, both sides seemed content to see the game out, although the home side were granted one last oportunity on goal. Jack Reeves carried the ball forward on the left flank, running at his defender. When his marker slipped on the astroturf, Jack kept his composure and drove into the D. He found Pete on the penalty spot, who unfortunaltey couldn't get the shot out from under his feet.

A missed oportunity to take all 3 points, but a result Lichfield wouldn't have deserved. A point each at the end of the game rounded off a fairly contested game.

Man of the match

Pete Icke - An assist and a goal for the West Brom forward. (Keeping quiet about the chance in the dying minutes.)

Bridgnorth stun 3rds with late goal.

Nobody — Sun, 04 Nov 2018 18:20:09 +0000

The weekends late fixture saw the thirds made the long journey to Bridgnorth, for a dark and drizzly, floodlit encounter.

Whilst missing the Fellows brothers, West Brom saw the return of Jules Frost, Mark Jones and Wayne Thompson to field a more than capable side. The visitors started off the stronger team, playing some nice passing hockey. Jack Reeves and Josh Dowen caused problems down the flanks, running at defenders but were not to be able to provide that final ball.

It wasn’t long before the away team threatened the Bridgnorth goal, creating possibly their best chance of the game. Dowen charged forward on the left-hand side and drilled a cross into the D, to find Pete Icke. The home keeper saved the initial shot, followed by the rebound from the oncoming Dowen. The experienced goalkeeper managed to pull off the triple save, palming away a flicked effort from Jack Reeves.

Bridgnorth also created chances in the first half, forcing Jules Frost into action to keep the score at 0-0. Josh Dowen had an opportunity late on in the half, when he broke through the middle, only to be brought down inside the opponents 25. However nothing came of this and the teams went into half time with the scores level.

Both sides showed the same attacking intensity in the second half, pushing forward eager for that first goal. It proved to be an end to end game with both sets of defenders coming out on top.

West Brom managed to create some chances throughout the second half but due to some acrobatic defending and the superb form of the goalkeeper, the visitors were unable to capitalise.

As the game progressed it looked as though it was going to be another 0-0 stalemate. However a spell of Bridgnorth pressure gained them possession in the middle of the pitch and they managed to punch their way through to score the games only goal. With a mere 3 minutes left on the clock, the visitors were unable to mount a comeback and were left ruing their missed chances.

Man of the match: Jack Reeves, for an attacking performance that showed promise and signs of development as a player.

Great Display Again From Ladies For 2-0 Win

Steve Bavington — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 23:14:57 +0100

Saturday 20th October: Ladies 1st - West Brom 2 - 0 Cannock 4s

We started off very strong good organisation throughout the team. Ball got played up to the attackers Lucy went past a few players and scored. The ball was very back and forward. Then some good play from West Brom saw Lucy fire in a cross and Hannah slotted the ball in to make it 2-0.

West Brom was denied a third goal when sorrell took a shot and a cannock defender went to catch the ball. West Brom went into half time 2-0 up.

Second half only seemed to be a few chances. Cannock was pushing to try and score. They were trying to counter attack. But great defensive play from the whole of west Brom kept them out. Cannock's best chances were from their short corners but great defensive play from West Brom kept them out.

A great display again from the ladies winning 2-0.

Welcome to our new player Gemma, and also to Ellie who plays in the badgers who had her first action in the ladies team. The opposition voted Tori player of the match and West Brom's player of the match was very evenly spread out with three players getting player of the match tori, Becky Lowe and Hannah.

Great Win for 9 Ladies Verses Barton

Steve Bavington — Fri, 26 Oct 2018 23:07:58 +0100

Saturday 13th October: Ladies 1st - Barton 0 - 2 West Brom

West Brom Ladies went to Barton with only 9 players. We then lost the coin toss and had to attack against the wind. We soaked up the early pressure that Barton threw at us. We managed to get the ball up to Lucy our only attacker who went on a fabulous run beating several of Barton players, and got into the circle and scored.

Back to defending again to keep Barton at bay. We managed to win a free hit well into Barton's half. From the free hit we managed to win a short corner. The only one we had of the game. From this short corner Lucy took a shot from the top of the circle and it went in. West Brom went into the break 2-0 up.

Second half Barton come out all guns blazing some excellent defence from our midfielders and defenders kept Barton out. Some saves from our keeper Shell kept Barton at bay. We only had a few chances second half as it was all hands on deck defending. Some great defensive play all round and defensive tackles kept Barton out.

We won 2-0.

An amazing effort by our 9 players who dug deep to get our first points of the season and to get us off the bottom of the table. The opposition voted Lucy player of the match.

Honours even as top of table clash ends goalless

Nobody — Sat, 20 Oct 2018 20:42:50 +0100

In a week where there was a shortage of players throughout the club, a depleted thirds side travelled to Wolverhampton for a top of the table clash against Finchfield.

On the back of four straight wins and sitting top of T3 NW3, West Brom were looking to make it five in a row. However the team currently occupying second place, were not to be taken for granted.

Finchfield started the stronger team, pushing West Brom back into their own half. They played two high forwards and put the visitors’ defence under a lot of pressure with good use of wing play and late runs into the D. Fortunately for West Brom, the return of familiar face Wayne Thompson proved to be pivotal in this fixture. The solid centre back dealt with everything that was thrown at him and without a doubt kept his side in the game.

West Brom managed to win a handful of penalty corners, but otherwise failed to threaten in the first half. Finchfield were the closest to scoring with a chance late on in the half. A cross from the left wing found the forward at the back post, but was only able to stab it wide of the post.

After a hard fought opening 35 minutes, both teams went into half time goalless and frustrated.

West Brom were more lively in the second half and seemed to step up and finally get going. Josh Dowen once again playing CM and providing the visitors with an attacking outlet. Unfortunately his passionate 110% attitude saw him sitting out on the sidelines after an overzealous challenge.

Finchfield pressed forward to challenge the 10 men of West Brom, but superb defending by Wayne Thompson and Kerry Moore, kept the home side at bay.

The visitors did manage to threaten the Finchfield goal, in the later stages but were unable to convert the few chances that were created.

The final 15 minutes was end-to-end but neither side managed to find the crucial goal. Both sides take a share of the points today. The home side will be the more disappointed with the result, West Brom happy to take a point away from home.

Man of the Match: Wayne Thompson, easily the best player on the pitch today. He was strong, composed and kept his side in the game on more than one occasion.

West Brom 1sts Battle Hard

Steve Bavington — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 22:14:31 +0100

13th October 2018: Mens 1st - West Brom 0 - 3 Bromsgrove 1st

A very strong 16 man Bromsgrove Squad visited a sadly a West Bromwich squad who struggled to muster a full strength team..

Bromsgrove came into the game in good form having beaten Walsall & Aldridge in their previous game.

West Bromwich battled tirelessly throughout the first half and forced the Bromsgrove keeper into two fantastic saves. Great efforts from Ethan Warner and veteran Neil Fellows.

Brad Frost GK for West Bromwich kept Bromsgrove at bay for the first 25 minutes, but after intense pressure Bromsgrove broke the dead lock with a controversial goal.

Bromsgrove broke down the left hand side, the Bromsgrove left winger overran the ball and crossed the ball, only to see the ball deflect into the net off a West Bromwich defender.

West Bromwich to their credit just battled on. With only one substitute who incidently turned up twenty minutes in the first half, had a setback.

Midfielder Vikas Bholpha, seem to twist his ankle and limp off injured. West Bromwich kept going and Bromsgrove knew they were in a game.

Half time 1-0, great defending from Captain Alex White, Ravi Hayer, Paul Moore. They all put their bodies on the line and really put a shift in.

Bromsgrove scored an early goal in the secound half after a strong start. Powerful finish passed the goalkeeper Brad Frost who was unable to do anything about it.

To West Bromwich's credit the younger players went box to box the whole of the second half and all got back behind the ball. Alex Clarke, Shiv Ram Kapoor, Jaggit Singh, Tom Clarke, Steffan Forrest and Ethan Warner showed great quality when in possession and also tireless grit and determination. With Shiv and Alex having to bolster both defence and midfield this left veteran Neil Fellows to battle on his own up front. Credit to Alex Clarke, Shiv Ram Kapoor, Tom Clarke they all broke quickly and caused problems to the Bromsgrove defence. The evergreen Neil fellows understandably tired in the second half and with a depleted squad this put more pressure on the West Bromwich team. Vikas Bholpha came back on even though he was carrying an injured ankle with Bromsgrove now piling on the pressure. With West Bromwich average age 8-10 years younger than their opponents, the away teams experience started to show.

Bromsgrove got a late third goal which again looked controversial with a potential ball on foot twice before the shot eventually crossed the the line.

Alex White led by example and was a deserved man of the match. Brad Frost was again outstanding and deserved a mention in dispatches.

There were more positives then negatives for West Bromwich as on paper Bromsgrove were the stronger experienced team and we're expected to win easily, but the the young guns of West Bromwich made sure the away team knew this was going to be a hard fought encounter.

Rocco Mancini President of West Bromwich HC

3rds go top after a win at home

Nobody — Sun, 14 Oct 2018 09:19:59 +0100

West Brom took a 2 point lead at the top of T3 North West 3, when they hosted neighbours Sutton Coldfield, on a blustery day at Aston Uni. The weather caused havoc for the home team during the first half. Not only did they have to battle hard against a strong opposition but had to run against the wind for the opening 35 minutes.

West Brom had a handful of chances in the first half but nothing really threatened the opposition goalkeeper. In fact it was the visitors who showed more fight, putting the blues under several waves of pressure and restricting the home side from getting out of their half.

Sutton then went on to break the deadlock, with a well worked counter attack. With most of the West Brom players in the away teams’ half, a few simple passes drew the remaining defenders out of position and allowed the Sutton forward to shoot on goal from a one-on-one situation. With little else to offer the first half, West Brom went into half time frustrated and one goal behind.

The home side found their stride after the break and a stand-out performance from Josh Dowen, inspired the come-back. Switching to a central role, Dowen bossed the midfield, running at defenders every chance he got.

This spell of pressure would eventually pay off. In a moment reminiscent of the week before, Pete Icke won the ball just outside the opposition D and slipped it to the West Bromwich skipper to level the scores. Dowen then added a second with a well worked short corner routine, playing a simple one-two pass with Icke, to double his tally.

With two assists to his name, It wasn’t long before Icke added his own name to the score sheet with a strong individual effort. Now with a two goal advantage West Bromwich looked comfortable and victory appeared to be on the cards.

Sutton were down but not out. They committed more players forward, piling on the pressure towards the end of the half. The away side eventually broke down the home defence, forcing a ball into the D and a poor clearance allowed the visitors to score themselves a second goal.

With minutes left on the clock, both sides had everything to play for. Tom Davies and Shabbar Butt held the midfield line well, supporting the defence against everything Sutton could throw at them. Anything that made its way through was then dealt with by the experienced back four. The home side played down the clock wisely and ensured they were the ones to take all three points from an evenly contested end-to-end game.

Man of the match, Josh Dowen.

The West Brom skipper led by example, playing with passion and intensity. He threatened every time he had the ball, running at the opposition defenders causing all kinds of problems for Sutton.

The 3rds bag seven in Wolverhampton.

Nobody — Mon, 08 Oct 2018 06:34:23 +0100

Today the thirds travelled to Wolverhampton Grammar School to compete against Old Wulfs 4ths. Hopes were incredibly high as the visitors secured an 8-2 victory against Old Wulfs 3rds, two weeks earlier. However West Brom couldn’t take anything for granted as a few missing players, resulted in making several changes to the team.

The back four remained unchanged, where as a late call up to the first team for Neil Fellows and an unavailable Wez Price, were replaced by Shabbar Butt and Josh Dowen respectively. The shortage of players allowed Yash Jiwa to step up from the badgers to play his first 3rds game of the season.

West Brom started the game well, showing enough experience to play some nice hockey around the home side. Chris Gatheridge eventually broke the deadlock, when he broke free into the D Smashing a low shot past the keeper.

The visitors then dropped into second gear for the remainder of the first, creating but missing several opportunities.

Revitalised by the half time oranges, West Brom started the second half strongly. Josh Dowen burst forward, showing great pace and strength to take on 4 defenders and drill the ball into the D. An acrobatic effort from Pete Icke was unfortunate not to go in, sailing past the post by inches.

This new found intensity set the tempo for the second half and The home side found themselves under tremendous pressure. West Brom went on to score two goals from goal-mouth scrambles, one from Pete Icke and the other from Jack Reeves.

At 0-3 the visitors looked to take their foot off the gas and an aerial ball caught out their high defensive line. The Old Wulfs winger took advantage of this and finished well in a one-on-one situation.

West Brom put an end to the Old Wulfs comeback with a nicely finished short corner routine. Jack Reeves picked up the ball outside the D, slipped it inside to Josh Dowen who calmly chipped it over the keeper who had already gone to ground.

The visitors continued to dominate the rest of the half and increased the pressure on the Old Wulfs defence. Pete Icke capitalised when he tackled a defender in possession and punished the home side with a well placed shot to make it 1-5.

The visitors saw the game out by adding second goal for Chris Gatheridge and one from Shabbar Butt.

Man of the match awarded to Yash Jiwa for such an impressive performance. He gave 100% all game, the lad did everything today except get himself on the scoresheet.