Author name: Daniel Young

After a long and challenging season, it was time for Oundle to hit the road one last time, travelling to Nottingham to face Nottingham University 5s. The game marked the end of an era, with 2 regulars playing their final games before enjoying their retirements. John ‘JB’ Brown and Peter ‘Coach’ Ellis. Both being able to boast long and successful careers they thought it was time to hang up their astros and move on to pastures new. JB to the south of France and Coach Ellis to the golf course. But before they can enjoy, they had one final game to play. Oundle lined up with a strong team with Peter Allett returning. George Martin however was unable to make the game. There was also a rare appearance for uni student Brandon Ingle who for once was ON TIME. Oundle started the game with push back and kept a passing accuracy of 100%… for about 2 seconds before the ball was put off the sideline. Thankfully the gents at the uni side repaid the favour straight away. The early stages of the game were relatively quiet, both sides trying to get a feel for the game, as is so often the tale of the season it was the opposition who managed to get ahead, resulting from a short corner that was cruelly deflected to the right of Youngy. Unlike the rest of the season, Oundle were able to hit straight back, a long ball forward found John Pickstone free on the right hand side, who delivered and inch perfect pass into the D, finding Brenners at the back post, who had the composure to 1st stop the ball, 2nd pick his spot, 3rd make a cup of tea and drink it, 4th read a book, and 5th and finally put the ball in the net to level the scores up. Strangely enough, it was not long before Oundle were ahead, a long crash ball from Eliis, found an onrushing John Pickstone who had slipped his marker and deflected the ball into the roof of the net, leaving the keeper no chance, and leaving his team mates wondering ‘How has he done that?’  A shell shocked Nottingham team did not know what had hit them, especially scorer Pickstone, who was causing absolute havoc for the Nottingham defenders. The right hand side proved to be especially problematic. Another cross from deep on the right hand side found an unmarked Dan Phillips at the back post who gleefully tapped home his first goal of the season. Phillips was especially happy as all 3 of Oundles goals had so far come from passes to the left. Nottingham were left blown away and unsure of what to do, they had come up against an inspired Oundle side who were playing of how they were capable. Nottingham did manage to win a couple of short corners and have a few shots during the first half forcing Youngy to make a couple of saves, one rebound nearly finding one of their heads, but mostly they were unable to break Oundle down. The whistle was blown for halftime and the relief on Nottingham faces was palpable, as they finally had a chance to regroup. Oundle were hungry for more goals and that was the halftime team talk, keep working hard, and let’s get some more goals. The 2nd half started with the break having the desired effect for the Nottingham players, as they were able to get onto the front foot, putting Oundle under pressure. Oundle however are no strangers to being put under pressure and held firm. With Oundle working hard, they started to tire which allowed more space for the Nottingham players. With the game stretched they found themselves on a counter attack, and 1 on 1 with the Oundle defenders, a ball forward was so nearly intercepted by the Oundle defender whose attempt only succeeded in teeing up the forward perfectly to slot home. Despite the majority of Nottingham’s short corners not resulting in anything, they had a plan and stuck to it, the ball would be injected to the player at the ‘10’ position, who would fire across aiming for the far post, and unfortunately late in the 2nd half it worked. With the ball evading the outstretched boot of Youngy, and finding the stick of the left postman, who deflected home with a very tidy finish into the back of his own net! With the scores now level, Oundle composed themselves and began to attack again, the game becoming end to end. It was at this point that Allan Simpson who had missed a large part of the season earlier with a broken toenail, found himself in acres of space, 1 on 1 with the Notts keeper. Taking his time and going for the cool and collected finish he calmly slotted the ball between the onrushing keeper’s legs to put Oundle back in front making it 4-3. Oundles joy was not to last too long however, as Nottingham hit back from a drag flick, from their next short corner. Both Youngy and the right hand postman were unlucky to not get a touch.  With the game entering its final stages, Nottingham again won a short corner, another drag flick which was saved by Youngy, off of the inside of his pad, Captain Ben Edis scrambling to get out the way. The resulting long corner again resulted with Youngy being tested and making a save, with one of the Nottigham forwards running a screen to block his line of sight. This was blown up by the umpires and Oundle were given a reprieve. The game finished at 4-4 in what has been described by pundits as a ‘thriller’ and a ‘classic’. With Oundle scoring a total of 6! As the curtain came down on a long and challenging season, Oundle found themselves 3rd bottom in the league and now nervously await confirmation from the league about whether they will be relegated or not. 

The penultimate game of the season and the last home game of the season for Oundle saw a Nottingham Trent Uni 3s side visit. This meeting was the first fixture between these two sides with Oundle having to forfeit the reverse fixture after it was rearranged approx a million times.  This week saw the long awaited return of vice captain Adrian Millan whose dose of man up pills appears to have finally kicked in. In the words of Farmer Moore ‘Reunited and it feels so good’. It was a sentimental game with striker George Martin turning 30, which puts him at about a tenth of the age of veteran John Brown. It was also sentimental for John Brown, being his last home game before enjoying a long overdue retirement. But Oundle will hope to wheel him and fellow retiree Peter Ellis out one last time next week, to give them both a well deserved send off. A quick special mention should go to skipper Ben Edis who valiantly decided to umpire instead of play. Even though he was injured. The game started with a NTU3s pushback, and putting Oundle under expected pressure immediately, despite this Oundle kept it tight at the back, refusing to give anything away. Oundle, not rolling over as I imagine the uni students expected, were taken by surprise, both by the excellent defensive work of the team, and the swiftness of the counter attacks that Oundle were able to mount. Oundle were even able to have the first meaningful shot of the game, with George Martin taking 2 bites of the cherry forcing NTU3s keeper into 2 very good reaction saves. The nerves of NTU could be seen, they clearly weren’t expecting this kind of resistance from the 3rd bottom side. Also helping was outspoken left winger, who did a fantastic job of rattling NTU3s, with both words, and let’s say some… interesting tackles. Despite one of the NTU3s player thinking a particular tackle made Phillips week, it actually made his year. Halfway through the first half and NTU3s were finally starting to grow into the game, they won their first short corner of the game. This was dispatched very well, low and to the left, Youngy getting a touch which was unfortunate to take it over the stick of JB on the post. Despite this setback Oundle were not dismayed and stuck to their tasks well. Despite increased pressure from a now ascendant NTU team. Youngy was well protected in goal, only being called into action a couple of times to make some routine saves. It was during a short corner that newly returned skipper for the day Adrian Millan had to ask fellow CB Farmer Moore to tie his shoe laces due to him forgetting how to tie an knot and nothing to do with his dodgy thumb. 1-0 at half time was the score with Oundle positive that they could keep it together. Unfortunately early on an unlucky and cruel deflection off of Brenners landed at the feet of a NTU3s forward by the right hand post who gleefully tapped in from a yard out past the diving Youngy. Not satisfied with his assist, Brenners later on tried to score with a deflection from a cross but this was saved by the trailing leg of Youngy. Youngy was called into action numerous times over the half, making one save which John Brown graciously admitted that he had ‘Every faith Youngy would save it’ anyways, he let the NTU player turn and shoot from the penalty spot with Youngy making what was described by the opposition an ‘Outrageous save’ high to his left to keep the score at 2-0. However with continuous pressure from the young NTU3s side it began to tell and a 3rd goal became inevitable. This time a high drag flick found the roof of the net. With the 3rd goal and some tired Oundle legs, discipline started to slip again, Oundle receiving 2 green cards for some bad tackles, the first going to ex skipper Tristan Ashby and the 2nd going to forward George Martin. Although the latter was convinced that the umpire missed retaliation from the NTU3s player. It was during one of these periods where Oundle were down to 10 men that NTU3s again found the net from a short corner, the first shot was blocked before the 2nd found the left side of the goal. A quick shout from veteran John Brown of ‘How high’ convinced the umpire to chalk off the goal. With the game winding down and entering its final stages. NTU3s did find the net again with a solo goal which was okay. Beating multiple members of the Oundle back line before finding the roof of the net. Throughout the game it became apparent that even though NTU3s were extremely proficient at winning short corners, they weren’t quite as good at converting them. With numerous miss traps and fantastic running from the short corners. A 4-0 loss was the result which, Oundle agreed they would have more than happily taken before the game had begun. It is this result however that confirms their relegation to the 6th tier of Midlands hockey. We go again one final time next week, away to the actual Nottingham University 5th team. HWTL.

After last week’s hard fought victory over Melton, Oundle were looking to make it back to back wins for the first time this season. Oundle returned to HQ this week, with the visitors being Rugby and East Warwickshire 3s, the team sitting directly above Oundle in the table. The two sides separated by a single point. The reverse fixture earlier this season produced a 4-2 win for Rugby. Rugby travelled with a  strong squad, bringing with them a full complement of players. Oundle could also boast a strong squad of players, with Jonny Crittell available to make his first appearance of the season. Oundle were however lacking some firepower with forwards Goal a game Dalley and flying rhino Pickstone both unavailable for today’s game. Defensive midfield maestro Peter Allett also decided that he would rather be skiing so did not want to play. Rugby started the game with pushback and signalled their intentions early going straight on the attack, Brenners, having faith in the players behind him, decided that after the whistle was blown was a good time to start tying his laces. Rugby had also brought a large following of fans with them who were intent on clapping every 2 yard pass the Rugby made. The clappers however were silenced when, strangely enough for Oundle, they started quickly, putting Rugby under pressure and immediately made that pressure tell, Martin finding some space in the D and hitting a sweet reverse strike low to the keepers right.  Oundle kept the pressure up throughout the early stages of the half and were unlucky not to score another, with the final ball just lacking. Rugby however were not without their chances, the first shot on the Oundle goal was saved by Youngy, the save going high into Jimmy who had to take evasive manoeuvres. This was enough for the umpire to award Rugby with the first penalty corner of the match. The first short corner caught an Oundle foot and was subsequently cleared by Youngy, the 2nd one was well cleared. Rugby grew more and more into the game, with Oundle pinned in. Rugby soon made this pressure tell when a cross from the Oundle left found an unmarked player at the back post who had the simplest of jobs, tapping home into the empty net. Moments later it appeared that Oundle had not learned their lesson, when another attack from Oundles left produced the same result with Oundle unable to clear their lines. After this quick double from Rugby, the game settled down, with both teams keeping the ball and transferring the ball round the back. Rugby appeared to prefer to sit on the counter, letting the pace of their forwards cause the issues. Despite this, there were no further goals in the half.  The 2nd half started with an Oundle pushback, although it appeared no one wanted the ball! Going through the midfield before being collected by the defence, who then decided that they would be sporting fellows and pass the ball back to the Rugby forwards. Thankfully this attack amounted to nothing, however Rugby continued to ride their luck and Oundles discipline started to collapse, the first being P.Wilson (Phil) who received a green card for an awful tackle. Just after Phil had returned to the pitch, Phillips won a free hit in the Oundle 23 and was given a yellow card for looking funny at the umpire, personally I think it’s because he’s bald. Things went from bad to worse from Oundle when John Brown decided that he wanted to take out one of their players, and not for a nice meal. The tangle left the Rugby player on the floor, he tried to break his fall with his face which didn’t end well. The umpire gave a short corner which was well charged down by Farmer Jimmy. Unfortunately forgetting which end of the pitch he was at, he deflected the ball straight past Youngy in goal increasing Rugby’s lead to 3-1. It was at this point in the game that Jimmy decided, enough was enough, and it was time for his solo run of the week. Picking the ball up on the Oundle 23 line, he ran.. In a near enough straight line, with the Rugby players unable to get near him! Jimmy’s eyes lit up with the thought of doubling his goal tally in an Oundle shirt. Unfortunately while daydreaming about the back pages of the Peterborough Evening Telegraph, and his Oundle teammates breaking into a rendition of ‘Old McJimmy had a Farm’ this allowed one of the Rugby players to catch up and push Jimmy in back, causing him to lose the ball, Jimmy was too honest and refused to go down as easily as Bruno Fernandes to try and buy a penalty. Oundle stuck to their game and were rewarded with a number of penalty corners, the first of these was narrowly drag flicked wide by Peter Ellis. The 2nd penalty corner again went to the self proclaimed ‘Hockey God.’ Ellis used all of his divine might to smash home to the keeper’s left, reducing the deficit to 1. The last of these short corners again went to Ellis who decided to try his famous lob. This was unlucky not to find the goal with the Rugby keeper scrambling to keep it out. With Oundle pushing for an equaliser the game became very stretched and end to end. Rugby stuck to their game plan and was not long before they hit Oundle on the break, with an Oundle defender’s stick unlucky not to stop the resulting shot from creeping in the left hand post. The game finished repeating the score line from the reverse fixture, a 4-2 win for Rugby. The result leaves Oundle 3rd bottom 4 points from safety with 2 teams in the top half of the table to play. All seems lost, but stranger things have happened. We go again next week for the final home game of the season

Before I start this week’s match report, I have been remiss. With a lack of match reports due to illness and holiday. Also last week, star forward John Pickstone scored 2 worldies and I had no idea how to describe them. Pickstones version of events went something like this: ‘South Africa, South Africa, 4 world cups, South Africa.’ After over a month of home games, Oundle were finally back on the road again, travelling to one of the closer away games in fellow strugglers Melton 2s. Oundle sat 7 points from safety after the 2 recent fixtures against Loughborough and Saints 2s. With fate now out of their hands Oundle travelled with a strong 15 players to face bottom of the league Melton.  This week marked the return of forward George Martin, who scared of Pickstones new found form, knew he had to score to keep his top gun dream alive. A little bit of extra incentive was added to the game when an old face showed up. Yes John Brown was there however it was a different old face, with ex player Macca in the lineup for Melton. The offer of a beer came from the Melton backline if any of the Oundle players could give Macca a good kicking. The game started with Oundle adopting the now standard half court press. Inviting the other team to try and break them down. Melton accepted the invitation and started brightly putting pressure on the Oundle backline. Oundles resolve was not broken however, limiting Melton to just the one shot which was off target. Oundle meanwhile looked dangerous on the counter attack, Dalley looking to get his goal for the game, taking a swing and a miss in the Melton D. As Oundle grew into the game they started pressing higher and higher up the pitch, which started causing more and more problems for the Melton team, with errors starting to take their toll. Oundle soon won the first short corner of the game, the injection went to castle 1 where George Martin showed Oundle what they were missing without him as he gleefully planted a strike into the bottom left corner of the Melton goal. The Melton defender was unlucky not to get a touch. Oundle were buoyed by this goal were unlucky not to add another goal in quick succession, with Dalley shooting narrowly wide from a tight angle. It was then that disaster struck, taking this shot caused Dalley to fall over badly, getting injured in the process. Despite being one striker down, Oundle were not dismayed, standing firm for the rest of the half. Oundle enjoyed large spells of possession in something that has not been seen much this season, playing the ball around the back and working the space. The 2nd half started much the same as the first, both sides being content with possession and finding their feet playing it around the back. Any Melton attacks were quickly snuffed out. Despite Maccas boasting of his goal scoring prowess prior to the game, he was not given a sniff. It was early on when an Oundle counter attack was stopped by a Melton player who decided that he would rather be playing football, which resulted in the first card of the game being branded Oundle did have some good chances which they failed to take advantage of, the first being another strike from George which was well saved by the keeper. A 1 on 1 followed with again the Melton keeper coming out on top. Being the wily old striker that he is, Martin even picked a ball from a Melton 16, having an initial shot and the rebound but still unable to find the back of the net. As the 2nd half wore on both sides started to show signs of fatigue, becoming leggy and stretching the game. Oundles back line again held firm and despite a 5 minute spell where they couldn’t get the ball out of their own half, Youngy was left with nothing to do in goal, keeping only his 2nd clean sheet of the season. Oundles defence did not conceding any short corners for the 2nd time in 3 matches. The game finished with Oundle running out 1-0 victors. Unusually for Oundle they did also not receive any cards. With this win Oundle now find themselves 4 points from safety with 3 games left, including 2 of the uni sides. Oundle are very much staring into the Abyss, next week being a massive game at home vs Rugby 3s. If we’re going down, we’re gonna go down swinging. HWTL.

Oundle returned to HQ for the 2nd of 4 straight home games. Today they were facing mid table Nottingham 1s. The previous feisty affair had resulted in a 2-1 win for Nottingham, scoring in the dying seconds of the game. Despite notable absentees such as both the Captain, Vice Captain, and P.Wilson (Phil), Oundle were able to boast a strong squad, with 15 players being available. Today’s game also saw the return of rogue winger R.Cunningham who decided that enough time had now passed since his beloved Sunderland were thrashed by the mighty Toon. Nottingham travelled with a bare 11, which after a quick chat with their captain revealed they had had some late drop outs. The game began with an Oundle push back, and strangely for Oundle they started quickly, putting pressure on the Nottingham back line. Dalley managed to fire off a couple of early shots which the Nottingham keeper was equal to. Nottingham sat back and soaked up the early Oundle pressure, hoping to catch them on the counter attack. And that is just what Nottingham did, one of their counter attacks finding an Oundle foot in their D. The short corner was a well worked passing routine and it found the back of The Oundle net. This was also their first shot on target. With this goal, Nottingham started to grow into the game and Oundle became more reserved creating a more even game. Nottingham came close to adding a 2nd goal from another counter attack, with Nottingham picking the ball up deep and running at the Oundle defence. A cross into the D found a Nottingham stick for a deflection but the forward was not able to get the best contact resulting in an easy clearance for Youngy. The previous game with Nottingham proved to be a physical affair and today was no different with several collisions occurring, the first being a Nottingham player colliding the one P.Wilson who was playing (Willow), sending the Oundle winger to the ground, and the second when the Nottingham forward found out just how strong and stable Albi was with the collision sending the Nottingham player down and throwing out his hip in the process bringing the Nottingham team down to 10.5 players. The rest of the half fizzled out without too much incident with neither goalie being particularly busy, both teams headed into the break, with Nottingham still up by 1-0. The 2nd half started with Nottingham on the front foot, with Oundle unable to get out of their own half. This pressure began to tell for Nottingham as they won a series of short corners in quick succession with one short corner resulting in another short corner. Oundle were unable to clear their lines, the ball consistently finding an Oundle foot in the D. Youngy was called into action on numerous occasions, even going through the back of one of Nottingham’s wingers, which caused outrage, with Nottingham players begging for a flick. This caused the 2nd half’s first flare up with a Nottingham forward making a motion of swinging his stick towards Youngy who was on the floor, Youngy reacted and needed to be restrained as he started forward. Oundles very own enforcer, a mountain of a man in peak physical condition (sort of) decided that enough was enough. He took on the Nottingham player who was responsible for the majority of the collisions in the first half. Phil Rowbotham, stood his ground, the Nottingham player smashing into him with such force it stunned every single player on the pitch. At the end of it all, Phil was the only one left standing, looking down at his conquered foe with a look of utter contempt. With no substitutions Nottingham appeared to start to tire as the half wore on, and they started to sit deeper and deeper in their own half. This allowed Oundle space to push up and start to pressure the Nottingham goal. With the Nottingham players deeply compacted in their defensive formation, Oundle were unable to find a way through. Coach Ellis was up from centre back and fired in a crash ball which took a deflection and found its way to the back of Nottingham’s net! Out of nowhere Oundle were level, serial dubious goal claimer Dalley again claiming the final touch but VAR is still making up its mind. With the final whistle fast approaching and both sides feeling the effects of a closely fought encounter, the game became end to end with the spectators thinking they were at Wimbledon instead of a hockey match. Both sides were stretched but cometh the hour cometh the man, Jimmy Moore doing what he does best ran forward beating Nottingham players left and right and moments later he found himself on the edge of the Nottingham D. He took the ball to the back line before firing in a cross… just narrowly wide of the incoming Dalley who was looking to add his first proper goal of the game. In scenes which mirrored the end of the reverse fixture, there were again handbags after the game, with Oundles coach Ellis taking exception with one of the more physical Nottingham players, apparently the Nottingham player didn’t know who he was… Never one to back down, Ellis had some very choice words to say, cooler heads eventually prevailed and separated the two players. We go again next week, at home for the 3rd game in a row for the rearranged fixture vs Loughborough Town 3s in a MUST WIN GAME for Oundle. As a very wise man once said – ‘Up The O’s.’ HWTL.

Oundle returned home for the first time in 2024 to play the undefeated league leaders, Nottingham Trent Uni 2nds (NTU2s). Oundle went into the game understanding the enormity of the task that faced them, with NTU2s winning all 15 previous of their games with a goal difference of +103 which could have been much higher if not for some walk over wins. The reverse of this fixture provided a 7-0 win for NTU2s earlier in the season. Despite the injury to the vice captain Adrian Millan, Oundle were able to boast a strong line up with 15 players being available. Not being able to stay away, Millan had volunteered to umpire the game. The game started as expected, with Oundle adopting a half court press and inviting pressure NTU2s, hoping to catch them on the counter attack. This worked well through the early stages of the game, with Oundle holding firm and breaking when possible, with Youngy relatively untroubled in the Oundle goal. However as also expected, this was not to last, as NTU2s hit a speculative cross into the D, a mis-trap of the ball from Oundle meant that the NTU2 forward found himself free and was able to fire home. It had taken NTU2s a while to break through and the relief on their faces was there for all to see. However buoyed by their first goal, NTU2s turned up the pressure, quickly adding goal no 2 after an interception. NTU2s 3rd goal came shortly after, from their first short corner, which was won after what initially looked like a very good tackle from the Oundle full back. The ball was injected to the right hand side and the shot was fired across goal, hitting the left hand side board of the Oundle goal. The next short corner produced the same result but the goal coming from a drag flick this time. NTU2s nearly added a 5th goal before the half time whistle blew, when a hit from a long corner was deflected, finding the back of the net. Originally given as a goal, much to the fury of the Oundle players, with Youngy in particular taking particular exception to the decision. Thankfully this was chalked off by VAR and a quick char by the umpires. The half was not without its Oundle attacks however, Oundle playing well on the counter and they could count themselves unlucky not to have won a short corner of their own when worst chat Pickstone nearly had his head taken off by the NTU2 keeper. Half time came with Oundle 4-0 down, which could easily have been worse. With Oundle remaining solid the 2nd half started with Oundle going on the attack. Maverick No 10 Phill Wilson unlucky after seeing his shot blocked. Despite some good pressure from Oundle they were unable to find the breakthrough Things were to go from bad to worse for Oundle though, when NTU2s won a short corner, in which Jimmy ‘Bobby’ Moore  first took a hit where it hurt causing all 22 players to wince. The 2nd short corner was well deflected in by Peter Allett, who was desperate to get on the score sheet and close the gap on George Martin as leading goal scorer. Jimmy was in the wars again when a deflection caught him in the head forcing him off for the rest of the game. He was not the last injury though with Phil R taking a painful one to the knee resulting in a NTU2 penalty flick. The stage was set, the player selected to take the flick had played for 3 years without a goal. He faced Youngy, confident from his recent flick save. The whistle blew and a fraction of a second later the post rang out after being hit. Youngy maintaining his perfect flick record in 2024. When it looked like NTU2s might be kept out for the rest of the game, they were able to score 2 goals late on, both from drag flicks, one going through Youngy before he was able to set himself, the 2nd just managing to squirm in at the left post. The result mimicking the reverse fixture, Oundle won’t mind that with other results going their way and having games in hand on the teams around them, the fight for safety is in their hands. We go again  next week for a 2nd home game in a row vs Nottingham 1s which promises to be a firey affair! HWTL.

After an extended winter break due to the weather hockey was back and Oundle were once again on the road, this time to mid table side Mansfield. In the reverse fixture this season Mansfield ran out 2-1 winners after a tightly contested affair. This same fixture last season produced Oundles first clean sheet of the season in a 1-0 win. In a bitter blow to Oundles survival hopes, Vice Captain Adrian Millan was ruled out for the rest of the season due to a broken thumb which was sustained in the previous game against Beeston. This week also saw the absence of two regulars, Captain Ben Edis who decided he fancied shooting animals instead of the Mansfield goal, and George Martin, who received a late call up by Schoffel for some last minute modelling work. The game began with an Oundle pushback and the upper hand went to Mansfield, pressure immediately came down the Oundle left, the first cross was poked away by Youngy only to fall to a Mansfield player who shot first time, with Youngy making the save before the clearance from the Oundle defence. After this early scare, and a spell of pressure from Mansfield Oundle settled into the game and were able to grab a foothold, some direct play down the right resulted in Mansfield winger receiving the first green card of the match and new player Brenners being able to work the space for a shot going narrowly wide. After this Oundle half chance, the game settled down, Mansfield began to come out on top, focusing their play down the wings they were unable to find the final ball, that was until a cross found a forward on the penalty spot who unleashed his shot towards goal forcing Youngy into a reaction save. Mansfield were also on top in the short corner department, winning a number of them, the first of these was a sweet shot that was heading for the bottom corner… that was until Ian on the left hand post disdainfully flicked the ball away and out for a long corner. Mansfield next short corner superbly stopped by Jimmy running No 1 in place of the injured vice captain. Mansfield broke out the tricky short corner routines for the next two but were unable to get past Youngy in goal and Jimmy from running No1. The half finished with neither side able to break the deadlock.  After the team talks and the sides had been switched the 2nd half began. The 2nd half started much like the first, with Mansfield applying the majority of the pressure with Oundle looking to hit them on the counter attack. Despite some good distribution from Ellis at centre back, the ball just wouldn’t stick up top, with Mansfield’s defence sniffing out danger quickly. It was a similar story for Mansfield as they were unable to breakthrough, in fact it took a retreating Willow, who was seeing out his defensive duties, to come the closest for the home team. Cutting out a cross, the ball deflected right on the Oundle goal and forced a smart reaction save from Youngy who was thankfully alert. It was ironically, as close as Willow has come to getting on the scoresheet this season. As the half wore on the home side did eventually manage to find the breakthrough, running in on goal, shooting on the reverse across goal finding the side netting past the reach of Youngy. The relief on Mansfield faces was palpable, relieved they had finally made the breakthrough and making their pressure tell. After the goal it was Oundles turn to bite back and win a couple of short corners themselves. Peter ‘Strong and Stable’ Allett going close with a strike that whistled past the left post, and Peter ‘Do you know who i am?’ Ellis forced a smart stop from the Mansfield keeper. With Oundle growing frustrated that manifested itself into a green card for P.Wilson (Phil). Who was green carded not once, but twice. Some trademark Jimmy runs from the back also were unlucky to result in naught for the visitors. With a man down and pushing for an equaliser it left Oundle more open at the back, with Mansfield winning the ball back deep in their own half they were able to break on the counter. It was a 3 on 1 situation, thankfully the 3 couldn’t beat the 1, putting the ball on Jimmys foot. The umpire originally deemed this as a short corner, but called the foot deliberate and showed Jimmy a yellow card for his trouble. Acting Captain Ellis was unhappy with this and immediately tried to make his point clear to the umpire. While this was going on, the far side umpire decided that it should be a P-flick instead! This further incensed Oundle especially Ellis and JB, with the latter calling the decision ‘a joke’ the Mansfield umpire heard this and was none too happy with JB. The person selected to take the Mansfield flick was none other, than their best player, and the person who usually causes the most headaches for the Oundle defence. Youngy and taker both looked calm as they had a chat and joke before the was to be taken. Both teams went to their respective huddles and Youngy slowly walked back to his line, nervous of the fact that he had never saved a P-Flick in the league before. Going 0-3 just this season. Youngy set himself, staring down the Mansfield player, the silence and tension on a knife edge before the whistle finally blew. A quick glance from the Mansfield player betrayed his intentions, and as soon as the ball was moving so was Youngy. Youngy reached out with his stick high into the top corner and was rewarded with the familiar sound of a hockey ball hitting a hockey stick. FOR HIS FIRST PENALTY SAVE EVER! Despite this the game was close to its end and it was not long before the full

Oundle kicked off the new year with a double header on the road to Nottingham. Today’s opponents were Beeston 5s. Oundle had a perfect record against today’s opponent winning all 3 of the previous fixtures. Both teams began the year in the relegation zone and were hoping for a positive start. Oundle were able to welcome back long absentee Allan Simpson whose presence on the hockey pitch has been sorely missed as he has been nursing a broken toenail for the past few months. Oundle did however have to make do however without regulars, George Martin, the current top scorer and Peter Allett who plays when he wants. Looking around the Oundle team it was clear that a number of shirts had shrunk in the wash. Lining up for pushback Beeston looked to have included more of their regular players, which was a far cry from the patchwork side which was brought to Oundle earlier in the season. This was evident right from the off as Beeston quickly won the ball back and went straight on the attack down Oundles right hand side. The Beeston forward getting in behind the right back and forcing Youngy into an early save. A let off and an early warning for Oundle which was not heeded when not 2 minutes later from the same position, the Beeston forward again found himself with the ball, this time being able to take the ball around Youngy and score the opening goal. Despite a disastrous start to the year and game, Oundle were not dismayed and stuck to their tasks, enduring waves of Beeston pressure including short corners. Jimmy ‘Bobby’ Moore making a fantastic block from one short corner using his foot.  Beeston were unable to find another breakthrough and Oundle started growing into the game, despite this, the pressure from Beeston remained strong, but could not mount any attacks of their own. Oundles attacking problem when Flying Rhino enthusiast John ‘Worst Chat’ Pickstone won a foul but was not happy about it. Mouthing off to the umpire earning him a green card, this was upgraded to a yellow due to dissent. 1-0 down and down to 10 men, things looked bleak for Oundle… BUT… cometh the hour, cometh the man. With what can only be described as 3 minutes of absolute chaos, P.Wilson (Phil) stood up and grabbed the game by the scruff of its neck. First of all with a sublime finish, getting past his man and firing into the middle of the goal. A strike that left both sides stunned as Oundle had not looked like scoring up until that point. Phil Wilson was not done there, from an Oundle 16 a fabulous James Moore pass split Beeston apart, like a hot knife through butter. The pass finding none other than Phil Wilson, who ran at the Beeston defence, managing to get to the back line, he managed to fire in a cross, finding a free Dalley who gleefully poked the ball home from a yard out. Dalley has now earned the nickname of ‘Goal A Game in 2024’. It was a superb period of play for Oundle scoring 2 shorthanded goals. With Beeston taken completely unawares. With Beeston refinding their feet, they again applied the pressure on Oundle, and it was only a matter of time before the Beeston forward found himself in the D with his back towards goal. He managed to turn his man and strike towards goal, the Oundle defender was able to get a touch on the ball but with a back stick. The strike nestled in the bottom corner however Oundle were saved by the whistle that the umpire had blown moments before. Oundle did not waste their lifeline seeing off the resulting short corner, with half time coming soon after. The 2nd half started and followed the pattern of most of the 1st half, with Oundle soaking up Beeston pressure. Our current Vice Captain for so many years has been Mr reliable and consistent, never slipping up, it was unfortunate that he decided to replicate Steven Gerrard slipping around the midfield gifting the ball to Beeston who were able to take advantage of the situation and score after a goalmouth scramble.  Beeston nearly did an Oundle following another goalmouth scramble, this time Youngy was there to make the save. Apart from these 2 early chances, The rest of the 2nd half was largely uneventful with Beeston the dominant team in terms of possession and play, with significant pressure being put on Oundles full backs despite this they were unable to break through. Beestons final ball was unable to find the intended targets. Oundles back line was supported by some hard work from the midfield and forwards. Oundle were able to mount some pressure of their own on the Beeston defence but were unable to capitalise. With the distribution from the centre back partnership of Ellis and Moore providing some excellent, and some not so excellent passing with a few passes to the Beeston centre forwards. The final whistle blew signalling a 2-2 draw where Beeston could have nicked it on another day. Oundle rode their luck at times and not losing a very important game. Despite this and not training on Tuesday due to a frozen pitch Oundle have every right to be proud of their performance digging in when needed. Next Saturday is a big 6 pointer. Oundle at Home vs Loughborough Town 3s, the team directly above them in the table. A win would see Oundle climb out of the relegation zone for the first time in many months. We go again. HWTL

A brisk morning welcomed Oundle for today’s game, which was the first of the reverse fixtures for Oundle this season, with a strong Derby side coming to visit pavilion drive. Derby have become somewhat of a bogey team recently for Oundle with the last 3 games all being Derby wins, the games producing 11 goals in total, but only 2 being for Oundle. Despite the notable absences of Maverick P.Wilson (Phil) called away for international duty, missing his first game of the season, and Tristan Ashby who must think he’s captain again missing his 2nd game of the season. Oundle had a good selection of players to pick from, with James Jarvis making his first appearance of the season and the returns of current top scorer George Martin, and Jimmy ‘Bobby’ Moore. The game started with an Oundle pushback and Oundle immediately signalled their intent putting pressure on Derby and hemming them in. This resulted in the first short corner of the game, this was sent to George for a straight strike. The strike appeared to take a deflection which forced the Derby keeper to make a very good reaction save. The next chance fell to Derby when they were able to break on the counter with Oundle having pushed men forward looking for the breakthrough. The result of Derbys counter was a 2 on 1 with Jimmy Moore. The Derby forward played the ball to his team mate at the top of the D past the outstretched stick of Moore.. Youngy was out quickly to smother the ball, taking out the Derby forward in the process with his boot catching the Derby player in the head. This opportunity appeared to buoy Derby and they started applying ever greater pressure to Oundle, especially down the wings. Oundle held firm, defending well but not able to get out and it was only a matter of time before Derby won their first short corner of the game. The resulting flick was saved by Youngy, with the ball sailing over the Derby injectors head. As the half wore on, it was clear that there wasn’t much to separate the two sides, neither team being able to find that final ball. It was only right at the end of the half that a hopeful ball was smashed into the Oundle D, finding a Derby stick for the deflection, this first shot was saved by the reactions of Youngy in goal only for the rebound to be tapped in by the Derby player who had slipped his man at the back post, past the diving form of Youngy. Oundle went into halftime unlucky to be behind. But feeling they could get something out of the game. Oundle lined up for the 2nd half, looking to take the game to Derby, but it was Derby who started the half more positively, putting the pressure on Oundle. Oundle held firm, but like the early Derby pressure in the first half it was only a matter of time before Derby got their rewards with a couple of short corners, one of these was well worked to a player at the ‘10’ position at the top of the D, fired across the goal, a block from Oundle turned out to be favourable for Derby taking the ball to the otherside of the diving Youngy, the postman unable to get there, leaving Derby with a tap in despite Youngy recovering and getting a stick on the shot. Going 2-0 spurred Oundle on though, and it was the turn of Derby to be pinned back into their own half. Oundle being strange and making use of both wings, the left and right. This resulted in a number of good chances, George unlucky not to connect with a ball across the face of the Derby goal. Goal a game Dalley searching for his goal this game with a shot from close range which was well saved. A couple of goal mouth scrambles just wouldn’t sit, Derbys goal living a charmed life. Towards the end of the game both sides started getting heated, the first occurrence being when James Jarvis was being held by the Derby defender in the D which resulted in handbags. Derby received the first yellow card of the game for persistently kicking the ball away. George showed his frustration going through the back of a Derby player and receiving a harsh yellow soon after. In the dying seconds of the game, Ellis, after giving away the foul, had no chance to get out of the way before the free hit was taken, with the Derby player cleverly running into Ellis, who had his hands up to show he was not involved, this was not good enough for the umpire who blew for the short corner. Ellis tried to argue his point to the umpire, it was at this point a Derby player got involved, Ellis, thrilled he could finally pick on someone his own size, argued with the Derby player as well. Resulting in a yellow card for the Oundle player. The resulting short was well charged down by strong and stable Peter Allett. It was a 7th defeat of the season for Oundle who find themselves occupying the final relegation spot and 2 points from safety. Results around Oundle however did go their way with both Loughborough Town and Nottingham unable to widen the gap. Oundle go again next week with a tough away fixture to promotion chasing Nottingham Trent Uni 3s. HWTL.

I’ve been told by the powers that be to try and start the match reports with a song… So here it goes… For the 4th time in just over a month Ounde were back ‘On The Road Again,’ this time to play the team that sat directly below them in the table, Rugby & East Warwickshire 3s. The same fixture from the previous season saw a 3-1 Rugby win.  Oundle were looking to get back to back wins for the first time this season, this task being made much tougher with the absence of key players such as George ‘Can i have more minutes?’ Martin, Tristan ‘Later guys, i’m going shooting’ Ashby, Jimmy ‘I got players player last year’ Moore and Peter ‘Don’t you know who i am?!?’ Ellis. The long list of absentees saw Oundle only travel with 12, but this saw a recall for Brandon ‘Fashionably Late’ Ingle who had the chance to impress. The pre match did not start well for Oundle, turning up to the same pitch where the fixture was played last year, only to find out from the coach of Rugby’s youth team that the game was to take place at a completely different location! Thankfully all of Oundles players were able to make it to the new location in time, special mention to Brandon Ingle who was on time for the first time, and P.Wilson (Phil) who did not go to Birmingham. With the warm ups complete the game started with a Rugby pushback. Straight away Rugby were on the front foot looking to attack Oundle. Oundle had barely touched the ball before Rugby won their first short corner of the game. This was dispatched, with a touch of Youngys pads not enough to keep the ball out of the net. Rugby smelt blood and won their 2nd and 3rd short corners before Oundle had had a chance to establish a foothold in the game. The 2nd short corner was saved by Youngy, however the 3rd was well worked by Rugby with a deflection taking it past the postman into the bottom left corner. After Rugby’s 2nd goal of the game went in, Oundle appeared to calm down and the game became much more even. Despite this it appeared Oundle had forgotten how to play hockey with full back Phil R thinking he was playing football, and receiving a green card for a deliberate kick of the ball. Oundle received a 2nd green card when utility man John Brown was unfortunate enough to step on a Rugby defenders stick which sent him tumbling to the ground. With no decision forthcoming, John Brown was incensed and let his feelings known to the umpire, despite the best efforts of Dalley to schmooze one of the umpires this did not stop the umpire issuing J.Brown with a card.  Oundles fortunes changed towards the end of the first half and they were able to manage their first shot on goal! After a brilliant pass from P.Wilson (Phil) found an unmarked Pickstone about 4 yards out, Pickstone was able to give the Rugby keeper the eyes, and sending him to the right, firing home into the opposite corner. With half time came hope, despite a very shaky start Oundle were still in this, with only a 1 goal deficit. The hope was soon extinguished in the 2nd half when Rugby scored from their first shot of the half, a low shot from close range to Youngys left. This was the kick start that Oundle needed however and it was not long before Oundle started to show their quality, taking the game to Rugby and producing the better chances. In a move that would have infuriated the coach, Oundles right back from himself with a lot of freedom high up the pitch often overlapping the right winger! Rugby tackles were flying in, with a number of particularly bad ones not seen by the umpires. The game became quite heated and threatened to blow up when Rugby player kicked the ball away delaying an Oundle free hit. When this point was communicated to the umpire by John Brown, the umpire responded by calling him a 14 year old child and sent him for his 2nd stint in the sin bin, at this point he had spent more minutes in the sinbin than on the pitch! After being called a child and wanting to show his youthful exuberance John Brown came back on after his 2nd attempt at cooling off full of fire and he quickly turned the momentum of the game back towards Oundle, firing a rocket of a shot, straight at the waiting stick of ‘Goal a Game’ Dalley, who has regained his form and got his 2nd goal in as many games! Oundle followed this goal up by winning two short corners, the first resulting in the 2nd. The 2nd short corner was saved by the Rugby keeper, Rugby were able to break, finding themselves in the Oundle D, a stick block from The Rugby player resulted in them winning a short corner which they converted, taking the score to 4-2. This is how the game finished with the 4th Rugby goal coming quite late on in the game. It was a disappointment for Oundle who felt like they could have taken something from the game. Despite this we go again next week with a tough home fixture against Derby. HWTL.