Pipped at the post in Senior Hockey Final

After a cold few days, the Orchard had to make last minute changes to the team as the format of the house hockey competition was altered slightly. This, though playing into the hands of other Houses, did not affect the performance of the team in the opening game of the group stages.

Group Game 1 vs Latham 5-2(Blackwood (F), Duggan (F), Watton x 3(PC) (F) (PS))

Drawn against Latham, the team went in to the game as underdogs and with late arrivals, unprepared. A high intensity start from the red and whites though paid dividends as Declan Blackwood opened the scoring in the first few minutes with a fine backhand shot from the edge of the circle. This inspired the rest of the team and with great leadership and distribution from Mark Pearse at centre back, the boys soon found themselves doubling their lead as a well-worked move ended with a simple finish for Luke Duggan. The Latham team became frustrated and as the second half came, the Orchard found it easy to play some fantastic hockey with balls down the left hand side from Greatrex, through Guest and up to the useful Joe Knight. These excellent moves worked well for the team with penalty corners being won and one eventually slotted by Watton. The riled opposition however, refused to give in and it took numerous great saves from Jack Edwards to keep the lead. The Orchard continued to dominate as a great ball from Matt Hodges at right back found its way to Watton who was able to squeeze the ball past an oncoming keeper. The boys however, did not have it all their way as complacency set in and quickly the game came back to 4-2. Super-sub Chris Murrall was quick to make an impact after his introduction – winning the team a penalty stroke with his first action in the game. Leo Watton was able to complete his hat trick and seal the game, capping off a fine performance from the whole team.

Group Game 2 vs Priory 3-1(Duggan x2 (F) (F), Guest (F))

The second game came against Priory, who had already lost to Latham. It had been an important win against Latham and had made the Orchard boys more lackadaisical and complacent about the game. An early scare woke the team as Edwards was called in to action and yet again produced a fine save low to his right. A well spotted opportunity and well-executed flick from Mark Pearse over the Priory defence left Duggan with a hard task of beating the School’s first XI ’keeper. However, he did it with style and finished an exciting move. It was Duggan again who finished a well worked move right from the back to slot home past a helpless goalkeeper. The team sat back and became relaxed as the Priory midfield were left to run through onto the Orchard defence and deservedly scored, bringing it back to a more tight 2-1. The three points however, fell to the Orchard as another attacking move fell kindly to Michael Guest, who controlled his smash into the bottom corner. This was overall, a very good day for the team who qualified top of the group.

Semi-Final vs School House 5-2(Padley (F,) Watton x2(PS) (PC), Murrall x2 (F) (F))

With a high-class qualification round, the team went into the semi-final as favourites and showed great teamwork as they played the ball around a decent School House team with relative ease. Ryan Padley, an important addition to the squad – after his absence in the group stages – proved his worth in the team as he opened the scoring with a penetrating run from right back. This was quickly followed by a second for Orchard, Luke Duggan earning the team a penalty stroke following a bad foul from the opposing defence. Watton was able to finish the penalty in front of a gathering crowd. The team built on their lead with a well-executed penalty corner, gaining momentum as they led 3-0 going into the second half. The break, though, hindered the team as they conceded an early second half goal due to a slow start. Again, Head of House Murrall stepped on to the field as the boys looked for leadership. This came with almost immediate impact as Murrall found himself with only the ’keeper to beat and easily did so with a cool finish at the near post. As the midfield of both teams became fatigued, the game became more open. Only minutes after Murrall’s finish, another School House goal followed as Watton, on the post at a short corner, was unfortunate to deflect the ball past Edwards into his own goal. Immediately from the restart, Murrall and Watton had a plan. Deceiving the opposing team, Leo Watton took the ball himself and ran past a number of surprised School House players. With the fantastic run through, a tiring Watton was able to feed the ball to Murrall, who finished a fast move fantastically in the top right corner of the goal to send the Orchard to the final in style. UNBELIEVABLE TEKKERS!!

Final vs New House 0-1

A fatigued Orchard team went into the game as the favourites and were confident. A fast-paced and very open tactic from the opposition left a tired midfield stranded on occasions. The team did very well to handle quick counter-attacks and had numerous chances to score themselves. Great balls from both Declan Blackwood and Michael Guest were firing across the goal, just centimetres away from oncoming attackers. The Orchard became very frustrated and a New House strike, late in the first half, saw the score line go against them for the first time in the competition. New House became very defensive during the second half and for long spells the Orchard had possession but just couldn’t find the finishing touch. The introduction of Murrall to the pitch almost saw a leveller, but despite his fantastic positioning, a poorly struck cross from Watton left the attacker unable to make a connection as he was unmarked on the back post. In a desperate attempt to push for an equaliser, the team played with three forwards and only two midfield players, which didn’t quite work out. To his credit, Guest worked tirelessly to keep New House’s Steve Mullen quiet and together with the fitness shown by Freddie Greatrex and Joe Markham, the team were unlucky not to get a better result from the game.

All in all, the Orchard has had a very good year in the senior hockey, with four first XI representatives who went on to become national champions, and a great showing through the second XI and third XI. Though the team lose captain Mark Pearse next year, together with three other U6 players, the House is looking to build on this year’s performance and go one step better in 2011.