Romsey looked to gain revenge for a 3-1 away defeat 3 months ago, when they cub ended twice in the final minutes in the home fixture at Ganger Farm.
Romsey started brightly and Tom W combined with debutant Shaun Coote to play in Jamie Bundy down the right early on which set a positive pattern of play.
Bundy found himself able to shoot, but his effort went narrowly wide.
Martin S-S then combined with Richard Austin to allow Bundy another chance but it was cleared away.
With the home side on top captain Colin Harwood found himself in the circle and his shot was smothered by the keeper but as the keeper looked to clear the ball it ran away from him and in to the goal and over the line by the post it give Romsey a 1-0 lead.
New Forest pushed forward try and recover but Rob Cav, Simeon Field and Freddie OH all got to opposition passes first to clear any danger.
Then Romsey created the move of the match with Pete OH playing the ball to Tom W, he passed to Chris Harwood down the left and gave the ball to Simpson-Scott to scream a pass to Harwood at the top of the circle, rather than stop and shoot, Harwood deftly passed the ball first time to Man of The Match Jamie Bundy on the right of the circle who controlled the ball and smashed it inside the far boast to double Romsey’s lead, which is at remained at Half time.
The second half saw New Forest up their game and a deflection from Pete OH saw a Forest chance bounce back off the post.
This saw Forest galvanise further and they equalised from a penalty corner which was almost blocked by Field but was returned in from the right for the Forest captain to pull one back.
Romsey needed their Keeper Nigel King to take control of the defence now and he did a king like job to keep Forest out with some fine saves, one which saw the ball loop up over and then cleared off the line by Pete OH.
Forest put the ball in the goal, after a penalty corner had been awarded and Romsey cleared the corner and then used the outlets of Bundy and Sean Rawles to relieve pressure and see the game out for a 2-1 win and 3 points.
Men’s 3rd XI perceiver to draw against Andover
Romsey entertained the crowd on a cold December morning with another epic comeback performance following their last game 2 weeks ago.
Andover looked strong opposition in second place in the table with Romsey placed third, and with a few changes from their previous fixture.
Romsey got off to a blistering start, holding the ball from the push back, Sean Rawles played the ball to Jamie Bundy who drive down the left, he was supported by Rupert W and Milo B, they inter changed passes and passed the ball to Colin Harwood his pass in to the circle was touched by Rawles and was met at the back post by Freddie OH who put the ball in the goal from the tightest of angles for 1-0.
Andover soon went in the attack and Pete OHara played a starring role clearing the ball to avert a pass in to the circle, then Simeon Field and George H stepped in to cover off more Andover forward play.
Eventually pressure told and Andover put together a move from a penalty corner to equalise, and to rub salt on the wounds took the lead despite valiant attempt from Nigel King in goal to get down to stop a fierce shot going inside the post.
So Romsey started the second half behind, but man of the match Milo B was linking up superbly with Jamie Bundy and Rupert W creating changes for Rawles and then Carl Hendy.
Against the run of play and with Rob Cav clearing a number of passes from right back the ball fell to an Andover stick to make it 3-1 to the visitors.
Romsey were down but not out and Henry B gave some stability in the middle and Romsey won a penalty corner.
Rawles played the ball to Harwood, and he drew three runners to pass the ball to Rupert who shot firmly past the keeper to bring it back to 3-2.
Romsey now were in top and the keeper saved a chance from Harwood and then Hendy before Milo B got the ball on the right and smashed it across the circle for Jamie Bundy (“he scores very week”) to take a first time shot to equalise.
There was still time for Andover to miss from a couple of penalty corners and Simeon Field to take a green card breather just to make it interesting, but Romsey held out for a successive 3-3 draw.
Hendy’s Heroes Draw in Dorset
13 Romsey heroes gained a point from a terrific encounter in Dorset, in an game that was a see saw of a match.
While Romsey started strongly Tom W linking up early on down the left, with Jamie Buddy they couldn’t find the final pass to set up Sean Rawles to get a shot away.
As the game swung in favour of Swanage Lukasz Markham twice came to the rescue with last ditch tackles before Swanage won a penalty corner. As Pete O’Hara and Simeon Field ran out the Swanage forward dragged an unstoppable shot in to the top corner to give the home side the lead.
Romsey played well to get back in to the game but fell further behind when a fierce shot across the Romsey circle was pushed home first time for 2-0.
Carl Hendy came on for Rawles and was unlucky when Rich Pearce crossed the ball in following a penalty corner play, for Hendy to touch the ball goal bound only for a defender on the line to clear it.
Hendy produced a team talk at half time that raised Romsey spirits and with keeper Nigel King making it clear Romsey were in this game the second half began.
A resurgent Romsey kept the ball well, and as the ball fell loose in the middle of the pitch Colin Harwood called for it, allowing Pearce to continue a run past him. Harwood turned and played the ball to Pearce who ran in to the circle and shot, the keeper saved but the ball fell to Bundy to push the ball in a pull a goal back for the visitors.
As Romsey piled the pressure on Rob Cav and Freddie OH commanded the right hand side of the pitch and eventually created an opening for Harwood to drill the ball hard across the circle from wide on the right, a deft touch from Rawles saw the ball fall to Pearce to thump home an equaliser.
With Swanage rattled, Harry Morris made some fantastic runs down the right and was really unlucky not to get a touch to play in Hendy, but he got his rewards when he linked up with Tom W and as he played the ball in to the circle it hit a Swanage foot but the ball fell to Harwood to unleash a rocket of a strike to make it 3-2 and a roar of celebrations.
Swanage rallied and with 2 minutes remaining kept the ball in the Romsey end, eventually winning a penalty corner. As the first corner was closed down by Pete OH foot a second was awarded. While the defending team did their best, the ball fell to a Swanage stick to push the ball past Romsey sticks on the line for a 3-3 final score line.
A game where hockey was the winner Rich Pearce was man of the match and Hendy’s half time team talk was an inspiration.
Fantastic Friendly
On Saturday the men’s 2s and 3s played out a fantastic friendly match at Ganger Farm.
In this evenly contested match, there was some excellent play all round, great goal keeping on both sides and brilliant to see juniors, mens 2s, mens 3s and a few mens 1s all enjoying a good game of hockey.
Henry T opened the scoring for the 3s and it stayed that way until the second half when after a period of pressure, the 2s scored two quick goals in succession and went onto to win the match 2-1.
The teams retired to the Wheatsheaf after to talk the match through and agreed it was enjoyed so much, they would do it again this coming weekend!
Well done all! and big thanks to our umpires Lou and Alice.
M3s & 4s Have a pre Christmas Run-about!
Men’s 3 & 4s play out an entertaining end to end match
A nice opportunity to get a run out before Christmas for young and old.
Some great play from both teams with plenty of good goals!
So much so we lost count 😂
Merry Christmas all🎄🏑
M3s…Harwood to the rescue….again!
Men’s 3rd XI 2, Yateley 3rd XI 1
Romsey won a hard fought encounter in the wet, to secure their first win of the season.
Romsey were the brighter starters and after James B and TK won the early battles in the middle of the pitch Romsey won a penalty corner. The plan was for Ben Parker to push the ball out to Colin Harwood who would draw the defenders and slip the ball left to Luke W, and that is exactly what they did, Luke shooting in at the angle to put Romsey 1-0 up.
As Yateley started to win possession and make attacks of their own it was Romsey’s defence that ensured they stayed ahead. Lukasz Suleja capped a man of the match performance winning a number of last ditch tackles, ably supported by Duncan Sanders playing his first game of the season, and full backs Dan Newman and Ben Parker.
After Oli G had made a fine couple of saves from Yateley penalty corners, Yateley eventually equalised from another penalty corner when they followed up on their first move to shoot in to the corner.
Romsey upped their game and Ewan K and Dan Blackman both made chances for Carl Hendy but he was thwarted by Yateley defence.
As the second half started, Romsey were reliant on their back four and Oli G in goal to keep them level, and attacked on the counter.
After winning another penalty corner, Parker played the ball to Harwood again, this time he beat the two onrushing defenders to slam the ball past the keeper for a 2-1 Romsey lead.
As Suleja blocked several waves of Yateley attacks, with Parker and Sanders making vital clearances, along with more Oli G saves, Romsey countered.
First Harwood played in James B, who beat his man and squared to Hendy, only for the forward to narrowly miss the ball and it run wide of the goal, and then Luke W made a mazey run form the right corner but no Romsey stick to convert, and then Dan Blackman and Tom M combined for the former to drive in to circle but again no end result.
Romsey hung on, with the crowd swelling for the next game, to secure their first 3 points of the season at the third attempt.
M3s earn last gasp draw v Andover 3
Romsey deservedly gained a point from an even contest with their first home league game of the season on the new Romsey Community School pitch.
Romsey started the brighter in the first half, Jon Marsh and Alexis Harris winning the battles in the centre of the pitch to allow Romsey to build moves down their right and left.
Dan Blackman played the ball in from the right from a side line hit, and Luke W won the ball and fired in high past the keeper, only to see the goal chalked off as no other player had touched the ball before it entered the circle.
Lorne T won possession and drove down the right, only for his cross to be nicked away from the onrushing Romsey forward, and Harris’ blast from outside the circle came straight back off the post but Ben H and Luke W couldn’t get to the rebound before it was cleared.
As Andover gained some momentum the Romsey defence looked solid, Oli G in goal having no real saves to make as Gordon Farquhason, Aaron Shaw and Ben Parker linked up well, with Dan Newman able to clear and build moves down the right.
A goal less first half saw Romsey again start on top, but with Andrew Cadge off injured, followed by Gordon F, Andover gained possession in their own half and a well worked move saw them pass around the Romsey defence to go 1-0 leaving Oli G in goal no chance.
Romsey pushed hard for an equaliser but Harris and Marsh both had shots that went wide, and so Stuart Robertson on at the back, pushed up to support the attack as time was running out. He won the ball in the Andover half, and played a perfectly weighted ball just out of reach of the last Andover defender, in to the path of Romsey’s forward Colin Harwood, as the ball bounced up Harwood touched it first time past the on rushing keeper to take it out of his reach and in to the empty goal for a well deserved equaliser and spark jubilant celebrations at a point gained.