Men's Summer Leagues
Men’s 1s
Ashford took part in a 6-a-side summer league hosted by Staines throughout May and June. The teams competing were Staines x2, Henley, Sunbury, Windsor and ourselves. It was good fun and not too serious, just a bit of healthy competition between local clubs.
In the first week Chris Taylor made a return to being a goalie and put on a good show but we were glad Jack was back for the other weeks.
Lots of goals were scored; shout out to Harvey and Chris!
Unfortunately, the summer league was cut short so that we could all watch the Euros instead, meaning no winners (and also no losers).
If Staines put on the same league next year, I’d recommend it to anyone who likes a bit of hockey related fun and post-match socialising!
Matt Law
Lower Men’s
Given the strong uptake in recent years’ summer leagues, Ashford fielded two sides in the lower men’s summer league. Taking the advice of Club Coach, Ryan Croxon who had worked with players during the season, the two squads were split by surname: Ashford A-L was to be captained by Nathan George and Joe Chapman whilst Ashford M-Z was taken on by Andy Ritchie.
Initially there were slight worries that the squads might be a little thin on the ground, but we always knew there was enough enthusiasm across the men’s section to draw from the other squad if required.
Having two teams and being able to field more AHC players across the competition rather than rotating a bloated group also meant that the summer league was able to offer valuable pitch time to our developing younger players; those 13 to 15-year-olds beginning to make their way in men’s hockey. The positives of their involvement are clearly reflected in the captains’ reports below.
Ashford A-L
This summer has seen a great league providing a platform for multiple new faces as well as old ones who we had not seen due to Covid. The first few games were a learning curve for the team as well as for myself being a captain for the first time.
The main players that I have seen improve massively are the younger ones. Players such as Noah Benedict, who created many chances and scored a lot more goals playing at a higher level than he is used to and fitting in no problem. Louis Kinyanjui played consistently excellently with his aggressive runs and endless energy covering for the midfield when it was especially hot. Then there was Chris Hutt and Joe Currier who improved massively, growing in stature throughout the summer league season, resulted in goals and chances due to the improvement of confidence and attacking positioning.
On a final note, my most valuable player award (MVP) for the summer league has to go to two people: Stephen Forster and Harvey Bray for their defensive positioning and some amazing tackles throughout the whole league saving us from conceding a lot more goal than we did.
Nathan George
Ashford M-Z
After the trials, tribulations and disruptions of the previous year caused by Covid, the summer league presented Ashford with two opportunities: 1st, the opportunity to place regular hockey again and this did not disappoint with plenty of people eager to shake off the cobwebs; 2nd, it gave a chance for the youngsters to show off their skills alongside senior players and they certainly left a good impression.
The M-Z team had a good mixture of youth and experience and it reaped dividends for large parts of the summer. Impressive victories against a stronger British Airways (BA) team and against Amersham & Chalfont HC (ACHC) were the highlights, but the story goes deeper. From time to time M-Z found themselves with their backs to the wall and were able to grind out impressive draws or keep score lines in defeats as close as possible. As a unit the team certainly came together and by the end of the season was becoming a well-oiled machine with everyone doing their roles admirably. More so, it provided a glimpse as to the bright future in terms of player talent at the club. With an effective pre-season programme to hone our strengths and weaknesses it's going to be a good season in the London leagues.
Andy Ritchie
Men's Teams roundup
Men's 3s
Played: 8
Won: 5
Drew: 1
Lost: 2
Won: 5
Drew: 1
Lost: 2
Final position: 4th
Goals for: 21
Goals against: 9
Goals against: 9
Top scorers: Stef Gorton 5, Dan Lee 3, Paul Tickner 3
After the triumph of a title and promotion the 3s found themselves in new territory. With questions being raised about the season even going ahead due to the pandemic there was much relief when it started despite the lack of pre-season friendlies.
Rustiness, however, didn't show and everyone was clearly glad to be back playing. A tough opening weekend fixture against Marlow showed the team hadn't lost their edge, walking away with a well-earned draw. The 3s then began to hit an amazing patch of form over the next month winning 4 games and scoring 16 for only 3 conceded.
Last season's title rivals Wootton also found themselves in the same league and from early on it looked like another battle between us and them for the title. The match against them did not disappoint and continued with the same intensity shown in last season's fixtures. This time however, Wootton won the day by a tight 3-2.
That was to be the last match before the pandemic stopped the league in its tracks until December. Despite being hindered by restrictions and logistics, West Hampstead paid us a visit and the 3s emerged 2-1 winners. Once again though, the pandemic reared its head and we had to down our sticks until April 2021 whereupon the league recommenced with a derby match against Staines, the boys in blue taking the day.
Due to the backlog of fixtures, it was decided to call it a day. As we were unlikely to finish before June the league season was stopped. This marked the end of our time in the MBBO before we move into the London leagues where the 3s will no doubt be ready for the next challenge.
Andy Ritchie
The Mighty 4s & 5s
Men’s 4s: P8 W2 D1 L5 F16 A22
Men’s 5s: P7 W3 D0 L4 F17 A17
Men’s 4s/5s: P9 W4 D2 L3 F25 A23
Last season we took a giant leap of faith and entered an additional team in the league, bringing the men’s section back to 5 teams. We had not run 5 teams since 2011-12 season and the worry was that we would have insufficient players to turn out 5.
Some games were postponed due to Covid on occasions which helped availability lower down but on days when there was no postponement, we still managed to turn out 5 teams.
Louis, Sid, Noah, Jacob, Jack and Oli A came into the teams this year and latterly Henry, so we had a lot of good young talent. The 4s needed a bit of help to compete in a pretty tough league and were lucky enough to get the 1st team coach and former Ashford HC junior Russell McQuillan to play.
The 4s best result was a draw against Slough Despondents. Slough had 3 ex-internationals including one Olympic gold medallist in their team, albeit that they were all my generation. The wins were against Harrow and in a friendly against Staines.
The 5s took over the old 4s fixtures in the Conference. They weren’t quite as dominant as they were in the 2019-20 season but our mixture of old lags and young lads played some good hockey. Our most satisfying win was against Teddington 3-1: Dave Brant (x2) and Surinder were the scorers. The Club welcomed back the legendary Raminder Vig and the speedy, slim right winger of the 1970s had slowed down somewhat in the intervening years, but it was good see him back on the pitch.
After a bit of a false start to the second part of the season we played a revised fixture list as a 4s/5s team. There was a tendency for opposition teams to stiffen up their lower teams and we were able to give our young lads a good standard of hockey. Despite his Achilles, calf, hamstring, quad and knee injuries, Jon Long was masterful in the centre of the pitch. Dave Brant, the mums’ favourite, was top scorer. His top-level skills had not left him even though his pace had.
Next season the 4s move into South West Division 7 of the Greater London League. The furthest trip is Merton which will be a lot better than this season’s furthest trip which was to Wootton near Northampton.
Peter
