Last Week’s Results

1st Team Match Report

University of Leeds 1

Coming towards the back end of February and the Men’s 1 finally have their first away game this side of Christmas. With the added novelty of a sunny disposition in Yorkshire, things didn’t look so bad although contrast that to the next game the very next day (see next match report). Lincoln didn’t start too badly making the most of the possession they had and drew first blood when a quick ball out of defence to Tony Wing saw him take a few steps into the hockey D and crash the ball over the goalkeeper. Some slight defensive lapses saw Lincoln give away the ball and the students made the most of the two chances they needed to equalise and then take the lead within minutes of each other. Alan Sanderson could perhaps feel culpable for the first goal when in expecting a torpedo for the first goal instead got a scuffed shot for a nutmeg.

With a mild kicking by “O Captain, My Captain” Sadler in the half time team talk, Lincoln’s performance didn’t improve much, indeed it would appear the home side were in the ascendency. Lincoln managed to soak up the pressure and with five minutes to go got the equaliser. Kristian Nelson on the right wing passed the ball across the goal for an unmarked Barney Buckle to beat the keeper at the far post. In summary, Lincoln will probably feel mightily relieved to have claimed a point in this game although Leeds Uni will feel even more aggrieved to have dropped two points in their quest to avoid relegation.the right wing passed the ball across the goal for an unmarked Barney Buckle to beat the keeper at the far post. In summary, Lincoln will probably feel mightily relieved to have claimed a point in this game although Leeds Uni will feel even more aggrieved to have dropped 2 points in their quest to avoid relegation.

Airedale 1
After a lovely drive through the gorgeous Yorkshire countryside we arrive in Airedale to be greeted by crippling winds, heavy rain and freezing temperatures. After a quick change, as we emerged from the changing rooms, the temperature had plunged below zero and rain had turned to snow. Overall poor team performance left us two goals behind as the whistle blew for half time. Despite the arctic colds, O Captain my Captain, namely Mr Mark Sadler, made the team stay outside for the team talk as our opposition disappeared into the warm changing rooms. “Stop giving them the f***ing ball” was a memorable quote, adequatley summing up out first half performance. Keeper Alan Sanderson battled through a shoulder injury obtained in the recent home game against the same opposition. Geoff Ngao took a ball to the knee, but this was not enough to render him injured for the Vets game later on as he had hoped. On a debut appearance for the first team Louie Sadler showed real promise showing the old gits how its done. The perfect end to the perfect day, Sadler senior managed to get himself yellowed for stick tackling, or as he put it “being committed”. After this the skipper wasn’t in the best mood, described perfectly by Louie afterwards: “Dad really was on his period in the changing rooms wasn’t he?”. The game finished 4-1 with a late tap in by Tony Wing, a disappointing score given the long journey and the fact that we beat them 1 week previously. During the Vets game later while the old gents slaved away on the pitch for the third time in a weekend, the young’uns enjoyed a couple of pizzas in the Huddersfield clubhouse as a reward for their flawless performance earlier on.

2nd Team Match Report

There’s a fantastic feeling of camaraderie in the Mens 2nd Team at the moment. We know what our aim for the season is and everyone’s working very hard to towards that goal. On a day when you’re playing bottom of the league Grimsby, there’s a lot of pressure to remain composed and to keep playing the hockey that we play in our own way. It isn’t a day to rack up personal goal tallies and go hell for leather towards the top end. This is something that we executed incredibly well and through a seventy minute game we performed, arguably, the best we’ve done this year.

Goals came from;

• Kev Ngoe (6 + Man Of The Match)
• Louie Sadler (2)
• Marcus Burnett (1)
• Craig Reilly (1)

Craig would probably like me to point out at this juncture that he’s now scored two in two weeks!

D*** of the Day was awarded to Harry Middleton for missing three goals; just as I said in a previous match report, though in a completely different context, it was that sort of game! Meanwhile, Kev Ngoe was hugely magnanimous in both giving the team credit for his double hat-trick and then subbing himself off because he was getting embarrassed at how many goals he’d scored. Speaking as a defender whose only league goal scored while playing for Lincoln Hockey Club was of benefit to the opposition (sorry once again, Matt Ward!) I don’t quite understand his logic, more so when you consider how often he’s been unhappy at being made to come off the pitch during matches this season, but I’m not going to complain on a day that saw him completely on top of his game.

We were 5-0 up at half time and in a yawn-inspiring half-time metaphor I pointed out that the game very much reflected our current state in the season – performing well but not in a position to sit back and become complacent. Grimsby came back in the second half and really piled on the pressure by pushing their players high. This meant that we were able to capitalise from our breaks and get the ball around their defence and into the goal but unfortunately also meant that we couldn’t prevent ourselves from conceding a goal at the other end of the pitch. I might have said something rude at the time to the player who cleared the ball out of the D and straight to one of Grimsby’s players but in all honesty it was a mistake that we’ve all made this season and he was hugely apologetic afterwards which just made me feel bad for my small strop!

The end result was a 10-1 win that pushed everyone right across the park – Matt Ward certainly wasn’t bored in goal! Credit to Grimsby for playing a very spirited game throughout the whole 70 minutes.

The next two games see us playing Brigg 3 and then University of Leeds 4. Both games, as you can see from the table below, are pivotal because we’re one point off the top and level with Leeds Uni (assuming their two outstanding fixtures are wins) in a table that’s still pretty tight at the top with only two teams going up. Hard work will be the largest bit of kit that we pack into our kit bags, but we’ve shown that we’re more than capable of doing that.

3rd Team Match Report

When going up against the 3rd team in the league we expected a hard game however I’m glad to say it wasn’t. Lincoln started off the game on a high scoring an early goal. Our first goal was supposedly an accidental outcome to a failed cross, but who were we to complain. Rotherham unfortunately got lucky when they managed to intercept a pass going across the back line and scored a goal leaving the scoreline at 1-1.

Throughout the game we held the centre strongly and opened up the game in tight situations, including with a cool switching pass to Pete at right back. A great cross to Paul Topham who then took the ball and slipped it behind the keeper into the corner of the goal, 2-1. Rotherham, with a looping shot with unknown origins (most likely a deflection) went over the keeper and scored a goal 2-2. Our final goal of the first half came from a short corner. A top left corner drag flick gave us a score of 3-2.

At half time the score was 3-2 however Chris and Paul Topham supposedly called it 4-2 only to call themselves psychic as the score soon became as predicted with a very early goal from a small drag flick resulting from a short corner. Jon Bigham put the final touch on a good hit in to the box and gave us our final goal and a score of 5-2. Rotherham gained a final goal with a misplaced time for a substitution leaving us briefly with one less at the back and it ended up with a two on one situation in the D and ended with a goal, 5-3. During the second half Chris Topham threw an amazing aerial, which from a sideline ball managed to bypass the pitch and soar over the fence to his side, almost causing a Casualty-like scene on Wragby Road but thankfully just dipped to stay within the outer fence. This amazing ball earn’t Chris the prestigious title that is D*** of the Day. The game ended with a good win for Lincoln with a final score of 5-3 earning a well fought 3 points. Man of the match was awarded to Jon Bigham for his great effort during the game. Dick of the day went to Chris Topham for the before mentioned failure of an aerial.