In Division II, Hautlieu beat JHC Lions and honours were shared in the match between the JWHA side and OV Veterans.Victoria College 1st XI 1, JHC Ormers 5: After their first victory of the season last week, Ormers were hoping to continue their winning ways, against the College 1st XI.After the early exchanges between the two sides, Thompson and Pearson, in the centre of the Ormers’ midfield, began to assert themselves.With a number of penalty corners awarded to Ormers through some untimely tackles by the College defence, the deadlock was broken.Twice the first strike was stopped by the College, and twice the dynamic midfielder Chris Curtis was alert to finish emphatically, putting Ormers two up.Frost also hit the upright with a drag flick from another penalty corner just before the break.College started well in the second half and a few lapses in concentration in the Ormers’ defence allowed College to halve the deficit with a goal from Daniel Lundy.The College midfield began to take more of the ball and as the game opened out more opportunities fell to both sides, but it was Ormers who put their chances away with Hall, Frost and Shields all netting.At the end of the allotted time Ormers had completed a convincing victory and continued the good work started last weekTomorrow brings another testing game for this young, improving Ormers side against the experienced Thornbacks, but as confidence grows in the camp it may not be the two-horse race this year that the bookies predict.
JWHA 1, OV Veterans 1: OV Vets started brightly and took the play to the ladies in the opening ten minutes, however in their first breakaway the JWHA attack led to a short corner and the resultant goal was driven home by Becky Darts.A few minutes after the restart Andrew Arthur, unfortunately, sustained an injury which removed him from the rest of the action and forced the Veterans to reorganise their midfield.
The balance of the first half exchanges was pretty even, although neither goalkeeper was particularly troubled until towards the end of the session when a Vets’ attack led to a foul in the JWHA D, with the resulting penalty flick deftly converted by Mike Tait.In the second half the JWHA passed the ball more accurately, and probably had the better of the exchanges, with Lisa Phillips and Chrissie Hefford leading the attacks while, for the OVs, Andy Wintour in midfield galvanised his forwards to greater effortWith no further score the second half was a victory for both defences.JHC Lions 2, Hautlieu Hockey Club 4: Hautlieu opened the scoring ten minutes into the game, when Adam Smith scored from the re-bound of his own penalty corner shot but, shortly afterwards, Hautlieu found themselves on the back foot as the Lions surged forward.Their efforts resulted in two goals, from Nick Scott and Arnou Helmholt-Kneisel, who is probably better-known as a member of the Jersey rugby team, the first being a well-struck undercut and the second just slipped past the ‘keeper.The first half was clearly an even match and it could have gone either way.After the break, Hautlieu appeared to find a new enthusiasm, passing the ball well, and Greg Sevant scored the equaliser for Hautlieu.Shortly after that, Sevant got his second to put Hautlieu ahead.Although Lions managed to keep pressuring forwards and had a couple of chances to score, five minutes from time Nathan Maguire killed any further opportunities when he managed to get on the end of a through-ball and slipped it past the ‘keeper.n Hautlieu HC are sponsored by the Bank of Scotland International.The top two clubs in Division I, Evolution OV Convicts and JHC Gobis meet tomorrow at Les Quennevais, 2.30 start.
Both currently have nine points.
