Results

MENS 1ST XI - 20/10/2024 VS BARFORD TIGERS (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 20/10/2024 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 20/10/2024 
HEADLINE: Another tight battle against familiar foe Barford Tigers 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Hamstead Hall Academy 
RESULT: 3-4 loss 
 
REPORT: After a narrow victory at home and draw away last season as well as only finishing above them on goal difference Norwich knew it would be a tough away day to Barford. But all looked up as Norwich dominated the early phases and had a collection of chances from Cam Cooke & Max Wilson all go narrowly wide. But after not troubling the scoreboard Barford managed to reverse the momentum after Simon Dolan on his first team and national League debut made a great 1v1 save, it unfortunately rolled to another Barford attacker who flicked past Harry Brown who was left on the line. Q1 0-1.  
Barford continued their momentum into Q2 with their first Penalty Corner of the game, Simon Dolan was on hand to make the save and keep the deficit to just to the 1 goal. Unfortunately Barford kept creating and a couple of minutes later they had doubled their lead. Thomas Cooke was on hand to reverse that after the won the ball under pressure and then found Max Wilson near the D for a reverse to bring the deficit back to 1 goal just before half time. 
Q3 was surprisingly mundane as both sides traded short corners but nothing really to trouble the score line. It ended the same as it started 1-2 to barford.  
The fourth quarter was then anything but mundane. Simon made a great save from Barford's 4th short corner before Barford won a Penalty Flick after a foul in the D and the Barford lead was back to 2. Norwich pushed hard to close the gap and in doing so left them open to a counter attack and a reverse hit into the heat post was enough to pull barford ahead 4-1. All this action was only the first 10 minutes. The final phases of the match were where Norwich finally showed up cameron Cooke found himself 1v1 against the Barford keeper after an excellent ball down the line from Ben Chapman and Cameron beat the final defender. Cam then lifted over the rushing keeper to kickstart the comeback. 3 minutes later Louis Preston found Cameron at the top of the D who moved the ball onto Max Wilson who flicked past the Barford keeper to bring the match to 4-3 with 3 minutes to goal. Norwich pushed hard but Barford's stout defense was equal to every final attack and the score finished 4-3. A few more minutes a Norwich would've have equalized but that's hockey and the early chances that didn't quite make it in in quarter 1 were to blame for the final score not being as the team would've liked. On to the EH cup and up against the Prem opponents who bested the team by two goals in last year's semi finals and went on to win the cup.  
 

MENS 1ST XI - 13/10/2024 VS UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM 2 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 13/10/2024 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 13/10/2024 
HEADLINE: Norwich victorious in a game where both teams relentless in their attack 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Taverham Recreational Facility  
RESULT: 4-2 win  
 
REPORT: A usually end to end game so Norwich had themselves prepared for a battle of stamina and who could keep going until the final whistle. That was true straight from the off as Birmingham pressed high and got the defence under pressure removing it around the back. They kept their nerve and that led to some early attacks for Norwich. Cam Cooke hit over the bar early on before Max Wilson followed up with a reverse just wide. Birmingham were struggling to build anything and Norwich quickly created a few more chances, first Max Wilson shot wide again, narrowly missing Chris Wardale at the back post before Tom Cooke won the first Penalty corner of the day, unfortunately the drag flick was saved by the Birmingham keeper and the scoreline remained 0-0 to end quarter one. Would Norwich come to rue the early misses? 
It was looking like they might as Norwich started the 2nd quarter doing down to 10 men and Birmingham stared to create. Fraser Evans being forced into a pair of saves as well as a near miss at the back post from Birmingham. Norwich saw themselves through the threats and managed to finally break the deadlock as Cam Cooke got a turnover at halfway, and quickly carried into space before find Max Wilson wide left who put a reverse across the face of goal to find Chris Wardale at the back post for a 1 goal lead. Unfortunately this didn't last long as 2 minutes later a Birmingham attacker beat 2 defenders down the baseline before finding an unmarked attacker at the back post to equalise just before halftime.  
Norwich started the 2nd half well with an early lead after Tom Irvine played a aerial over halfway to Louis Preston who brought the ball down on the left wing slapped a ball into the D for Chris Wardale to double his and Norwich's tally with a deflection past the rushing birmingham goalkeeper. Shortly after Birmingham had once again snuffed out Norwichs momentum with a quick reply. After winning their first penalty corner of the game they dragged high over the keeper to bring the scores level again. Thankfully Norwich followed suit with an immediate reply of their own. Cameron Cooke had a 1v1 with the keeper, he couldn't quite get it passed the keeper and the defender but he did win a penalty corner, and after a drag from Cameron he found Louis Preston to deflect the ball in and the lead was restored. Q3 ended 3-2.  
The forth quarter continued the end to end battle, Norwich had a corner well saved by the birmingham keeper before Tom Harris made a great save from a Birmingham corner of their own. With 5 minutes to go Louis Preston quickly won and took a free hit and found Max Wilson just outside this D, he lifted over one defenders stick and breezed past 2 more before reversing into the bottom right corner for Norwichs first 2 goal lead of the game. The game was not over and Birmingham continued to threaten and forced Fraser Evans into 2 great short corner saves.  
FT: 4-2 to Norwich. A great game as expected and one Norwich would've hoped they'd be out of sight earlier but still 3 points and a good win. 
 

MENS 1ST XI - 06/10/2024 VS HARLESTON MAGPIES 1 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 06/10/2024 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 06/10/2024 
HEADLINE: Another East Anglian Derby. Another Feisty affair. 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Harleston Magpies HC 
RESULT: 4-2 loss  
 
REPORT: Early phases were even. Both sides creating chances but nothing really threatening goal. Early end to end but no danger to troubling the score line was finally ended as the deadlock was broken by magpies. An open player on the baseline, found a forward at the near post and a quick spin at the baseline opened up an opportunity to squeeze a ball in the near post for the lead. 0-1 Q1.  
2nd quarter for much the same, a cagey affair were neither side really made their chances pay. Norwich had a re-awarded penalty corner as time expired and it nestled its way into the goal from a deflection just in front of the keeper but the goal was disallowed and the scorleine remained 1-0 to the home side.  
Q2 and Norwich started to tune possession into threats. 4 corners were won but the keeper or runner were equal to them all. A breakaway run from the 4th of those corners and magpies won a penalty corner of their own. Their flicker making sure of the finish with a drag into the top right corner. This doubled there lead and was pretty much the last play of the 3rd quarter.  
After an intense midfield battle but not too much in either D the fourth quarter had it all. Magpies quicky took a 3 goal lead after an almost baseline reverse into the top near corner. Almost instantly Norwich made their 6th penalty corner of the day pay as Louis Preston beat the keeper and flicked into an empty net. As James Mackenzie tried to get the ball out for a quick restart a magpies defender decided to try and stop him and pushes him away. The umpire quickly saw to it and with a red card he was off and magpies down to 10 men for the final 10 minutes. Norwich continued to press and we're caught on the break again. Another PC won. Another PC goal. But again almost immediately Max Wilson had gone up the other end and scored and it was  
2-4 with 5 minutes to go. Norwich had no keeper, 1 at the back, 5 forwards and threw absolutely everything at Harleston and they still couldn't beat the wall of Harleston defenders. Chance after chance kept getting close and a comeback was most certainly on. Harry Gill found Chris Wardale, just wide. Max Wilson looks to find Harry Gill, just ahead of him. James Mackenzie had an attempt to just wide. Save from Chris Wardale shot and then a yellow card each to finish. 11 cards in total, a hard day for the umpires and even harder for the TMO to keep track of the sin bin. A good performance from Harleston, it's never an easy place to go and get points but Norwich definitely felt as though they'd thrown a result away with the finishing and short corner conversion rate.  
 

MENS 1ST XI - 29/09/2024 VS CHELMSFORD 1 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 29/09/2024 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 29/09/2024 
HEADLINE: Old Foe Chelmsford visit Taverham  
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Taverham Recreational Facility  
RESULT: 6-3 win 
 
REPORT: Norwich welcomed a regular and friendly East Prem opponent in Chelmsford to Taverham knowing they had more than enough attacking threat to best them but they also needed to keep the goals out to win. Norwich soon asserted dominance in the affair as Cam Cooke had a close flick well saved by the Chelmsford keeper. Cam soon followed this up with a short corner win and flick but it was saved again by Chelmsford. Tom Cooke then made an excellent turnover just outside the Norwich D and quickly found Cam Cooke just into Chelmsford half who gladly beat 3 defenders and reversed into the opposite bottom corner from the left hand side of the D. This was quickly followed by a Tom Ridley turnover (making his home debut) and he passed into the D for Stuart Wardle who had his initial deflection saved but it popped up for him to volley in the rebound for a 2 goal lead. Q1 ended 2-0 to Norwich.  
Q2 started off quite nervy, Norwich not wanting to overcommit and throw away the lead and Chelmsford looking to end Norwichs momentum from Q1. Chelmsford won their 1st short corner of the game and it was well saved by Fraser Evans. Norwich then won their 2nd short corner and that was saved by the Chelmsford runner. Max Wilson has a reverse shot saved and Cam Cooke was on the end of 1/2 pitch aerial from Tom Cooke into the D before his shot slapped against the crossbar and the 2 goal Norwich advantage was maintained going into halftime.  
Q3 started with a Chelmsford charge. They won a flurry of Penalty corners, the first two Norwich were equal to but the 3rd they were not and the drag flick squeezed into the right hand side of the goal to add some spice to the match. This was a wake up call to Norwich and wake up they did. First Harry Brown got a turnover and found Cam Cooke at halfway, Cam then found Max Wilson in the D who reversed in to restore the two goal lead. Tom Ridley got a turnover in the Chelmsford 23 and found Max Wilson leading ahead who reversed again and it was saved but he found the rebound and hit in tightly form the baseline for a 4-1 lead. Max was then on hand again for a quick 1-2 with Chris Wardale and then reversed across the face of goal for a back post deflection at chest height for Chris Wardale and 5-1 lead. Late on in Q3 Hary Brown marauded through from the back and then expertly threaded a pass between two defenders to Chris Wardale who reversed through the rushing out keeper to put Norwich out of sight at 6-1. Chelmsford started to look like they might make a comeback after another short corner goal and then a flick given after a foot on the line from another short corner, but ultimately the 5 goal gap was too much to overcome and Norwich saw out the 4th quarter to secure their first win of the season.  
 

MENS 1ST XI - 22/09/2024 VS REPTON 1 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 22/09/2024 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 22/09/2024 
HEADLINE: Intense End To End Battle Leads To a Well Fought Draw 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Repton School  
RESULT: 3-3 Draw 
 
REPORT: After 10 long weeks of preseason and 5 months since the last competitive fixture the squad were back in action. And, back on the road aswell with this side of Christmas having the joys of a collection of the longest away days to Repton, Barford, Nottingham & Banbury. First up were conference new boys Repton. Based at the school and with some former prem talent the team knew they'd be up for the fight and from the off that was confirmed. Repton dominated possession in the early stages and made it pay taking the lead after a scrappy bit of play at the top of the D fell to an unmarked forward who left Fraser Evans rushing out to cover a 1-on-1 and the Repton forward found the opposite bottom corner.  
After an unideal first quarter where the squad got a welcome back to competitive hockey they knuckled down and started to build some play. First a Max Wilson drive down the wing and entry to the D with a 1-on-1 with a defender, he managed to squeeze a shot away and it was well kept out. Then came a Max Wilson reverse that was also saved. Before new signing Tom Ridley won the ball just outside the Repton 23, he passed down the left wing to James Mackenzie making his national league debut and he found Ben Chapman at the back post for a deflection and equaliser. HT 1-1, a drastic improvement in play from Q1 to Q2 and the game was in the balance.  
Q3 was alive with action, both teams playing at a ferocious pace from D to D. Repton started the quarter with a flurry of Short Corners. Tom Harris equal to the first one, one wide and then a save from Fraser Evans for the 3rd. Louis Preston put Chris Wardale through 1v1 against the keeper but a chasing back defender was able to disrupt his shot and maintain parity. Repton played an aerial down the line and Norwich didn't shift across in time so the receiver found a player top D in space who reversed into the near bottom corner to take back the lead. Alex Scott played down the line to Cam Cooke who played in behind the defence to Max Wilson who had a shot saved. A few minutes later Max found himself in the D again this time 1v1 and the keeper saved again. Tom Ridley then stepped up with a reverse and once again it was well saved. Finally the attacking efforts paid off after Cam Cooke entered the D, moved the ball into his backspace away from the defender and rocketed one into the roof of the net. Q3 2-2.  
Q4 was much the same with more Penalty corners to Repton and more threatening breaks for Norwich. Thankfully Norwich scored early on in this quarter. Stu wardle in space down the left channel finding Tom Ridley inside who reversed across the face of goal, probably slightly higher than he'd like, as Chris Wardale had to get his stick on the end of a chest high ball but he gladly made sure it nestled into the goal for Norwichs first lead of the game. The Norwich goal threats continued as Ben Chapman broke away to result in a 1v1, debates of flick for a stick tackle from the keeper and at the very least should have been a short for the foot that was not given so Norwich battled on. Both sides pushing for a critical goal that would decide the game. Repton with 5 minutes to go won their 8th penalty corner of the game, and after the Norwich defensive unit had done so well to keep them out so far, a goal line clearance fell to a Repton player who managed to get it over the keeper and then the injector got to the ball before the postman could and it was volleyed in. 3-3 final score.  
A phenomenal battle to have witnessed. Both sides absolutely off their feet at the final whistle. Either side could have won it. Repton rueing missed penalty corners, Norwich rueing all of the attacks that the keeper was equal to. A welcome addition to the league, and we are all looking forward to the return fixture.