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MENS 1ST XI - 02/11/2025 VS UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 02/11/2025 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 02/11/2025 
HEADLINE: Norwich Travel to rivals looking to kickstart their season with 3 points 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Nottingham Hockey Centre 
RESULT: 1-0 Loss 
 
REPORT: They know each other's formations, their star players, and even their preferred pre-match playlists. Norwich City's trip to face University of Nottingham Men's 2s is always one that has promotion-defining outcomes. Yet, despite the rich history of competitive hockey between the two sides, both teams entered this vital clash having made a slow start to the season and already rueing dropped points. With the gap to the top widening, this clash was a vital opportunity for one of these perennial contenders to shake off their slow start and finally ignite their true campaign. 
​The first quarter didn't disappoint, and both sides came out of the blocks at high speed. The game was fluid, the pitch was stretched, and the hockey was intense. It was Nottingham that threatened first with a slap that flashed past the P spot, and neither side was able to get a touch on it. Shortly afterwards, Cam Cooke found himself with a 1v1 in the D but couldn't get anything goal-bound, and the chance faded away. Louis Preston threatened next. He made an excellent lead from outside the 23 to the D, and Tom Cooke perfectly found the unmarked man with a pinpoint aerial, but Louis couldn't quite bring it under with the sun in his eyes. Nottingham won the first penalty corner of the game, but Simon Dolan was equal to the drag and kept his net clean. Q1 Score: 0-0. 
​Q2 got underway, and there was immediate drama as Nottingham won their second corner and thought they'd broken the deadlock after a deflected drag flick made it in. However, the newly-added rule for the season saved Norwich City's blushes: the umpire had forgotten to start the Penalty Corner with a blow of his whistle, and therefore the ball was still dead. They had to try again, much to their despair. Simon Dolan was once again on hand to save another corner, and Norwich saw out the rest of the quarter where Nottingham dominated possession but never really threatened. Meanwhile, Norwich had a few counter-attacks but equally never really threatened. 
​Q3 started with a pair of penalty corners for Norwich. The first was a drag low left, saved by the Nottingham goalkeeper, and the second was a slap, also saved by the Nottingham keeper. So far, both goalkeepers were having excellent matches, and neither side could make their chances count. This continued as Simon Dolan was once again equal to a Nottingham drag flick. Just before the end of the quarter, a Nottingham forward managed to find himself in space and carried along the baseline. After he had forced a save from Simon and a second save from Tom Irvine, the ball found its way to another Nottingham forward who was able to lift the ball over a melee of sticks and into the corner to finally see a goal scored. Q3 Score: 1-0 UoN. 
​Q4 was exactly the finish the spectators were after. Jonty Black was the first player to trouble the Nottingham defence as his reverse hit was saved from close to the goal. Then Nottingham replied with a deflection that Simon Dolan was equal to, and Simon backed that up with another penalty corner save just afterwards. He unfortunately also got a lovely present of a knee to the head at the same time but was thankfully absolutely fine to continue playing and to continue to keep Norwich in it, as he was once again equal to Nottingham's 6th penalty corner of the game. Ben Chapman, Ben Griffiths, James Mackenzie, and Max Wilson all linked up with precision to create not one but three chances in quick succession. First came James Mackenzie with a great 1-2 with Max, and his shot to the far post was saved. Then Ben Griffiths came running through, but his shot to the near post was saved. And then, to round off the pressure, Max 'Moses' Wilson made the defence part, and his well-hit reverse was unfortunately too well struck and it blazed over the bar, much to the relief of the helpless Nottingham goalkeeper. Norwich pulled the keeper with a minute to spare, and a long ball from Tom Cooke into Max Wilson almost led to a PC win as time expired, but the umpire blew for time rather than a foul, and the nervy fixture was final. 
 

MENS 1ST XI - 12/10/2025 VS LEEK (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 12/10/2025 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 12/10/2025 
HEADLINE: Norwich City make their longest away journey to visit new comers and current league leaders Leek 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Leek High School 
RESULT: 3-1 Loss 
 
REPORT: The air was thick with fatigue as Norwich City embarked on their longest journey of the season—a gruelling five-hour trek north to face Leek. Despite the typical northern stereotypes, the travelling squad was greeted with an unexpected burst of sunshine. This welcome set a positive tone for what was sure to be a fiercely contested hockey match. Norwich, sitting in 3rd, faced league newcomers Leek, who are currently top of the table and following in the footsteps of Stourport and Repton as potential first-year recipients of promotion from Conference Midlands. 
It would appear Norwich were still asleep on the bus, as Leek took charge from the off with total possession and a goal inside two minutes. A ball across led to a half-clearance, which unfortunately fell to a Leek forward at the top of the D who was able to reverse past Simon Dolan to make it 1-0. 
Thankfully, Cameron Cooke was soon on hand to threaten. The first time through, he beat three Leek defenders and then put the ball onto a foot, but the umpires decided against providing him with his deserved reward of a penalty corner. Shortly afterwards, he was able to pounce on an excellent press and high turnover stemming from a Jonty Black interception. Cam calmly beat the centre back and flicked the ball over the out-rushing Leek goalkeeper, who went to ground, to equal the scoreline. The first quarter finished 1-1. 
Leek continued to threaten in Q2 and forced Harry Brown and George Bedford into stopping two breakaway forwards. Tom Cooke was expertly mopping up interceptions around the 23 and kick-starting attacks, but Norwich City weren't able to break past Leek's tough back four, and the score remained level. 
Leek then won their first penalty corner of the game, but it was Simon Dolan’s turn to step up and win his battle by clearing the danger from the flick. Unfortunately, Leek won another shortly after and hit the bottom left with pace, taking the lead once again. Halftime was 2-1 to the home side, and Norwich had a lot to do offensively to get back into the match. 
The third quarter saw Leek win a penalty flick, and they calmly slotted it past Simon to take a massive step towards three points. Norwich started to threaten, with Max Wilson and Lawry Williams both taking shots at goal, but neither were able to beat the Leek goalkeeper. Chris Wardale then had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper but shot just wide. The third quarter ended 3-1 to Leek, leaving Norwich a lot to do to rescue any points. 
The final quarter saw Norwich try to put Leek under pressure while Leek tried to kill the game with a final goal. Neither side held back, and this led to numerous attempts at goal but also numerous cards. Leek saw both green and yellow cards in quick succession, but Norwich had a yellow card of their own as well. Frantic play and end-to-end hockey followed, but neither side created any clear chances. A pair of penalty corners, one for each side, were the closest attempts. Tom Irvine was equal to the one from Leek, while Norwich narrowly missed the target. The game ended as the fourth quarter had started, and Leek continued their dominant form to maintain their gap as league leaders. 
 

MENS 1ST XI - 21/09/2025 VS UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 21/09/2025 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 21/09/2025 
HEADLINE: Tough away day but great result to open this season's account 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: university of Birmingham  
RESULT: 5-2 win  
 
REPORT: 175 days without competitive hockey, and we were back. Our prize for missing out on promotion by 7 points last year was a long and early away day to Birmingham. The 5 am wake-up call for the 6 am bus journey was tough, but the weather post-big team nap was anything but. Wonderful sunny welcome to Brum. After a spot of table tennis in the clubhouse to get the boys going, we headed out to dodge some sprinklers before pushback. 
It didn't take long for normal service to resume as last season's top goal scorer, Cameron Cooke, had started his tally for 25/26. Lawry Williams made a glorious run down the left-hand side to enter the D and place it on a foot for a Penalty corner. Cameron's flick was initially saved, but Max Wilson hunted down the rebound outside the D and passed into the P spot, where Cam was able to slide the ball under the out-rushing Birmingham GK, and Norwich had the lead! This was not an indication of how the game would continue, though. Birmingham quickly got themselves together, Norwich sat back, and Birmingham won 4 penalty corners in the space of 7 minutes. Fraser Evans was equal to the first two; the 3rd was expertly left to head wide of the right goal post, but the 4th was coolly slotted into the side netting to bring the scores back level. 1-1 Q1. 
Q2 was quite cagey, neither side wanting to over-commit given how deadly both sides had looked on the counterattack or when they'd been given space to carry. The scores remained level mid-way through the quarter after a combination of Fraser, the goalpost and Tom Irvine's stick or maybe shoulder managed to keep another Uni of Birmingham drag flick out. The resulting 16 led to a wide pass finding a Birmingham midfielder at halfway, but Ben Griffiths was on hand to catch him napping and steal the ball back. Ben might've forgotten that this wasn't ice hockey and you can't use both sides of the stick whilst doing it as he dribbled away with the ball but the umpire also forgot and didn't call him up which allowed him to run away into space, play a 1-2 with the birmingham CB and find Lawry Williams at the p-spot who expertly rounded the Birmingham keeper to restore Norwich's one goal lead just before halftime. 
As the birmingham crowd came out in superb spirits to try and inspire their squad to make the comeback George Bedford was equal to them and confidently managed to silence them after a carry up the line under their noses and aerial into the centre of the pitch where Lawry was able to bring it down with plenty work to do but beat 3 defenders before slamming a half volley into the roof of the Birmingham net, the goalkeeper had no idea what he'd just witnessed as a debut brace for lawry etched him into Norwich city history only 36 minutes into his career with the yellows.  
Norwich showed ruthlessness beyond their years as they immediately won the ball back after pushback, and a quick long corner led to a ball across the face of the goal that was deflected upwards and held up in the air long enough for Ben Griffiths to run in and volley it into the goal, a National League debut goal for promising 17-year-old Ben! The goals continued, and the next one came from a man who's at the other end of the experience spectrum with about 50 national league caps to his name, as club stalwart Tom Cooke made sure Cameron wasn't the only family member with a goal, and he flicked a PC into the bottom left corner and extended Norwich's lead to 4 goals. A calamitous 5 minutes from Birmingham, but they regained composure and started to build some opportunities, another Penalty corner and another warning, but it went wide. Followed shortly after by another penalty corner, but a mistrap let Norwich off the hook this time. Finally Birmingham got the goal they'd threatened for 10 or so minutes... questions of a stick tackle, questions of interference, questions of a foot, but ultimately Norwich got lucky with their 2nd so this was the umpires evening it up and after a shot and rebound an attacker was able to bundle the ball in and add a little bit of spice to the match. 5-2 to start Q4, but all the momentum is currently with Birmingham. Norwich City were able to quickly quash that momentum as Tom Cooke, Harry Brown, Tom Irvine, George Bedford, Harry Morgan and Louis Preston were able to keep the ball for 3 minutes straight, even whilst Birmingham pushed to cut options. James Mackenzie, Ben Griffiths, Max Wilson & Ben Chapman all found themselves in space in the Birmingham half but weren't quite able to find the gap through the defence or goal goalkeeper and the scoreline remained the same. A confident 5-2 win was complete, and Norwich briefly became top of the table based on being the first to enter their result. 
A lot of debuts, either in the national league or for the club, a new captain, a new member of the coaching team and not a single person on the teamsheet disappointed. An excellent display to open this season's account. Bring on the first home game of the season Vs fellow Conference Midlands veterans Banbury.