Results

LADIES 3RD XI - 27/01/2018 VS UEA 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens 3rd XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Womens 3rd XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Fourth win for NCHC womens 3s 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK PREMIER DIVISION 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE: (A) UEA Sportspark 
RESULT: Won 0-3 
 
REPORT: 
On a cold January morning, despite being the away side and only having one sub, the NCHC Womens 3s showed their hard work, fitness, determination and desire to beat the opposition. 
 
From the off, City gained possession with slick passing throughout the pitch and some lovely through-balls from Ellyn Roberts to the forwards, who made some skilful runs to the baseline. With numerous chances City kept pushing, effectively using the press to limit the out-letting options for the UEA 2s. The first goal came from a direct cross from Olivia Greenway, after an interception from the top of the UEA’s D, to sister Emily Greenway who calmly placed the ball in the back of the goal. Determined for another score, City created several chances through Rachael Phillips and Kirsten Aitken and multiple short corners, which unfortunately weren’t converted. 
 
With team talk led by coach Nick Hooper and captain Kim Lusher, the second half saw City stepping up their game. Zoe Smith remarkably eliminated three defenders down the right hand side towards the baseline and dropped the ball to Holly Totten, who was positioned on the penalty spot, where she majestically placed the ball in the goal. The final score was from Olivia Greenway perfectly standing on the post, who tipped it into the goal from a cross by Ellyn Roberts.  
 
The well-deserved final score was 0-3 to City. This makes four consecutive wins for a team who should be proud of their performances to date.  

LADIES 4TH XI - 27/01/2018 VS BROADLAND 1 (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens 4th XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Womens 4th XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Double celebrations for Womens 4's 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK PREMIER DIVISION 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE:TRF 
RESULT:2-2 
 
REPORT: 
Yet another frosty start to a Saturday morning and after early pitch inspections deemed the H20 pitch playable the Womens 4’s took full advantage of their early start against second in the table Broadland Womens 1’s. A very comprehensive warm up on the pitch ensued and we were indeed lucky to play at the driest part of the day. 
 
The game started with pace and after a few near misses at goal, the Womens 4’s capitalised when an attempt in the ‘D’ was thwarted, the ball eventually landed at the feet of Charlotte Gundry who ensured the ball met the back board to secure the lead for the away team. Broadland Womens fought back and managed to equalise leading both teams into a draw at half time.  
 
The half time team talk from Coach Ali Wardale, gave the Womens 4’s all the encouragement they needed going into the second half. Although Broadland Womens took the initial lead this did not deter a vey determined Womens 4’s who’s belief did not falter and much to the relief of the City’s cohort who then welcomed Annabel Pounder’s equaliser with great enthusiasm.  
 
Fantastic all round team performance from the Womens 4’s, teamed with great Coaching, Umpiring and sporting opposition. Twins, Amelia & Lydia’s 18th Birthday celebrations were then enjoyed by all following this memorable game! 
 
Well deserved POTM awarded to Rosy Valentine. 
 

LADIES 6TH XI - 27/01/2018 VS THETFORD TOWN 1 (H) 
 
TEAM: Womens 6th XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Womens 6th XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Two reverse-stick goals and three much-needed points 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK LEAGUE DIVISION 2 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE: Taverham 
RESULT: 2-0 
 
REPORT:City were on a mission to win three points and dominated from push-back. The home team had the best of the attacking play, but Thetford weren’t going to surrender easily and forced City to fight hard and physically for every pass. This left the play scrappy at times and perhaps not City’s slickest game. However, City's determination meant they won back most ball interceptions and kept the game in their attacking half - repeatedly threatening Theford's goal with wave after wave of attack. Finally, after several attempts on goal, a lovely cross in by Josine van den Berg from the right was netted with an impressive back-stick shot by Frances Underhill. Before half time, another lovely pass from Maddie Smith was again netted with some skilful reverse stick play by Jess Ball. After, the break the play continued in the same vein, with player of the match Kate Houldey cutting out attacks and sending balls through to City from centre midfield. City’s defensive unit intercepted any dangerous breaks from Thetford, with Vicky Myhill skillfully controlling the area in front of the keeper and scooping up any stray attacks - sending the ball straight back into City’s attacking half. There was a sense of relief when the final whistle arrived and City had won a much-needed three points.  
 

LADIES DEVELOPMENT XI A - 27/01/2018 VS NORWICH CITY B (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens Development XI A 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Womens Development XI A VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Brilliant game between evenly matched teams. 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE: Taverham 
RESULT: NCHC A 3-4 NCHC B 
 
REPORT: 
Norwich City B just edged this fascinating encounter with Norwich City A, although the real winners were the spectators who witnessed an end-to-end battle in which both teams impressively came from behind to take the lead and which combined tough tackling and quick pressing with silky skills and abundant creativity.  
 
Both coaches were delighted with the performances and this week saw the re-introduction of the coaches’ player of the match awards… 
 
The player of the match for the A’s was: Everybody 
The player of the match for the B’s was also: Everybody 
One of the coaches was even heard to say that every single player on both teams were simply brilliant! 
 
The B’s took the lead early in the second quarter when Madeleine latched on to a through ball down the right and put in an inch-perfect cross for Lucy W to hit first time with delightful technique into the goal. Madeleine netted the second for the B’s after some fabulous play down the right from Niamh and Saskia. With the half-time score at 2-0, the A’s appeared to be facing an uphill struggle. 
 
With the half-time team talk ringing in their ears, the A’s began the second half firing on all cylinders and it wasn’t long before Emily slotted the ball home and set up an enthralling thirty minutes of Dev’s hockey. Lily tucked in the rebound from a thunderous shot by Effie and Tilly’s deft pass to Evie was fired through a crowded D to put the A’s 3-2 up at the end of the third quarter.  
 
The B’s pressed forward as the last quarter got underway and it wasn’t long before Madeleine was celebrating her brace with a cool finish from Sophie’s through ball. A thrilling finale ensued and with chances foiled at both ends by Imogen and Sophia, the match appeared to be heading for a draw. Sophie, however, had other ideas and won the spoils for the B’s with a lovely goal after a mazy run and cross by Niamh. 
 
Final Score: Norwich City A 3-4 Norwich City B 
 

LADIES DEVELOPMENT XI B - 27/01/2018 VS NORWICH CITY A (H) 
 
TEAM: Womens Development XI B 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Womens Development XI B VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Brilliant game between evenly matched teams. 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE: Taverham 
RESULT: NCHC A 3-4 NCHC B 
 
REPORT: 
Norwich City B just edged this fascinating encounter with Norwich City A, although the real winners were the spectators who witnessed an end-to-end battle in which both teams impressively came from behind to take the lead and which combined tough tackling and quick pressing with silky skills and abundant creativity.  
 
Both coaches were delighted with the performances and this week saw the re-introduction of the coaches’ player of the match awards… 
The player of the match for the A’s was: Everybody 
The player of the match for the B’s was also: Everybody 
One of the coaches was even heard to say that every single player on both teams were simply brilliant! 
 
The B’s took the lead early in the second quarter when Madeleine latched on to a through ball down the right and put in an inch-perfect cross for Lucy W to hit first time with delightful technique into the goal. Madeleine netted the second for the B’s after some fabulous play down the right from Niamh and Saskia. With the half-time score at 2-0, the A’s appeared to be facing an uphill struggle. 
 
With the half-time team talk ringing in their ears, the A’s began the second half firing on all cylinders and it wasn’t long before Emily slotted the ball home and set up an enthralling thirty minutes of Dev’s hockey. Lily tucked in the rebound from a thunderous shot by Effie and Tilly’s deft pass to Evie was fired through a crowded D to put the A’s 3-2 up at the end of the third quarter.  
 
The B’s pressed forward as the last quarter got underway and it wasn’t long before Madeleine was celebrating her brace with a cool finish from Sophie’s through ball. A thrilling finale ensued and with chances foiled at both ends by Imogen and Sophia, the match appeared to be heading for a draw. Sophie, however, had other ideas and won the spoils for the B’s with a lovely goal after a mazy run and cross by Niamh. 
 
Final Score: Norwich City A 3-4 Norwich City B 
 

MENS 1ST XI - 27/01/2018 VS WEST HERTS 2 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Late drama at TRF 
LEAGUE: EAST PREMIER DIVISION B 
VENUE: TRF 
RESULT: 2-2 
 
REPORT: 
 
Following a postponed game the previous week, City were keen to get back to winning ways. However even though 3rd from bottom West Herts arrived with 11 they were in top form following a 9-0 victory against Peterborough. This was unlikely to be an easy game. 
With the cold and wet weather failing to ruin their high tempo game, City started strong. Within a short space of time Captain Nick Jones slotted away one of City’s first few attempts at goal. 1-0. Their 1-0 lead was almost lost when the umpire failed to spot a West Herts’ foot, but with assistance from his colleague the goal was quickly overturned to a 16. City deservedly finished the first half leading the way 1-0. 
Both teams started the second half strong. West Herts who had yet shown much promise from short corners turned it around. They put away a drag flick from the top of the D to equalise. 1-1. Time quickly passed with constant attacks from both teams but neither prevailing. With a short amount of time remaining City needed to take back the lead and with some superb play they quickly overturned an attack from West Herts. Luke Corden suddenly found himself face to face with their keeper at the edge of the D. Thanks to some quick dribbling and a football-esque dive the West Herts keeper received a yellow card following his take out on Luke. After several shots at an iron footed kicking back, Ed Sutton volleyed the ball into the back of the net. 2-1. 
However the game was not over yet. With just one minute to go, West Herts restarted quickly from the centre spot and were suddenly within City’s D. Some questionable dribbling from West Herts lead to a short corner. With the whistle signalling the end of the game once the short corner had been taken, the pressure amounted on City with West Herts scoring a scrappy routine. 2-2. 
MOTM – Nick Jones 

MENS 2ND XI - 27/01/2018 VS DEREHAM 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 2nd XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens 2nd XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Mr. Perry's trial with the seconds goes well. 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 2 NORTH 
VENUE: Dereham 
RESULT: 5-3 win 
 
REPORT: 
Norwich City IIs travelled to Dereham hoping to make amends for a disappointing draw in the first encounter at Taverham. The seasonal unavailability of players left most captains with a team rather than a squad and Hindle (injured but comfortably wrapped up against the elements and topped off with a questionable hat) made it to Dereham accompanied by only twelve players. All twelve made it onto the pitch but only eleven got past the warm-up when Jack (the “middle Ingham”) put his back out. Bit of an old man’s injury but he did get to spend the game under shelter. So the game was started with a fit full eleven ……. not. Harry Gill also used the warm-up to tweak his hamstring – not a trivial issue in a hamstring so long. 
 
Despite these setbacks, City made a determined start at good pace. The ball was played out of the back via fast passing triangles into the midfield of Brine, Green and Morgan. More often than not, this was followed by quickly executed hard low passes to the feet of the forwards who were making repeated runs into the D. This put Dereham under continued pressure for the whole of the first half and paid off four times. 
Cheesman turned onto a ball that he should probably have left for Brine but managed to strike the first goal high into the top of the net. Silvester then gave the Dereham keeper absolutely no chance with a sublime deflection of another fast injection. Cheesman grabbed another, flicking around the keeper a ball stolen by Gill and passed on via Morgan. With Gill’s hamstring preventing him from doing his usual impression of a cross between Usain Bolt and Bambi rampaging into the D, he was repeatedly switching with Brine in midfield and found himself turning provider, rocketing a ball through the entire Dereham defence onto the feet of Cheesman who then managed to mess up so badly it confused the keeper into letting it trickle though his legs, leading to a somewhat sheepish tap-in. The keeper was kind enough to provide emphatic verbal agreement with this view of the quality of the goal. 
City were four goals up but Dereham were far from offering no response. In the back four, the youthful exuberance of Shapland and Fretwell (playing well out of position to replace Ingham at right-back) provided the perfect complement to the more cerebral approach of Perry and Pallister and between them they stopped all but a late one of Dereham’s dangerous counter attacks. 4-1 to City at half-time. 
 
Buoyed by their goal, Dereham came out determined for the second half and were quickly more involved in the game. Frustrated by decisions they found unfathomable, the City players offered the officials some polite and constructive suggestions and were consequently awarded a number of cards. Dereham capitalised on the disruption by converting two of their attacks and short-corners to make it 4-3. It could have been far worse but it turned out that Dave King is a bona-fide goalkeeper, not just a moonlighting defender with a bit of a fetish for rigid foam clothing. A series of instinctive blocks, including a superb triple save at close range, kept the score line in City’s favour but it was now definitely squeaky bum time. City were on the back foot but making some counter attacks through George Brine still finding the energy to make runs through the Dereham defence and he was unlucky not to convert on the final shot. Then Perry to the rescue! From a sixteen, the aerial of the season cleared every outfield player on the pitch but was perfectly weighted for Cheesman to catch up, flick around the keeper and net for 5-3. Perry’s next aerial warrants less discussion: suffice it to say that it landed in a space and no player was endangered in the development game on the other pitch. The comeback now looked unlikely and the game finished with the 5-3 win. 
 

MENS 4TH XI - 27/01/2018 VS SUDBURY 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 4th XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens 4th XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Sudbury win again 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 3 NORTH EAST 
VENUE: Sudbury 
RESULT: 2:1 
 
REPORT: A long trip to Sudbury saw Norwich City 4s start this league match slowly and found themselves on the back foot almost straight away. With few attacks into the home teams half, City were pinned back for the first 20 minutes but a strong passing move between Paul Roy and Oli Kennard found David Fletcher unmarked in front of goal and he made no mistake with a strong strike under the home keeper for a lead against the run of play. The rest of the half was mostly uneventful, short of a couple of decent saves from City's keeper Jake Ainscough and the away side went into the break a goal to the good. Sadly the second half proved to be similar to the first as City struggled to get any momentum going and resorted too defending on their own 25yrd line which invited Sudbury to attack for most of the half. With 12 minutes to go in the game Sudbury's pressure took it'e toll and they equalised with a cross shot into the far corner after good play from their left winger. Worse was to follow for the visitors as the home side took the lead with only 5 minutes left on the clock. Attempting to drive a long ball up the line, Captain Simon Dale was unfortunate to gift the Sudbury winger with a breakaway move as his double tapped interception took the ball away from the City captain. He then drove to the top of the area and pulled his pass across the charging keeper to the unmarked forward who slotted into an empty net.  
Although City attempted to readdress the deficit, it was too little too late once again and they came away empty handed, not for the first time this season. City MOM: Cameron Husband 
 

MENS 6TH XI - 27/01/2018 VS NORTH NORFOLK 3 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 6th XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens 6th XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Another good win tainted by head injury to Nigel Cushion  
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 6 NORTH EAST 
VENUE:Taverham  
RESULT: won 6-1 
 
REPORT: The first half was not particularly memorable but we went into halftime at 2-1 up . A few words at halftime reminding ourselves of how we played the week before reinvigorated the squad and we started to take control of the game. Once we got to 4-1 we were in total control and spent the rest of the game camped in the opposition half . Goals were scored by John Grange , great follow up to short corner, Simon Deakin, vintage Simon short corner , Woody, could have got another if he hadn’t used the stick as a windmill, John Whitlam, Luke Keeley , great run along the back line to score from a very narrow angle and David Kidner who tried to score another one but Nigel Cushion unfortunately got his head in the way and took a nasty blow just above his eye . 
Nigel is Ok but sporting a very black eye. 
POTM David Kidner  
 

MENS 7TH XI - 27/01/2018 VS NORFOLK NOMADS 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 7th XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens 7th XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Not one of our better days 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 6 NORTH EAST 
VENUE: UEA SPORTSPARK 
RESULT: NORFOLK NOMADS 2 1 NORWICH CITY 7 1 
 
REPORT: 
This was not one of the 7's better performances of the season. Though enjoying significant amounts of possession and circle penetrations City failed to trouble the Nomads keeper on more than a handful of occasions. City's defence and play up to the 25 was generally good but in the final quarter were guilt of dribbling onto open sticks, some poor pass selection along with quality of leads. City opened the scoring early in the second half through an Adie Land short corner strike, Nomads equalising with a reverse stick shot ten minutes from time.  
 

MENS DEVELOPMENT XI - 27/01/2018 VS NORWICH DRAGONS A (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens Development XI 
DATE: 27/01/2018 
FIXTURE: Mens Development XI VS 27/01/2018 
HEADLINE: Silky skills edge 12 goal thriller 
LEAGUE: NORFOLK DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE 
LEAGUE SPONSORS: EMPRESA LIMITED 
VENUE: Dragons Den 
RESULT: Norwich City Devs 7 - 5 Dragons A 
 
REPORT: 
City yet again decided to bring their own brand of total hockey to bear against their top of the table local rivals. Some of their stick skills aligned with dynamic passing and movement on and off the ball was a true joy to behold.  
 
Whilst their was much to be pleased about falling 1-0 behind inside the first 3 minutes was not part of the plan and was due to some uncharacteristically sleepy defending. However, this set back galvanised a quite dynamic midfield of Pedro Salcines Reuda, Jonty Black and Toby Pallister to act as the heart beat of of City’s response. Toby levelled the score midway through the half. Jack Whitlam had a particularly good spell in the first quarter creating a number of excellent chances thanks to his close control on the right wing. Towards the end of the half City lapsed into a period of over dribbling and fell behind to a scruffy goal after 27 minutes.  
 
Undeterred, City scored from the restart, Freddie Patterson passed to Jonty who airialed the ball back to Freddie who drove to the top of the D before slipping the ball back to Jonty to rifle into the bottom corner. 2-2 at half time with both keepers making rather too many saves for their managers’ comfort! Highlights of the defensive effort were a couple tremendous diving stick saves from Will Farrow, a 40m defensive sprint and last ditch deflection by Henry Baker and a cool as you like it turn from Krishna. 
 
After a quick half time team talk reminding the team of the virtues of passing and moving City took control of the match with two goals from Toby making it 4-2. The second of which was a delightful deflection from a short corner variation. Freddie then had a spell of being thwarted by the home keeper - it was almost as if the keeper’s sole purpose was to stop Freddie scoring, undeterred Freddie won the head to head to make it 5-2. before a couple of defensive lapses made it 5-4 and a scoreline that rather flattered the home side. 
 
A swift tactical change with a combination of Henry Baker, Archie Ward and Krishna Patel in defence made City look much more solid and allowed Angus “Goosie” Irving and Ethan Rushton to get much more involved in the game. City’s move of the match involved a delightful midfield interchange between Pedro, Jonty and Toby then out right to Goosie, down the line to Oliver Millett, back inside to Pedro and onto Freddie to slot home for goal number 6. Back came Dragons who capitalised on some positional indiscipline down the left to make it 6-5 before Pedro sealed the match with a very well deserved reverse stick shot. 7-5!  
 
Perhaps the highest accolade the team received was at the end of the match when the opposition umpire came over and congratulated the boys on their temperament, their skill and their movement....not bad considering that umpire has played for the county at adult, over 40, over 50 and over 60 levels! 
 
Pedr9 was named man of the match for an excellent display of skill and control.