Mens 2nd XI

Match Report

The mens 2’s had their first home game of the season on Saturday coming away with a solid 3-1 victory against Rotherham. The customary slow start allowed Rotherham to take an early lead but an equaliser was quickly found, Jimmy Swindon converting a short corner. Slaz continued to press resulting in another short corner. This time Swindon’s flick was saved bravely on the line by a defender. Unfortunately he used his face to make the save resulting in a penalty stroke. The Rotherham keeper stood firm however making the save taking us into the half at 1-1.

Slaz pressed in the second half creating a number of chances. The breakthrough came midway through the half when Ben Graham deflected a strike past the keeper. A goal that extends his remarkable goal scoring streak to 31 consecutive seasons. Owen Wiper capped a man of the match performance with a well taken goal to put the result beyond doubt. Slaz will travel to local rivals Wakefield on Saturday looking to build on a good start to the season.

Match Report

Saturday saw a welcome change to the 2nd team's long run of away games. As much fun as it had been to travel to the farthest hockey pitches in Lincolnshire, the last home game of the season was very much welcomed. With the season coming to a close, there was a noticeable absence from some of the more elderly players, while on the pitch aches and groans were heard as the warm up started...

Slaz got going quickly and moved the ball around at pace. Rotherham had been hard to break down in the away leg, however some good passing and movement provided Richard Tuddenham with several chances in the early phases of the game. It was from one of these phases that Tuddenham netted his first; surprising everyone with a goal in open play. With a goal ahead, however, Slazenger began to play through the middle and Rotherham cancelled out the attacking threat.

Half time came and with it, wise words from Simon Chamberlain. The team came back on the pitch with renewed focus. Rotherham had their own ideas and threw players forward looking for an equaliser. Slazenger's renewed efforts were rewarded when Ben Graham provided the through ball for Tuddenham to score a second. Minutes later, Tuddenham wrapped up his hat-trick with a third.

Rotherham continued to look for a consolation goal, but an incredible defensive effort, including a famously strong tackle from Adam Drake, and some saves from James Walker himself helped Walker to a clean sheet to top off the performance.

Next week, the 2's wrap up their season with as 4 hour round trip to top of the league Lough 1st's...

Match Report

The Men’s 2nds made the trip to Rotherham for a 4pm start under the floodlights—always a bit of a different vibe, but Slaz came out flying. From the first minute they looked sharp, carrying over that calm, confident hockey from the tail end of last week’s game. The ball was moving nicely, the passes were sticking, and the team created a bunch of early chances. Having Paul Wiper up top gave Slaz loads of options, and it wasn’t long before the pressure paid off. James Stevenson - who ended up taking Man of the Match - opened the scoring with a tidy finish, slotting it past the keeper and setting the tone. Buoyed by the opener, Slaz pushed on again. A run of penalty corners followed, and this time Ian Hedges stepped up and flicked home a well-placed second. At that point, the confidence really started to flow. Then came the standout moment of the match, maybe even goal of the season: a flowing five-player move that went from back to front with proper composure.

Ben Graham drew the keeper out brilliantly before sliding it across for Jack Mumford to finish it off. Class goal, and fully deserved. The second half had a similar feel, with Slaz still trying to play the same passing game, though Rotherham had clearly woken up a bit. They closed space quicker and made it harder to break through. As the legs started to tire, the sharpness going forward dropped off slightly—but the work rate didn’t. At the back, James Walker had another excellent afternoon, pulling off a couple of really strong saves to secure his third clean sheet of the season. The win bumps the 2nds up to 6th and gives them a good bit of momentum heading toward the Christmas break. Plenty of positives, some great hockey played, and a proper team performance all round.

Match Report

Some of the mens 2nd's travelled down the motorway to Rotherham for the away leg of this league fixture. Having come off second best in a closely fought encounter at the beginning of the season, Slaz were looking to capitalise on their recent good form to bring home 3 points. Unfortunately, wracked by availability issues, including some last minute problems meant the team travelled with 11 men, which was made worse when Jez 'gets lost in housing estates' Whawell lived up to his nickname, and the team had to start with 10.

Slaz however, started the brighter and after weathering an aggressive Rotherham attack; with keeper Daz Buttery pulling off some fantastic early saves, the team looked in control. It looked as though the fates were smiling on the visitors, when a rebounded short corner shot from Asad Baig was tapped in by stand-in-captain James 'Dodge' Taylor, and Jez arrived on the pitch to complete the 11 man team.

However Rotherham showed they were not going to be a pushover, taking advantage of some judicious umpire decisions to capitalise go into the break 2-1 to the good.

The second half went the way of the first, with Slaz looking to equalise, but failing to find a rhythm. Rotherham hit fast on the break, and took a commanding lead at 4-1. When Slaz found their feet, they struggled to make it count. Ben 'Thriller' Jackson slotted home a second from a well worked attacking run, but when Baig put a flick over the net, and series of penalty corners were not converted it looked like the game was slipping away.

However, it wasn't over for Rotherham, making the most of well timed advantage to bring their tally to 5.

Match Report

Mens 2nd's opened their league account with a tough encounter with visitors Rotherham 2nds. Unfortunately with a couple of key players missing and only a bare 11 for their first game, it was going to be hard work from the outset. However Slaz started the brighter, and without some strong goalkeeping work from the Rotherham goalie, would have been several goals to the good within the first 20 minutes. In the end however, a scrappy goal defeated him, with Ben ""the touch"" Jackson putting the ball in off a deflection to put Slaz 1-0 up at half time.

The second half would prove to be the undoing of the team however. With Rotherham fighting back into the game, the match was drawn level at 2-2; Jackson netting his second, amid the team playing some flowing attacking hockey. However when new midfielder Mark Hammond was taken out of the game with a pulled hamstring and unable to run, the team were effectively down to 10 men. While the team put on a strong performance, and Hammond himself netted a third, it wasn't enough to stop a visibly resurgent Rotherham from equalising with a third, and netting twice more to take the result. A good game with some promising performances including newcomers Owen Bland, James Armitage and Josh Dunstan, and with a full squad, the 2nds look promising for the seasons campaign.

Match Report

Slazenger Mens 2nds hosted Rotherham 2nds for the final game of the season. With both teams safely mid table, Slaz were still looking to carry their run of form towards the cup final in 3 weeks time.

It was Rotherham who got off to the quick start however, with Slaz slow to react in the heat of the sun. Rotherham went a goal ahead, through a well taken opportunity, leaving Slaz looking for a comeback. A quick breakaway from Captain Ben Graham setup Matthew Stacey to equalise, followed up by a quick snap shot from Asad Baig to put the team ahead. Rotherham came back into the game with a second and third goal in quick succession, with Slaz struggling to find a response.

After the break, Slaz came got back to their usual form, with a quick 3rd from Matthew Stacey and a fourth from Graham to wrap up the win.

Slaz look to carry this form to the cup final in 3 weeks time.

Match Report

Slazenger men's 2nd team continued their recent good form with a 4-0 win away at Rotherham 2's. The match was even during the early encounters but Slazenger took the lead when Ted Richardson pounced on a loose ball to fire the opener. Rotherham replied and would have equalised but for an excellent goal line clearance from Tristan Whittle and some strong defensive work all round. Slazenger improved and doubled their lead with Richardson grabbing his 2nd from a short corner.

Rotherham were clearly buoyed for the 2nd half and immediately went on the attack only to be thwarted by another goal line clearance. The loose ball was picked up by Slazenger who quickly broke down field, a fast flowing move resulted in Ben Jackson getting Slazenger 3rd. Rotherham could have let their heads go down but didn't and continued to put Slazenger under pressure but some assured midfield play by Slazenger kept Rotherham's possession to a minimum. Slazenger 4th came through Jake Barras who produced an excellent finish from Ben Jackson's cross.

Both fullbacks, Matt Feather and Tristan Whittle were excellent for Slazenger but it was Tristan who just nicked the man of the match award. With no league game on Saturday, Slazenger will look to continue their good form in the next round of the cup on Sunday.

Match Report

Slazenger seconds suffered only their third defeat of the season to a young, skilful Rotherham outfit.

Slazenger got off to a dreadful start, conceding a goal with barely a minute played. And by the quarter-hour mark the hosts were 3-0 down. The Horbury men hauled themselves back into the game but were unable to crack the defensive deadlock before half-time.

Slazenger started the second half on top and pegged a goal back through Alec Gilston, only for Rotherham to restore their three-goal cushion.

Credit to Slazenger, however, who continued to work hard and were rewarded with a second goal for veteran Simon Hurley.

Man of the match went to Ben Garside whose fighting spirit was an example to the rest of the team.

Match Report

Slazenger's second string produced an encouraging performance against Rotherham seconds, despite going down 3-1.

Ben Graham gave Slazenger the lead before Rotherham scored three times. Neil Hutchins was their man of the match.

On Saturday, the seconds travel to Adel thirds for their first game of the season.

Match Report

Slazenger conceded an early goal but responded quickly when Matthew Birkett set up Jonathan Walker. A period of attack and counterattack followed and the game gradually opened up as players tired. Charlie Harcourt was a cool head in defence and his distribution from the back set up several breaks. Neil Croucher’s midfield running was also a feature of Slazenger’s play. Rotherham scored two goals in quick succession but Slazenger hit back again from a short corner when Andy Auty netted. However, time ran out for the Horbury side.

Match Report

Slazenger seconds went close to pulling off a shock win. Rotherham found it difficult to break down a tight home defence, well marshalled by man of the match Robert Bartholomew and Will Finch. The defensive effort was rewarded by Tim Carr who edged Slazenger ahead at the end of the first half. Rotherham responded with two goals in quick succession. But the remainder of the game was evenly contested and Slazenger were worthy of a share of the spoils, decided by a well-taken Simon Miller short corner in the dying seconds.

Match Report

Against the run of play, Rotherham caught Slazenger seconds’ defence flat footed and gained two quick goals for victory. Slazenger failed to capitalise on their many and varied attacks in the opposition D with Graham White, Jonathan Wiper and Martin Cooper all going agonisingly close, but putting their shots wide to the sprawling ‘keeper. The experienced Rotherham front line was continually frustrated by sound defensive work from newly promoted Andrew Pickles and Marcus Taylor, playing with maturity belaying their youth. Slazenger look forward to their first league game of 1993 on Saturday, when skipper Steve Wood fully expects his site to improve their current standing in Mowlem Division Four.

Match Report

Slazenger performed well against an in-form opposition and were delighted to earn a draw. Both sided created good scoring chances but struggled to apply the finishing touch. But that was the only disappointing aspect in a thrilling and often tense encounter. Jason Wilson and Christian Oldroyd made impressive debuts for Slazenger and Jewell was an inspirational figure in defence.

Match Report

The 2nd XI went down to a strong Rotherham side, despite valiant defensive efforts from Green, Ventom, White and Connelly. They went a goal down later in the first half and were always under pressure as they looked for an equaliser.