24 January 2019
U13 A
Even though the Wellington boys were older, stronger and faster, the Abingdon U13 XI performed fearlessly. We started off enthusiastically, bombarding the Wellington goal from the off, scoring two goals in the first half. After half time Wellington had clearly had a pep talk from their coach and the game was slightly more even with both teams scoring 1 goal, leaving the final result 3-1 to Abingdon.
U14 C
We came into this match eager to attempt to extend our winning streak – but this time with a goalkeeper. After probably the shortest warm-up ever, Wellington won the toss and elected to start. From the very beginning, we played a very offensive game, culminating with Kyle Walsh’s pass to Oliver Ellard in the D, which led to a goal being scored by the latter. We continued to play in this attacking way, creating more and more chances. We still failed to capitalise on the short and long corners, which are still things to work on. In the second half, Wellington came very close to scoring on a couple of occasions, only to be stopped by our defenders (Amar Mattu and Sam O’Sullivan), and Barnaby Hindley in goal. We started to play a more counterattacking game, and this paid off when Henry Hooker scored our second goal. We had a few more chances, but none of them were taken. We need to work on our shooting as well. Overall, a good result. We played well – much better than last week – but we still have things we need to work on. Abingdon won 2-0.
U15 A
We faced Wellington today, a team we knew were very strong, due to a heavy loss last year. However, we put that behind us and played with determination and skill. At the end of the first half the scores were equal, despite us creating lots of opportunities. Excellent saves were made by the keeper, Josh Khan. In the second half, Caspar Mannix scored from a short corner to put us 1-0 up. We continued to play well, dominating over Wellington, until Charlie Lloyd secured the win with a late goal, to finish up with a 2-0 victory.
U16 B
On Saturday, the U16s played their first match of the season vs Wellington. It was a cold evening and we did a good job to get going quickly in the first half, scoring 5 goals. Structurally we need to do more work in training so that when we are on the pitch during games we can maintain a good structure throughout the game, especially for tougher fixtures that are to come. However, we all played confidently and are looking forward to future matches, where hopefully we can keep this up. Score finishing 8-1 to Abingdon.
3rd
What a game – a 0-0 thriller! No-one was sure what to expect with Wellington choosing to cancel the 16A fixture and play only three senior XIs instead, but this was a great game. The standard was high with Abingdon looking stronger as an XI but Wellington were very threatening in attack. Both sides played in exactly the right spirit, and there was lots of goal mouth action, Patrick Heath shining in particular. However, the two best players on the pitch, on the day, were the goalkeepers – Ollie Botting saving Abingdon's pink skin on a number of occasions. All in all hockey was the winner.
2nd
The second game of the season was a much more successful outing for Abingdon's second team. The first half was extremely close, both teams creating many fantastic opportunities to score, however, none resulting in success and the first half ending 0-0. Going into the second half it was all to play for, whereby each member of the team contributed to some of the best hockey that we have played this season. A few outstanding performances from Jake Blackwell who controlled the right-hand side of the pitch, darting past defenders whenever in possession of the ball. Furthermore to Harry Capon and Louis Heard, whose strike partnership flourished and proved too strong for the Wellington defense, and helped Abingdon to convert 2 well-deserved goals. It was a well earned first win of the season and a brilliant team performance. We are all very much looking forward to next week’s fixture. Score finishing 2-0 to Abingdon.
1st
It was another great win against a strong Wellington side on Saturday. With our first two goals coming from Lawson in both open play, and off the rebound in a short corner. The Wellington team pushed throughout the game, and held strong right up to full time. However, our defence was solid, and resisted the later threats that Wellington posed, notably with a goal line save from Bury. The third and final goal came from a well played pattern culminating in Graham finishing it off. It was a performance to take notes from and that we look to improve on, but one that adds to the quality start to the season we've had. Score finishing 3-0 to Abingdon.
Lower School Matches
LS A
On a drenched Wednesday afternoon, the boys’ spirits were high as they were about to play the first game of the season. Abingdon started on top and took an early lead but St Hugh's came back and the game continued with each team scoring back and forth until the last ten minutes where we managed to steal 2 goals and went on to win the game 7 – 5 with Matteo Bignone scoring 4, Jack Veal scoring 2 and Tim Fowler scoring 1.
U13 B
The under 13Bs went to Tilsley Park on Wednesday. We played well in the first half and were three one up at the break. In the second half we scored 2 more goals and were leading 5 – 3 with 5 minutes to go but unfortunately we conceded 3 goals as we grew tired so lost 6 – 5. All in all I think it was a good match and that the team has learnt to not let our guard down even when we are 2 goals up.
U13 C
The under 13 C match against St Hugh's was a great start to the season. A competitive opposition got the first goal within a few minutes and I am very proud to say that we didn’t lose heart and retaliated with two goals of our own, scored by Edward Hodges, set up by Max Tonkinson. St Hugh's kept the pressure up all through the second half but Reggie Lambert and Kajan Sivakumar were too strong in defence and Dhruv Hegde stopped their attempts at scoring. With Luke Harden and Harry Gee on the wings nothing could go wrong. The final score was 2 – 1 to Abingdon.
U12 A
It was the first hockey match for the U12 As so we were all nervous yet excited. We were against St Hugh's 3rds. We got off to a great start with a goal from Jack Veal. The half ended 1-0. In the second half a goal by Ollie Veal was scored when he linked up with his brother Jack. We scored another finishing the game 3-0. It was a great team effort which included some boys who were playing their first ever match. We’re looking forward to our next match against New College.
U16 County Tournament
On Friday 18 January the Abingdon boys travelled to Oxford Hawks to take part in the County Cup. Coming up against teams such as, St Edward's, Bloxham, Radley, and MCS. The boys won the tournament after winning every game and keeper Henry Bury keeping a clean sheet in all games after pulling off some spectacular saves to keep Abingdon's dreams alive. The first game against St Edward's, Abingdon won 3-0 after piling on the pressure in the first 5 minutes. They then ploughed through Bloxham scoring another 3 goals conceding none. Then they faced their local rivals Radley and won 2-0. The final match of the tournament was Abingdon vs MCS. The boys scored an early goal and kept the pressure on. However MCS came back strong in the last 5 minutes with Henry Bury keeping all of their efforts out of the goal.
