Romsey Hockey Club

League Table.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 5-1 Fareham
Romsey Mens 1st XI recorded a 5-1 victory over Fareham at Henry Cort School to secure 2nd place in Hampshire Div 2 and to win a third straight promotion, which is also amazingly their eighth promotion in nine years.
Tom McCarthy opened the scoring from a penalty corner routine when Jack Forrest-Charde picked him out at the left hand post for a tap in. Ben Mullan added a second from another penalty corner, picking up the bits after the initial shot was stopped by the Fareham keeper.
Tom McCarthy added a third from yet another penalty corner with a deft deflection at close range which left the keeper with no chance.
Romsey’s fourth goal, their only one from open play featured most of the team as the ball was moved with great speed, and culminated with Neil Strong diving full length to steer the ball home.
McCarthy completed his hattrick when Ben Mullan was twice denied by the Fareham keeper, so squared the loose ball for McCarthy to finish neatly.
Fareham were able to grab a late consolation in unusual circumstances when Dave Miles cleared a penalty corner strike off the line, only for the clearance to touch the back of keeper Loz scott’s stick. Somewhat dubiously Fareham were awarded a penalty flick which keeper Scott could not keep out.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 13-0 New Milton
Romsey mens 1st XI hammered 13 past a hapless New Milton to close in on automatic promotion and to make 2nd place their own in Hampshire Div 2.
4 goals for midfielder Ben Mullan, 5 from winger Tom McCarthy, and two each from Neil Strong and Jack Forrest-Charde were far too much for a weakened New Milton side.
Ben Mullan opened the scoring, then Tom McCarthy quickly added a second. Mullan crashed in another from the top of the D and then Neil Strong added another to make it 4-0 to the home side. Jack Forrest-Charde fired high into the top right hand corner, then Mullan pick off two more, Forrest-Charde and then McCarthy for a half time lead of 9-0.
After the break Neil Strong grabbed another and McCarthy notched up a second half hattrick finished off in style as he broke from the 25 into the D before dummying around the keeper to tap in.
A win next week against mid table Fareham will seal second place and yet another promotion for the high flying 1st XI.

Romsey mens 1st XI 1-1 Southampton University
Romsey mens 1st XI clawed back a one goal deficit to become only the second team this season to take points from the runaway leaders of Hampshire Div 2.
Romsey keeper Loz Scott was in action early beating out a penalty corner, but came unstuck at the second time of asking as a penalty corner routine seemed to go wrong, and in the confusion a uni forward appered at the right hand post to sweep in a backhand shot and put the students into the lead.
Tom McCarthy opened up the home side with a great run down the left wing before feeding Will Savage to beat two defenders before shooting narrowly wide. Another McCarthy break down the left saw the visitors up in arms after McCarthy’s pass found Jack

Forrest-Charde whose goal bound shot seemed to hit the uni defender on the foot on the goal line. Romsey as one pleaded for a penalty stroke, but the umpires were unmoved and Uni breathed a sigh of relief. Tom Posford released Lewis Birch on the right flank who fired a great square pass to McCarthy at the left hand post but the winger’s shot crept around the post.
Will Savage saw yellow moments later for a crude shove which sent the uni forward sprawling and Savage into the bin for five minutes. Forrest-Charde drew a good save from the uni keeper when his drag flick was beaten wide, and some wonderful skill by Ben Mullan drew another moments later.
When Savage returned to action his mazy run and shot drew yet another save at the near post. Ben Mullan went close after another lovely move, and moments after that Loz Scott produced a brilliant save to deny a bullet drag flick and keep the half time score 0-1 to uni.
Early in the second period Mullan and Forrest-Charde combined to release Savage into the D but his shot found the side netting.
Scott produced another save to keep out a deflected effort, before Romsey constructed the move of the game. Skipper Dave Miles won the ball close to his own goal line, produced some dazzling skills to retain possession before releasing the Forrest-Charde/Mullan combination to maraud forward before finding Tom Ponsford in space on the right. The uni keeper half stopped the shot and the home defence scrambled the ball clear.
Late in the half Romsey found an equaliser. Romsey forced a penalty corner and the students appeared to have cleared the danger. The loose ball broke to Ponsford who arrowed a pass to Mullan on the penalty spot whose first time strike flew past the keeper into the roof of the net, the match finishing 1-1.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 9-0 Tadley
Romsey Mens 1st XI enjoyed a resounding victory over Tadley scoring nine without reply to move back into the promotion places.
Ben Mullan opened the scoring, shunting home from 6 yards before Tom McCarthy made it two on the half volley after some neat approach play from Jack Forrest-Charde. Mullan turned provider for the third, threading a penetrative pass through to McCarthy to beat the keeper low to his right. Lewis Birch added another and then Mullan added his second with a bullet strike from the top of the D to make it 5-0. Tom Ponsford got in on the act to notch up Romsey’s sixth then Josh Bishop fired a pass deep into the D for McCarthy to deflect beyond the keeper. McCarthy took on the creative role, dribbling around the back to feed Forrest-Charde who made no mistake from 4 yards out. The scoring was concluded by Lewis Birch who picked the defenders pocket before darting into the D, dummied the keeper and danced the ball into an empty goal. With Weymouth losing out to leaders Southampton University, Romsey move back into second with the run away leaders next up.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 4-2 Portsmouth & Southsea
Romsey mens 1st XI won a bitter battle against Portsmouth & Southsea to bounce back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of Winchester to hold onto Weymouth’s coat-tails and remain in with a chance of promotion this season.
P&S took an early lead after 10 minutes, only for Ben Mullan to drag Romsey level 5 minutes later. Ash Cooper scored on his debut to put Romsey ahead before P&S grabbed an equaliser for 2-2 after some sloppy work in the Romsey back line.
After the half time break, the match became more and more aggressive, the umpires distributing 5 green cards and two yellows, one of which was for Will Savage for dissent.
Shortly after Savage returned to the fray, Ben Mullan, man of the match in wonderful form in the Romsey midfield burst through the home defence and fired a snap shot into the bottom corner to take Romsey into the lead. Then five minutes later, a rapid exchange of passes released Jack Forrest-Charde 10 meters out to nutmeg the keeper and make amens after missing a penalty stroke in the first half.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 2-3 Winchester 3rd XI

Romsey Mens 1st XI lost out against Winchester in a match riddled with ill feeling. Winchester quickly took a 3-0 lead, scoring two soft goals either side of a penalty corner strike which took a massive deflection and looped over stranded keeper Loz Scott.

In the second half Romsey fought back to 2-3 down, the first a beautifully worked passing move involving most of the team, and the second created by a deftly threaded pass from Tom McCarthy from one side of the D to the other to find Jack Forrest-Charde at the left hand post to flick in from a tight angle.

This result sees Romsey slip to 3rd in the Hampshire Div 2 and out of the automatic promotion positions, but is unlikely to save a struggling Winchester team who seem destined to go down.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 0-2 Havant
Romset Mens 1st XI found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 score line away at a frozen Havant. Both of the home side’s goal were scored early in the game, and they seemed to settle for that scoreline very early in the game. In the event it made little difference since Romsey simply could not get going. Passes went astray or were intercepted and many an away player was let down by his first touch. The consolation is that Weymouth, in spite of a solid win will remain behind Romsey in 3rd, and that, with a match in hand over league leaders Southampton University, they are still in touch and should still make the automatics promotion spot.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 6-0 Southmpton
Romsey Mens 1st XI put six past Southampton in a clinical performance to consolidate 2nd position in Hampshire Division 2 taking them a step nearer to promotion.
Neil Strong might have opened the scoring having netted after 8 minutes but the umpire had already blown for a previous offence. From the resulting penalty corner Dave Miles improvised to Tom McCarthy at the far post to lash in his follow up after his initial shot was bravely beaten out by the Southampton defender on the post.
McCarthy made it two 10 minutes later, receiving a Ben Mullan pass before neatly pirouetting past the sprawling keeper before deftly bashing home.
Ben Mullan went close, smashing a back hand shot narrowly over after some skillful approach play from Jack Forrest-Charde, before

Josh Newman scored the goal of the game, his first in all hockey, after a wonderful move initiated by the back four stretched Southampton wide on the right before rapidly switching the attack to the left wing where McCarthy crossed for a diving Newman to tap in at close quarters.
Some neat skill from Will Savage released McCarthy again to cross agonisingly out of the reach of a rapidly closing Neil Strong.
After the break, Southampton came back into the match and fashioned 3 chances in quick succession, all dealt with calmly by Romsey Keeper Loz Scott in impassable mood between the Romsey posts.
Then high comedy – McCarthy shot powerfully after breaking into the visitors D only to see the ball disintigrating on its way toward goal. some of the ball landed inside the goal, but most wide of the post, causing umpire Penne Edwards to give the defending side the ball.
Ben Mullan went close, again finding space to be picked out by Savage, only to smash against the side netting.
Then Savage himself made it 4-0 after a penalty corner went wrong and Dave Miles had to hastily improvise again, releasing the Romsey forward to flick powerfully beyond the Southampton keeper.
Romsey made it 5-0 directly from the restart, Lewis Birch stealing possession before feeding Neil Strong, who’s first time pass left Ben Mullan in acres of space to pick his spot, crashing home from 6 yards out.
Romsey completed the scoring with the last action of the match, when penalty corner specialist Forrest-Charde bulleted a drag flick beyond the helpless Southampton keeper, and it ended 6-0 to the home team.

Romsey 1st 2 – 1 Gosport 1st
After last weeks domination of promotion rivals Weymouth, Saturday 21st January saw
Romsey travel to Gosport, for an away fixture that had sky sports news tipping it to have ‘
more action than a Seagal and Schwarzenegger film put together’.Previous games have
seen Romsey come out on top, with one in a cup final, suggesting the stats was in
Romsey’s favour. Another Interesting stat has seen the Gosport captain sent off in all
matches played against Romsey proving that lighting does strike twice.
Romsey were also weakened by the absence of Will ‘wild card’ Archibald, after being
grounded by parents due to off field antics after the emphatic win against Weymouth. A
spokes person for wildcard said ” he is disappointed with his actions, knows that he is a
mentor and an ambassador for Romsey hockey club. I need time to think about my actions
locked in my room”. No known reports about what the wildcard did that night but,
witnesses say that it ‘left scars and would be too rude for tv even after the watershed time’.
This gave Romsey a slightly makeshift defence with one of the hero’s of last weeks game
Tom ’shin splints’ Ponsford, slotting in to centre defence with Romsey’s captain David ‘crab
man’ miles, with conditions in his favour with the smell of sea air giving the crab man an
extra lease of energy.
The first ten minutes saw Romsey on the back foot, with constant, sustained pressure by
Gosport, the home team looking less angry than usual making them a strong team. With
Romsey not looking like the rampant team they were against Weymouth, Ben ‘the puppet
master’ Mullan struggling in the midfield, claiming that his strings were ‘tangled’, this
caused frustration for the puppet master that saw a challenge on par with Manu Tuilagi.
This gave the games first green card.
The onslaught of short corners continued but Romsey defence was similar to that of troy,
impenetrable, and Romsey also had the brains not to fall for a stupid horse trick and let
this defence go tumbling down, with save after save from Romsey keeper Lozz ‘banana
split’ Scott. Then Romsey’s strongest weapon, more potent than a WMD, the counter
attack, was about to be released. Gosport after their 1000th short corner had pushed up a
lot of players yet Romsey were about to unleash their trojan horse. Another failed short
corner left them exposed, with shin splints hitting a thunder pass, which even Thor herd, to
Tom ‘ Ronald McDonald’ McCarthy which done a classic trademark run along the left wing.
The cross ball too Neil ’shooter mcgavin’ strong, was intercepted by a Gosport players
foot, giving Romsey their first short corner.
Close to the end of the half Romsey knew that his short corner was important, as it could
give them the upper hand advantage. Romsey did not fail, a slick routine which Gosport
could only dream they could pull off, saw another hero of last weeks game Jack
‘powerhouse’ forest- chard release the cracken into the bottom right corner.
The first half did not live up to the pre match hype sky sports presenter Georgie Thompson
had predicted, but the second half was a different affair. With powerhouse sustaining a
hand injury, that looked like a golf ball, it was time for Will ‘ snakehips’ Savage to step on to
the field.
The second half started as the first did, Gosport pressuring Romsey. Then Josh ‘pooman’
Newman was caught in possession, then the unthinkable happened, a dive in the English
hockey game, it fooled everyone even saw a yellow card for the Gosport tackler. Pooman went missing for a couple of months during the summer period, claims were hockey camps
, but replays of the dive say that it is the same technique the Italian footballers use during
world cups, suggesting pooman went to training and acting classes during those months to
perfect the ‘dive’.
This Removed pressure from the Romsey defence, and we’re now starting to pass
successfully around the park. Romsey were still unable to add to the score line with the
added man advantage, due to Lewis ‘ pretty boy’ birch being out of position, and not
playing with strike partner shooter mcgavin, Romsey’s captain said ” it wasn’t the same not
having them too play up front together, it was like a doughnut without its jam, cereal
without milk’.
Then Gosport’s one man deficit was relieved, and pressure was back on Romsey. Then a
slick Gosport move saw Romsey flat footed and Gosport got a goal back, 1-1 and Romsey
did not look like they were in any position to score again. Then in a act of heroism, body on
the line, powerhouse stepped back on the field to bolster the Romsey midfield. Romsey’s
number 1 fan Mark ‘woo’ Holden compared this moment to the movie lord of the rings he
said ” it reminded me of that moment when the orcs were bombarding helms deep, and
Gandalf comes with the riders of rohan to defeat the orcs.’
The game changes when the powerhouse is on the field, as if he was on shadowfax it self,
both him and snakehips begin to run the show in the midfield. Snakehips dancing around
players, proving the papers links, that he could make an appearance in celeb strictly come
dancing in the closed season. Then the two combined putting shooter mcgavin though,
who then plays to Ronald McDonald, which lands it on to a Gosport players foot, last 5
mins and Romsey could potentially salvage three points from a game they never look like
winning.
Another slick short corner routine, showing Gosport how to take them properly, saw shin
splints be becoming a hero yet again, in at the far post and pushes it past the Gosport
keeper who at this point was rumoured to be crying once he herd the ball hit the back
board. Romsey take the lead against the run of play.
Now it is said the lighting doesn’t strike twice but it had in the previous meets, but three
times is unthinkable, bookies had the Gosport captain 9/1 on getting sent to the bin, after
reports of him cleaning up his act and staying off the creatine. There will be a lot of happy
people as he has proven lighting does strike three times, with a challenge on powerhouse
which was disgusting, suggesting that he took a double helping of creatine at the interval,
saw sent to the bin for the rest of the game.
Romsey’s troy defences back up not allowing Gosport in game, with then an unusual call
by the umpire saw a 1000000th short corner for Gosport, to add more drama than corrie
and eastenders, this was the last play of the game, Gosport flooded the Romsey ‘D’. It was
a huge anti climax with Gosport again failing to do anything with the short with a
comfortable save by banana split, ensuring Romsey win and still pushing for the league
title
The Romsey team now more broken than Mike Tindles nose, have a much deserved break
next weekend to get over an injury list just as long as Owen Hargreaves, preparing them
for a rival clash against Southampton.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 9 – 0 Weymouth
Saturday 14th January 2012 two powerhouses within the Hampshire 2 league clashed in
the fight for promotion. The first game of the season saw these two in action with Romsey
losing by four goals to one. making this return fixture even more spicy, some said it was
too hot to handle.
Weymouth gloating that they had trained throughout Christmas with strict curfew, and no
turkey!! Thinking that this would give them an added advantage, but this was not the case
ooooohhhh no.
David miles the Romsey captain, some say he has the Romsey badge tattooed on his
chest, and when he cuts himself he bleeds yellow and blue, came out with an emotional
per match speech which even saw a Chinese proverb ‘ “Experience is a wonderful thing; it
enables you to recognize a mistake every time you repeat it.’ firing up the Romsey lads not
make the same misstate in losing
Within the first 15 minutes there was just as much mouthwatering drama as expected,
parents and fans dribbling at the samba hockey Romsey were producing. Tom ‘ Ronald
McDonald’ McCarthy putting Romsey ahead with two, and Man of the match and hat trick
hero Jack ‘powerhouse’ forest-chard adding one putting Romsey three ahead. Then drama
was to follow with unusual error by Romsey goalkeeper lozz ‘banana split’ Scott giving
away penalty flick, with a challenge Joey Barton would be pleased with. Scott rectifies his
mistake with a huge save.
Second period of play started how the first ended, Romsey on top, Ben ‘the puppet master’
Mullen pulling all the strings in midfield stopping all Weymouth’s build up play, and creating
Chance after chance for Romsey, by the half way point in the half Romsey had racked up
a lead to seven with Tom ’shin splints’ Ponsford, Lewis ‘pretty boy’ birch and the JFC all
adding to the huge score line.
In random act of rage by the Weymouth goalkeeper, some resources say that in was due
to the high amount of creatine in his body, came running out and destroyed Ponsford, fans
at the end of the game compared it to a puppy being hit by a train. This gave Romsey a
penalty flick and the Weymouth keeper sent to the bin. JFC steps up and drills it bottom
right.
Weymouth at this point had no interest in the game and were then down by nine goals as
JFC slotting one past the new instated goalkeeper. The match finished with Romsey
winning by nine goals. Joe ‘ mutant’ welch, the new rising star of Romsey said ” this was
the best game of my life, this was why I turned down a chance to play for Trojans”. Tom
Ponsford also after the game with two goals said ” there was no Weymouth they were
going to beat us”
Romsey now head to gosport in their continuing search of the holy grail, the league title!!

RHC Christmas Game 2011

Snowmen 4 vs Reindeers 2

Christmas cheer was in the air on Saturday, as the men and women of Romsey Hockey Club got into the Christmas spirit with their annual fancy dress intra-club hockey match. This year saw the Snowmen take on the Reindeers.

Both teams took a while to get going. The Snowmen, whilst enjoying the frosty morning, struggled to play under the bulk of hats, scarf’s and carrot noses while the Reindeer’s were hampered with a variety of fur and antler problems in the windy conditions!

Eventually the deadlock was broken by the Reindeers, who were quick to break in numbers and infiltrate the Snowmen’s melting defenc before The Snowmen grabbed an equaliser just before half time.

The second half got under-way with the Snowmen attempting to confuse the Reindeers, with Snowman midfield duo Will Archibald and Joe Welch, launching several aerial balls deep into the Reindeer’s back line. One such ball provided Guy Taylor a tidy route to goal.

The Reindeer retaliated with some piercing attacks instigated and finished by James-One-Antler-Boggis while Amy Welch and Monty Roberts caused yet more havock at the back for the Snowmen, allowing the Reindeer’s to prance their way into the lead.

Further Snowmen goals came from Matt Clark, and Ella Palmer who both finished with finesse that was only bettered by their cartwheeling goal celebrations!

Penne Edwards, despite starting the day as the Snowman with the longest carrot nose, put aside her Frosty the Snowman hat, and umpired the game magnificently,

Costumes of the match go to Jane Wheeler, for her fabulous Reindeer costume, fluffy belly and shiny red nose. And on the Snowmans’s team, Ella Palmer lead the way with her snowman costume, delicately finished off by her button nose!

Romsey Mens 2nd XI 2 – 0 Fareham
Romsey mens 1st XI concluded the first half of the season with a revised formation to face Fareham. The new shape was immediately solid, restricting the visitors to a single attempt on goal for the whole of the 1st half. This slow strangulation drove Fareham to commit more and more players forward, leaving them vulnerable to counter attack. Close to the end of the half, Romsey found the sucker punch after a lightning move culminated with a deftly executed close range finish from Neil Strong.
The second half saw Romsey maintain their grip, with Tom Ponsford in particular bossing the game from half back. Midway through the second period, Romsey made their iron grip tell when another counter attack released Lewis Birch to smash home in trademark style.
The win elevated Romsey to second place and close enough to the leaders to have a realistic chance of the title.

New Milton 1st XI  1 – 3 Romsey Mens 1st XI

Romsey Mens 1st XI were looking to bounce back after a 1-3 loss away to Southampton Uni last week. They made life difficult for themselves with an ill-disciplined display which saw two players see yellow – Lewis Birch for dissent, and Ben Mullan, who saw his penalty flick well saved by former Romsey keeper James Hounsome in the New Milton goal, for an intentional foul.

Still, Romsey managed to take a 1-0 lead into the half time interval when Will Savage pounced on a loose ball ricohceting around the D and stabbed home from close range. The lead as well as some well chosen words in the dressing room settled Romsey, and they doubled their lead immediately after play resumed with a slick penalty corner routine. Jack Forrest-Charde slipped to Will Savage whose goalbound slapshot was deflected in by the New Milton keeper’s despairing dive.

New Milton clawed a goal back very much against the run of play, and with the most direct move you will ever see on a hockey pitch. The full back threaded a 60 metre pass from the New Milton D all the way to the Romsey 23. A quick touch and turn and a sharp cross was diverted past Romsey keeper Loz Scott, dragging New Milton back into the match.

Neil Strong made the game safe late in the second period with a clinical finish to put Romsey back in winning ways, and stay in touch with the leaders with only Fareham to come before the Christmas break.

Winchester 4th XI 0 – 2 Romsey Mens 1st XI

Having lost out to Weymouth in the 1st match of their campaign, Romsey mens 1st XI have now won all four matches since, rising to 3rd in Hampshire Division 2 with a game in hand over leaders Southampton University. Resources were stretched to the limit this weekend with all three mens teams turning out bare elevens, and the lack of substitutes was bound to take it toll as the matches wore on.

In the event, Romsey took the lead in the first half, when Neil Strong neatly deflected a cross into the path of Lewis Birch who swept in on the backhand from close in, handing Romsey a half time lead.

The second period was highly combative and closely fought. Winchester had two players sent to the sin bin; the first for deliberate use of the foot and the second for an x-rated stick tackle on Ben Mullan.

Romsey made sure they took advantage of Winchester’s lack of discipline, grabbing a second goal whilst Winchester were still reduced in numbers. Tom McCarthy intercepted close to half way and burst down the left wing. Romsey reacted fastest to create a 3v1 overload. McCarthy fed Will Savage at the top of the D, then continued his run into the D to collect the beautifully disguised return pass, before striking on the half volley beyond the onrushing keeper inside the left hand post.

Then, late drama ! With Winchester back up to full strength, Romsey were reduced to 10 men. Tom McCarthy challenged for the ball in the Winchester D and their was a clash of sticks. One umpire gave a penalty corner, apparently taking the view that the Winchester player had perpetrated the foul, whilst the disengaged umpire issued McCarthy a yellow card, taking the view that the Romsey man was at fault.

In the end, the penalty corner came to nothing, but Romsey were able to hold onto their lead with 10 men to claim 3 more valuable points, thanks to another excellent display in the Romsey goal by man of the match Loz Scott.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 6 – 2 Havant 4th XI

The match started at a very high pace with end to end action for the first 10mins. Romsey eventually broke the deadlock when Lewis Birch received the ball on the attacking 23 and skipped past a defender, penetrating the d and hitting a viscious shot into the left hand corner leaving the goalie stranded.

Romseys second followed soon afterwards when Tom McCarthy cut in from the left past 2 defenders across the top of the D and fired a shot into the left corner of the goal.

Romsey wrapped up the first half with 5 minutes of pressure resulting in a close range flick deflecting off the goalie into his own net.

The second half started in the same way as the first; end to end with a lot of attacking hockey from both teams but this time resulting in Havant getting a goal back after some soft defending from Romsey.

Romsey hit back immediately 2 mins later with Lewis Birch breaking down the right driving to the baseline and pulling back to the top of the D where Jack Forrest-Charde was there to strike first time a swift shot into the centre of the goal. WIth the end to end hockey continuing, havant hit back again with help from Romsey sloppy defending scoring from close range with a flick.

Romsey soldiered on with their superior fitness starting to show. With Havant tiring, McCarthy broke down the left again, a pull back from baseline to Jack Forrest-Charde again to push hard to nutmeg the goalie.

Romsey completed their scoring with some fantastic passing in and around the d concluding with a cheeky tap in at the back post by Lewis Birch, Will savage was given man of the match for his fantastic link up play and creativity around the attacking D.

Southampton 1 – 5 Romsey Mens 1st XI

By the time that Southampton had clawed their way into the match they were already 0 – 3, and probably felt that 1 goal for 15 minutes of sustained pressure and 6 penalty corners was pitifully small reward.

Romsey debutant Neil Strong opened the scoring with a clinical finish, latching on to a dangerous ball flashed across the D for Strong to smack home. Tom McCarthy doubled the lead with a simple finish having been the beneficiary of some slick build up play, and by half time it was 3 for the visitors when Lewis Birch smashed a backhand rocket past the stranded Southampton keeper on the end of a perceptive Ben Mullan pass.

Straight after the break, Southampton found a few gears and began a sustained assault on the Romsey goal. Loz Scott was once again in excellent form, beating back a sequence of fine saves, and was only beaten by a beautifully worked penalty corner routine culminating in a far post tap in.

That was as good as it got for the home side. Almost immediately after grabbing a goal back, their hearts were broken by a McCarthy, bursting down the left past 2 defenders before cutting along the baseline and beating the keeper at the near post from the tightest of angles.

All that was left was for Jack Forrest Charde to apply the coup de grace with a delightful feinted penalty corner strike, a dummy beyond the onrushing defender and a deft flick low against the backboard.

Having begun their campaign with a false step away at Weymouth, Romsey Mens 1st XI seem to have found their range.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 4 – 2 Gosport (Ponsford T 8, Forrest Charde 27 & 65, Birch 31)

Romsey Mens 1st XI returned to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over Gosport, who they last met in the final of the Hampshire Trophy at the end of last season. Romsey were 6-2 victors on that day, and if this was a less convincing win, it was nonetheless a relief after the disappointments of Winchester and Weymouth.

Tom Ponsford opened Romsey’s account after 8 minutes with a sharp finish at the left hand post after Josh Newman had found a penetrating pass from outside the 23 into the heart of the D.

History then repeated itself when Gosport were reduced to ten men, when, on 26 minutes the Gosport captain received a yellow card and a ten minute rest for a crude hack at Jack Forrest Charde, just as he was in the Trophy final. Romey immediately capitalised by forcing a penalty corner, and Forrest Charde made no mistake with his drag flick.

Gosport were made to pay a heavy price for their skipper’s ill chosen actions on 31 minutes. Lewis Birch danced around the hapless Gosport defence and goal keeper before passing simply into the empty goal to give Romsey a 3-0 half time lead.

Back to full strength, Gosport came back into the match straight after the interval with a goal on 36 minutes, and ugly affair on the goalline forced in gave the visitors hope.

On 49 minutes, Gosport were back within 1 goal with a deftly executed penalty corner move. A dummy drag flick slip left, then cross to the right hand post for a tap in with Romsey all of a doo-dah.

Romsey were able to close out the match with 5 minutes to go when Tom McCarthy was crudely bundled over to gift Romsey a penalty corner. Forrest Charde was clinical with the drag flick and Romsey finished 4-2 winners.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 1 – 4 Weymouth 1st XI

Winchester 2nd XI 4 – 1 Romsey 1st XI

Romsey Mens 1st XI learned a series of valuable lessons in a 4-1 defeat away at Winchester. Romsey went behind early on when Winchester were able to work the ball down to the goal line before aiming a pass which bobbled over three defensive sticks before finding its way to the far post for a simple finish.

Shortly afterwards Romsey were two down when Dave Miles, tackling at full stretch was only able to deflect the bal into the path of Wincheter’s centre forward who fired powerfully past keeper Loz Scott with a shot on the reverse.

Romsey grabbed a goal back when, following a rapid counter attack, Monty Roberts latched onto a rebound to fire home clinically from the Penalty spot. Romsey continued to press for an equaliser and were eventually caught by a classic sucker punch. Romsey were caught high, and Winchetser countered with great speed, to leave Romsey’s two full backs facing 5 Winchester forwards, and a third goal for the home side was the inevitable result.

Winchester completed the scoring when the bobbly pitch defeated Romsey once again, and a cross shot was neatly tapped in at the right hand post. Ultimately, the game was much closer than the scoreline would suggest, with Romsey having created many more chances, but lacked the composure in front of goal to capitalise, whereas Winchester made the most of their 6 chances.

Romsey Mens 1st XI 2 – 1 City of Portsmouth

Romsey Mens 1st XI came out on top of a very tight encounter against City of Portsmouth. Lewis Birch opened the scoring with a delightfully cheeky flick over the keepers shoulder having turned past the onrushing defence. Two Toms combined to create Romsey’s second. The first Tom (McCarthy) burst down the left flank and into the D before drawing the keeper and feeding the second Tom (Ponsford) to thump a back hand shot into the empty goal.

City grabbed a goal back when a mazy dribble culminated in the City forward smacking a back shot from the top of the D past keeper Adam Williams.

Romsey might have had a third when the were awarded a penalty stroke after Dan Miles was crudely bundled over from behind, but Ben Mullan could only flick powerfully  against the steelwork. Romsey will be satisfied with a hard fought victory. For his attacking flair on full senior debut Josh Bishop was awarded man of the match.