Lower Men's Season Overview
Following a big step up from last season in which 4 out of our 6 league teams were promoted into new divisions for this year plus and unprecedented number of new joiners in pre season we managed to settle things down and stabilize the teams and get some consistency in selection subsequently leading to an improvement in league results. At the halfway point a lot of our teams were either mid-table or looking at a relegation fight. Thankfully, I'm pleased to say the results have really picked up meaning we have finished strongly with only 1 relegation likely ahead of next season. It's worth remembering we took on over 70 new joiners into the men's side of the club. Naturally, that takes time to settle and for players to gel as a team. We really saw some improvement in results and performances in the second half of the season.
This was capped off with the Men's 3s securing promotion to Division 3 albeit after a tense finish to the season. This is absolutely vital for the club as it will now mean a perfect linear structure with our teams in divisions one above another (M1's in Prem, M2's in Div 2, M3's in Div 3, M4's in Div 4, M5's in Div 5, etc...). This will make it far easier for us to progress juniors through the club at a nice pace and push stronger players upwards. It also ensures that the gap between sides isn't too big in case players need to move in either direction.
A quick shout out to our M5's team (which had seen the biggest change in personnel) who finished 3rd narrowly missing out on promotion. Not a bad result considering they were 3rd from bottom at Christmas and possibly looking at relegation. Some great performances and no doubt they will kick on next year!
Key Successes for of 2022/23
- Integration of 70 new men within the Club
- New Lower Club Training Schedule
- Adoption of GMS
- New Caterer
- Launched a Men's 7's Team (our 9th men's side overall)
- Men's 3's secured promotion
Overall it's been a great second half of the season. I'm very pleased to report the following league standings as follows;
League Positions
- 3rd Team – 2nd position in Div 4E – 13 wins from 20 games
- 4th Team – 7th position in Div 4E – 9 wins from 20 games
- 5th Team – 3rd position in Div 5E – 11 wins from 18 games
- 6th Team – 6th position in Div 6E – 5 wins from 18 games
- 7th Team - no league - 4 wins from 10 games
- Artillery (O40's) – 9th position in 040's Prem - 4 wins from 14 games
- Musketeers (O50's) – 4th position in 050's Prem – 12 wins from 18 games
You can find a summary of results and the league tables on - https://london.englandhockey.co.uk/adult-hockey-in-london
End of Season Stats
Top Goalscorers
- Will Jobes (M3/4) - 16 goals
- Darren Murphy (M3) / Tom Bowrey (M3) / David Lambeth (M4) - 12 goals
- Narns Morse (M5) - 11 goals
- Joel Berk (M3) - 9 goals
- Tim Cooper (M5) / Stuart Anderson (M6) - 8 goals
Season Summary
3rd XI - A promotion winning season for the M3's. This has been a season which has seen a lot of changes for the M3s. Lots of new joiners in the side and they have spent most of the season at the top of the league. They were pipped to the post by Wanderers M3s in a tense finish. However, they will be playing Div 3 hockey next season. Special thanks and congratulations to Jonathan Stacey, Tim Revill and Max Jennings for their excellent work. I am also thrilled to confirm that Tim Patton has been appointed as next season's M3s skipper.
4th XI - A year of acclimatization for the M4s who were promoted to Div 4 following an excellent season last year. After a tough start they regained composure and finished comfortably mid-table. My thanks to Sajit Patel who has served as an excellent M4's skipper for 2 seasons now. He hands over to Matt Creswick for next season who no doubt will start by changing the formation (I hope)...! Well done lads.
5th XI - Without question the side with the most change in personnel from last year. We had an entire squad leave the club which we were able to backfill with strong M6's players, plenty of new joiners and some players from the 4s. Our first match saw 13 debutants out of a squad of 16. We found the first half of the season tough going with only 3 wins from 8 matches and 3rd bottom at Xmas. A change in formation and a gelled side later and we were flying post Xmas. We won 8 of 10 league games including a 7 match winning streak. We might have even been promoted had it not been for Brom Beck and their questionable umpiring. An excellent finish in 3rd place and we push for promotion next year. My thanks to my vice captains who supported me: Henry Salisbury, Chris Searle, Rob Haywood and others...
6th XI - A new season for the promoted M6's and for new captain Jon Lillistone. They found themselves in a tough Div 6 which contains some teams who will fly through the divisions. Lots of players were promoted to the 5s and a number of new joiners settled in nicely. They found real momentum post Xmas and finished in 6th place in the league. Plenty of positives to take into next season including the development of a number of juniors.
7th XI - Our new friendly team which played 9 matches this year winning 4 of them. Some excellent matches and we competed well. We are now debating whether to enter them into a league or continue to play friendlies. My thanks to Tim Smith and Alistair Dick for stepping up as captains during the season.
Vets (040's) - Tough season for the vets who struggled for form until a late run of wins which may see them finish 8th and possibly not get relegated. The 040's divisions are full of ex-internationals and its an excellent league to be part of. We keep our fingers crossed that they manage to stay up. My thanks to Matt Groom and Aidan Brock for their leadership this year.
Supervets - The SV are an excellent side and much like the vets are part of a division with plenty of ex-internationals to play against. Sadly, it wasn't to be another league title though as they finished 4th. Still a very good season and my thanks go to Matt Nimmo for all his work for the club. We will go again next year!