Cheam Mens 3rd XI

Report: The Fortress has seen a good track record for the Cheam and the 3s were keen to build on the momentum of Saturday's victory, now back on familiar turf. Guest appearances from Aaron, QT, Brandi and Whippet.

Kenley 3s have been on the hunt for a promotion spot. With Cheam on a high from their grass encounter, this promised to be a tight game and so it was! Played at a good pace, both sides took their chances on the counterattack. By the end of the first half, Kenley led 2-1.

Into the second, the Cheetahs's regrouped for a valiant attack. Stunning the Kenley defensive line, two quick goals saw the 3s back on terms. 3-2 to the Cheam. The next twenty minutes saw a flurry of short corners with the Cheam back line holding firm, before Kenley broke through to make is 4-3 to Kenley.

A last minute attack saw Aaron step up from centre back to crack one into the corner of the Kenley goal. The keeper watching the elegant strike sail past before picking it out of the net.

Overall, a great effort saw the 3s take a well earned Sunday point. One more match to go back at the Fortress. lets take the three points to end our season on a high.

Report: This weekend saw the Cheam 3s taken on the Kenley double, Saturday match against their 4s on the famous sloping grass pitch followed by a return the fortress to taken on their 3s. More importantly, three points from the weekend would secure the 3s survival and avoid the drop zone.. albeit dependent on whether the league did a magic shuffle!

Arriving early, the 3s were eager to test out the training routine on the grass... instead, we had to admire the topography from behind the metal fence, warming up on the road. A novel tactic by Kenley to psyche out the opposition.. the Cheetah's were having none of it.

From the off, both teams scrapped away on the bobbly service. However it was the 3s to draw first blood with some great switching across their D and Marcus firing home to make it 1-0.

The remainder of the match resulted in a game of unconverted chances as the 3s rained down hard on the Kenley goal but failed to convert. Some great defensive work delivered by the back line with Dhiren and Bish cutting down the Kenley attack. Strong midfield play left the Cheam pleased with their performance. Laurie deserves a special mention for running the left flank ragged with some cracking balls into their D.

Report: A tough scrap against Sanderstead with our lack of firepower reflected in a paucity of shots on goal. However, the defence and midfield was rock solid and neither team ever really looked likely to score. Krish pulled off a couple of terrific saves to record another clean sheet. Pat and Paul provided grit and determination in midfield with the back four of Sparky, Taz, Dhiren and James mopping up any attack that Sanderstead could muster. A draw was a fair reflection of the game.

Thanks to Tris for umpiring.

Report: This week took the Cheam 3s away to Surbiton. This was going to be a tough clash with league leaders having set a precedent by thrashing most of the other teams in the league. Starting this week with 12 men was a welcome position from previous matches where the 3s have struggled to field a full side. Fortunately, Surbiton kindly delayed the start, to accommodate our goalkeeper's customary habit of searching for traffic on his way from the fortress.

From the Cheam pushback, Surbiton attacked hard from both flanks, pouring into the Cheam D. We held our lines and marked well as a unit, shutting down their opportunities time and time again. As the strikes rained down on the Cheam goal, Krish stepped up from his 10 second warm up routine (putting the kit on) to make a number of outstanding saves - keeping Surbiton off the score sheet. Great work!

With 15 minutes gone, the Cheam were biding their time, looking to seize the opportunity to counterattack. With some solid running from Joe (welcome to the team) through the middle of the park and interplay with Neil, the 3s entered the Surbiton D. Danny picking up the ball in the centre of their D as their keeper came charging out. A gentle dink between the keeper's legs saw Marcus (118) come charging in for our customary Weston Tap In. The score - 1-0 to the Cheam.

And so it stayed for a further 15 minutes before a well executed short corner levelled the score. In the second half, Surbiton stepped up the barrage of attacks on the Cheam D. Attacking in numbers, the 3s staved off the blitz, before succumbing to three further goals towards the end of the second half.

A valiant performance against a very strong side. Excellent defensive play and some good counterattacking down the wings. Lessons still to be learnt in bossing the midfield, switching the play and tracking back. If we keep our shape and seize our opportunities, we should be looking to take three points over the remaining matches to come.

Report: Sitting mid table and without a win since Christmas, Cheam 3s weren't looking the in-form side as we arrived at St Bede's School to face Reigate on a cold Saturday morning. Captain Head had anticipated heavy traffic so we arrived with plenty of time for the warm up. Following a count and re-count, just ten men and QT (umpiring) lined up to face Reigate. This was going to be a tough fixture; with our fitness struggling, confidence low and Reigate fielding a youthful side, cheetah determination was required to take home some points.

Captain Head rallied the troops in the pre-match warm up. We were going to stick to our usual formation with Marcus taking up the lone point man - goalkeeper Krish having some quiet words in his ear before the pushback. Who knows what pearls were shared between the aging keeper and our young striker..but it did the trick!

With that, the game was underway and 42 seconds later we were 1-0 ahead. Yes, 42 seconds.. could this be a Cheam record, the 3s scything through Reigate's midfield into the D before Marcus calmly slotted home.

An even tussle ensued over the next 30 minutes, with the defensive line holding rock solid as Reigate struggled to make an impact. Playing with 10 men, the 3s put Spuggy's training advice into practice as we spread the play wide and broke hard on the counterattack. At half time, we were 3-0 ahead - tired but elated with Marcus's hatrick showing a nice range of shots from the elegant flick over the keeper (twice in two weeks) to the 3s classic.. the Weston tap in.

The second half brought Reigate charging in hard at the Cheam. However, we kept our discipline and shape (using it to great effect by Sparky and Pat), shutting down their attack time and time again. Fewer opportunites in the second half, but possession hockey was the key as we took our first win for a while and three points. Onwards and upwards, we have shown how well we clicked with ten men. Let's show league 7 what we can do with 11.

Report: As the second period of the 3s season gets underway, we returned to the Fortress to face Croydon. This week saw a depleted team to our usual line up.

So ensued a game of two halves. In the first half, the 3s attacked hard driving out to the wings and stretching Croydon across the park. We had clearly seen how effective this had proved against Merton with Simon and Ben bossing the midfield. Plenty of opportunities were created with Captain Head leading by example with a classic "Weston Tap In" to get Cheam onto the score sheet.

Alas, the additional pie consumption from the Christmas period continues to linger on the 3s stamina as Croydon came back hard in the second half. With the 3s fitness levels starting to dwindle and with no substitutes legs, we became weary and lost some of our shape. Croydon continued to pile on the pressure, and an opportune chance caught the 3s open bringing the score back to an even 1-1.

For the remaining 20 minutes, both teams battled hard with the 3s raising their game and piling continued pressure on the Croydon D but to no avail. Lessons learnt this week - whilst our fitness need to step up, we showed some signs of promise as we made better use of the park. Switching the play and getting our wings to run deep into the corners will provide us with more opportunities next week. Easy on the pies this week chaps! We need to sustain that same momentum throughout the game next week and three points will be ours for the taking.

Report: Well the game was certainly full of incident, one head wound, two carded, a flick and the ebb and flow of end to end game. We knew the game would be tough Merton’s last result was a win against the league leaders & they had a squad of 16. They started with a flurry and Cheam, packed with defenders kept the attacks at bay and found time to draw breath. Mark, Brian, Dhiren, Aj & Krish all made vital stops, saves & tackles. Ben & Simon began to grip the midfield and the play moved more and more towards the Merton goal. As the game opened up we got into the Merton D then Marcus did what he does best and chipped the Merton goalie, 1-0. Merton were at 6s & 7s, we capitalised upon this advantage and from neat inter passing between Simon & Marcus the ball found Graham who swept it into an open net, 2-0. We still knew it wouldn’t be easy & it wasn’t. Merton used their squad well, got organised at the back and started to push forward, 2-1. The game kept up its pace with the James, Neil & Daniel filling the midfield but we couldn’t clear our lines giving the ball back to Merton three times when we had it under control, 2-2. The Merton assault continued and in the last minute they scored from a short corner, 3-2.

We regrouped at half time and took the game to Merton & our efforts were rewarded. Simon was taken out as he silkily dribbled in the D and Ben coolly stepped up to slot home the flick 3-3. The midfield tussle continued with Cheam playing some great hockey, then unfortunately the ball came up off Aj’s stick onto his head and he was off to St Helier for four stitches. With about ten minutes to go Taz came on to replace Aj continuing with his great interventions then a bit of struggle ensued and both got yellow cards. Five minutes to go Merton camped in our half and in the final minutes scored, 4-3.

A great game played at pace, we should have won and just need to keep our heads, be more confident in possession and the result will come. 2009 looks promising. Thanks to Dhiren for stitching Aj up at St Helier. Thanks to Dom for umpiring and Tristram for supporting us and providing the ambulance service.

Report: A new line up on a cold miserable day at Croydon High School. We were playing Sanderstead who are at one place and two points above us and that’s how things stayed after 70 minutes of fast competitive hockey. Sanderstead started the stronger as we all got used to each other. Some solid defending, which stayed throughout the game, from the back four of Dhiren, Paul, Ian & Mark H & Sparky in goal kept the opposition out and allowed us to start moving towards the Sanderstead goal. But they were a well organised and eventually went 1-0 up. We persevered and started using the wings more with Saddam & Neil finding space as Ben & Julio began to control the centre of the field. However, things can move quickly. A poor hit from a 16 was pounced on by Sanderstead, 2-0. This was not the plan. We kept up the tempo and a swift movement up the centre found Marcus unmarked and he buried the ball in the top right hand corner, 2-1 minutes before half time and game on.

We started the second half at a fantastic pace, putting the Sanderstead goal under siege but just not getting the breakthrough. Marcus sent a great ball across the face of the goal with GH diving to make contact and just missing. We knew a goal would come and it did. Another attack and Saddam shot was stopped on the line by the defenders leg. Up stepped Julio to place the ball high to the goalie’s left 2-2. Cheam maintained the pace and gaps began to appear in the midfield for us to exploit as Sanderstead tired but still we could not score. In the last minute Sanderstead broke away and got a short corner. Assured defending kept the ball out and we finished all square at 2-2.

A great team performance, full of energy, skill and commitment. Well done to everyone. Thanks to Tristram for umpiring and Maria for the support.

Report: Well another tough week. Playing the top two in successive weeks has definitely showed us the standard that we have to reach – and we’re not quite there yet. Leatherhead were organised, fast and controlled the midfield and hence the game. The defence battled valiantly against an incessant attack with some tremendous tackles and saves being made by everyone. We were 2-0 down at half time but we were still in the game. The second half showed some glimpses of us holding on to the ball and passing but all too often we couldn’t get the ball to Darren & Marcus, isolated up front. Leatherhead maintained their consistency and stuck away more goals as we flagged towards to the end. Krish made some outstanding saves including one flying high to his left that he pushed away. A well deserved man of the match.

Thank you to David for umpiring.
Excuse of the day: My girlfriend’s cat is injured and I’m going to the vets!

Report: A tough game against the league leaders. As we expected the Bank were well organised particularly controlling the midfield. We held our own in the first period of the game and could well have been level at half time with Darren & Bob creating chances and the Bank being saved by the post. Instead we were down 2-0 at the break. Our plans for rolling subs broke down within the first ten minutes when Lawrie was hit by a ball on his head. Fortunately he is OK but has an impressive bump as a trophy.

The second half was more of the same. We had a ten minute when we were more disciplined and started to pass the ball between ourselves and move it across the field, rather than trying to beat players. And again we generated some chances but could not convert them.

Final score 0-4 with some work to do at training on Tuesday. Ben was the worthy man of the match. Thank you to Stuart for umpiring and welcome to Mark Herbert to the club.

Report: This week's match took the 3s to Purley. Having left the Cheam Fortress in overcast but clear conditions, turning off the Banstead Road, the Purley Monsoon erupted. A threatening tactic from the opposition. clearly their spies had noted the propensity for some of our players to fall flat on their backsides at the first sign of moisture. Still the 3s welcome a challenge, particularly having spent much of the season so far playing on the beaches around Surrey.

As the torrent of rain came down, soaking the pitch and the 3s, we completed our warm-up routine in earnest patiently waiting to get underway. Meanwhile, it emerged that Purley had over-egged themselves with the monsoon conditions with at least one of their players being unable to get through the floods!

Captain Head rallied the troops. Playing against ten men, this was an opportunity for the 3s to take points and goal difference by putting our training into practice. Wise words were heeded by all.

From the off, strong wing play down both flanks saw the 3s open up the Cheam account with Darren slotting home. And so the match continued, Darren sailing past his previous record with four well struck goals, assisted by Tom. Goals continued to rain in accordance with the weather from Tom, Neil, Simon and Ben. Ben striking a great sweep into the top corner from another quality pass in from out wide.

This shows that when we make use of the space, the 3s can score goals. Indeed we could have had more, with birthday boy Pat's strikes being denied by some great saves by the oppos' keeper.

Let's keep up the momentum. The next couple of matches will be tough so we will need to keep our discipline, patience and the opportunities will come. Also let's own the middle of the park.. not to play through but drive the play out wide and breakdown their attack.

Report: A return the fortress this week saw the 3s holding an unbeaten home record. This week we were up against the league topping Surbiton, who had put a string of goals past other teams so far this season.

Without a few of our central players and no subs, Captain Head rejigged the layout bringing Saddam into the middle of the park to control the play with a welcome return of the Weston in central defence. From the outset, Cheam started well driving the play out wide with some slick passing in and out forced Surbtion onto the back foot.

As we got into the rhythm of the game, the rain came pouring in causing some impressive slides around the pitch. slipMatt, now regripped, managed to stay on his feet and drove through the middle of the park linking up well to create some great opportunties on the Surbiton goal. However, as Surbiton came back with the counter, an window of opportunity opened for them and with a strong strike they opened their account at the Fortress.

Keeping the momentum, Cheam were straight back in with the counter. With Darren coming hard in across the front of the goal, memories of a distant Donkey from the 3s past, came into the Yeo's mind as with a deft reverse sweep the equaliser arrived.

The remainder of the match saw the 3s battle hard against a strong Surbiton team with two goals conceded mid way through the second half. Unfortunately the Cheam were unable to crack back into the Surbiton D with some tight marking by the oppos resulting in our first loss at the fortress.

Overall, the 3s played an impressive game building again on recent weeks and whilst we didnt take the points, there are continued signs of significant improvement in our positioning and build up play. Points to focus on for next week should be to keep looking for options on free hits to use the width and varying our approach to our 16s.

Report: Back to the beach at Kenley this week. Makes a change from the grass quagmire of previous seasons. This was to be a midtable clashy with the 3s taking on the feisty Kenley on their home turf.. well sandpit actually!

Gliding into the rhythm, the 3s opened up well using the wing play more and more effectively to carve our way up into the Kenley half. Culminating in a great opener from Darren calmly slotting past the keeper to open the Cheam account. Kenley continued to counter hard with some heavy tackling putting the 3s on the defensive. Then with moments left of the first half, Kenly surged into the Cheam D.... letting their feet do the talking, a subtle flick off a Kenley boot saw the ball loop past Krish into the Cheam goal.

Undetered, a stirring talk by Captain Head brought the 3s out fighting. Attacking strongly from right and then left putting the training routines into practice saw Kenley under pressure for the first ten conceding several short corners. The routine has been improving in recent weeks with the introduction of a stopper and the Yeo push providing greater accuracy on the strike. As the ball came out, a deft touch to the right saw slipMatt in this space to drill the ball into the corner.. our first short corner goal!!

With Kenley ruffled, they increased the force of their attack driving into the Cheam D on the counter. In fact so hard was their attack play, that on arriving in the D, a spot of WWF ensued with Krish and their attacker. With Krish pinned down and the back line overwhelmed in numbers, the 3s conceded another to bring the score back on even. Lesson to be learnt here chaps... play to the whistle, the hockey whistle that is, regardless of whether others decide to play an alternative sport mid way through the game.. particularly in our D!!

The final five minutes saw both sides counter with some impressive runs from the Yeo up and down the wing picking up another calmly slotted goal to be offset by an impressive pick up by a Kenley attacker to even the score.

All in all some great hockey and solid step forward in improvement across the pitch from taking the ball out of defence, through the attacking wing play and finally the short corners. Only one point this week by if we keep this up the points will come.

Report: Last Saturday brought a return to Fortress Nonsuch with a mid table clash against Reigate Priory. On arrival at the Fortress, the opposition were already assembled in numbers, seemingly eager to find some way to intimidate the Cheam on our home turf.

Not a chance! Captain Head reminded the squad that we were unbeaten at home so far this season and long may that stay. Drills at training had improved the shape of the 3s and we were ready to play with confidence and exert pressure from the start. With Sparky getting the troops into our newly defined warm up routine (cheers Spuggy!), the 3s switched on, ready to do battle with our over eager opponents.

The first half started well... continuing the strength and pace we had shown in the previous week. Excellent wing play, as instructed at training, opening up channels in the oppositions defence as we put Reigate on the backfoot from the off with a succession of short corner opportunities. There has been much improvements in the 3s short corner routine, but Reigate's defence prevailed.

Moving through the half, Cheam waited patiently for the opportunities to come and then from inside our own 25, a quick pass from the sideline inside and then back out followed by a through pass from MarkWS (Saddam - You can work it out!), returning to the 3s from a period of absence, up the line onto Darren.. saw another great drive into the D. Learning from earlier games, we attacked well in numbers with Captain Head screaming into the top of the D, drawing the defence open. Meanwhile, Darren deftly waited for the keeper to commit before calm slotting home.. with Captain Head following the ball in behind just to make sure (that's how i remember it?).

Onto the second half and the Cheam machine was in full swing. Attacking well down both flanks and opening up plenty of chances. The second goal again falling to Darren as a great drive up the left flank, picking up the square pass just inside the D saw the Yeo cloud of calm again decend as Darren bided his time, before slotting the ball through the keepers legs.

This was truly a solid Cheam team performance with MOM votes going to Sparkles in defence, through Bubba in midfield, to slipMatt (not come up with anything better yet, so will depend on whether he can stay on his feet) and Saddam for their wing play. However, with some great running combined with the Yeo cloud of calm under pressure, this week's MOM goes Darren.

Onto next week. Lets keep the momentum going and the points will come.

MOM: Darren
Cheers to Badger for umpiring

Report: Our third league fixture of the season against Croydon 3s. So far the 3s had taken three points from two games. Arriving at Harris Academy, Captain Head observed the beachlike texture of the pitch.... an environment that had proved our undoing earlier in the season noting to the 3s that ball speed would be key for us to undo Croydon.

From the off, Cheam opened with some solid wing play picking up on the tips from the coach during the week. Great running by Darren and Matt along the wings with good support. Short corners became the routine of the day with both sides conceding numerous short corner opportunities in the first half. Unfortunately for the Cheam, this proved to be our undoing in the first half as Croydon slotted three past the keeper, even despite a valiant effort by Sparky to give up on his stick and use his nose as the last line of defence.

Into the second half, a stirring team talk by Captain Head provided a great sense of impetus to the Cheam attack as we stepped up a gear. The 3s attacked well from both flanks confining Croydon to their half for much of the second period. Again, with the pressure mounting Croydon conceded numerous short corners - note to Coach, we need to get lots of practice in here. Eventually the Cheam drought was unlocked as Captain Head hit the score sheet.

Cheam continued to attack hard but couldnt open the Croydon defence further. Until, in the dying minutes, with Sparky having decided to favour his stick over using his face to play the ball, surged up through the middle of the park... passing the ball out wide and picking it up again at the top of the D... a short nudge to Captain Head and a deft flick saw the ball slip over the keeper and into the Croydon goal... if only we had another five minutes we could have salvaged a point but on this occasion, not to be.

As the 3s season gets going, the wing play continues to improve and develop. Plenty of work to do here guys, particularly on the short corner routines. However, the foundations are coming together to start taking points.

Cheers to David for umpiring

Report: Our first points of the season and how we intend to carry on. We started well with good flowing hockey using the width of the field but despite numerous attacks we couldn't find that vital final touch. Even though we were playing a reduced team they caught us on the break and took a 1-0 lead. We knew our fitness would win the day and continued to press with Darren scoring his first goal for Cheam. The Cheam surge then stepped up a gear after a great tackle by Dhiren back in our half we put together a flowing move up the pitch and Darren dribbled round the defence to score his second. Marcus nearly made it three but his shot edged towards the goal it was cleared off the line. There was a tense last minute when Merton had a short corner but the solid defence kept the ball out and Cheam took the points.

We welcomed Sanjay & Lawrie to the 3rds who had impressive debuts and thank Tristram & Bob for umpiring

Report: The start of new season, the sun was shining and we were ready to go. As ever the team had changed over the summer. There was a new (injured) captain who paced up & down the line, some had advanced to the 2s and we welcomed Joel, Tasheen (Taz) and Darren to the team. Well it was a game of three halves as we agreed with Leatherhead to play three twenty sessions as both teams wanted to make changes. We started with plan A but after Leatherhead rattled in three goals we knew it had to change at the end of the first period and that we had lose quickly our summer rustiness. We bolstered the midfield, became more organised and scared their defence with the pace of Darren, Marcus & Simon and pulled back to 5-2. There were flicks for both teams. Krish pulled off a magnificent save, one of many, and Anton buried one in the back of their net. In the final session we could not make the final touch to convert attacks into the goals.

There is much to build on and the season ahead will be exciting. Considering several of us were only introduced to each other that morning and the strength of the opposition it was a good performance that improved and improved throughout the game.