A National League Hockey Club, part of Holcombeians Sports Club

Holcombe Team of the Week – 14th October, 2023

Congratulations to everyone selected in the inaugural Holcombe Team of the Week!

Goalkeeper:

Gabriella McAlister (W3s) – made a couple of fantastic saves to keep the score at 1-0.

Defence:

Freddie Walker (M6s) – player of the match.

Lee Allchorne (Harriers) – player of the match.

Sam Taylor (M1s) – strong in defence and scored the only goal of the game in our 1-0 victory over Oxted.

Maddie Wellings (W3s) – great defensive work throughout the game.

Midfield:

Jack Chester (M5s) – impressive performance throughout.

Debbie Laing (W3s) – excellent game in midfield and player of the match.

Emma Payne (W5s) – co-ordinated the midfield and dropped into defensive midfield when needed.

Joe May (M5s) – excellent display.

Forwards:

Deanna Ritchie (W1s) – scored her first Holcombe goals against Slough, netting a hat-trick as the side moved up to second in the table.

Sam Maitland (Hurricanes) – scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win and won player of the match.

Substitutes:

Cayne Jeffery (Harriers) – solid performance in midfield, also filled in at left wing-back.

Oliver Stewart (M2s) – “Oliver Stewart has been a force to be reckoned with coming off the back of an impressive campaign in Nottingham with the Holcombe Talent Academy, announcing himself as a name for the future with his recent performances in the South East Premier Division for the 2s. A young player with enormous potential who presses with intensity that has seen him rewarded with the centre forward role in the starting line-up for the 2023/24 season.

His endeavour to recover the ball out of possession is something Haaris and Rich are avid admirers of, and he is able to turn a defender inside out in the rare event it is warranted in the style of play within the 2s’ set-up.

His performances have earnt him a call-up to train as part of the 1s’ wider training squad throughout the opening period of the season, which is the first invite to be extended to an under-18 player since Oliver Walker and Alex Lingham. Barry is very keen to integrate Holcombe-bred players into the training squad and Oliver has been a fine product of the player pathway model, showing what hard work and application can achieve.” – Brunty

Pete Mills (M5s) – player of the match.

Paul Crane (M3s) – player of the match.

Caitlin Poynton (W4s) – player of the match

Lottie Osborne (W4s) – solid performance.

Amelia Allen (W5s) – being all over the opposition attackers and not giving them time to breathe.

Umpires of the week:

Mark Newman – umpired at 11:30am when the M3 were not in until 4:00pm, and umpiring the under-18 boys on Sunday. Also, he convinced two of the M3s to cover two empty slots we had for Saturday on Friday evening.

Richard Spackman – umpired the under-16 girls on Sunday and passed his Level 1 assessment.

DoDs:

M3s – Paul Crane

M5s – Jack Chester

M6s – Peter Brooks van Zyl

Harriers – James Fromm

Hurricanes – Graham Sutton

W5s – Lindsay Hobbs