Women's 1st Team: PMHC 0-1 Tavistock Player of the Match Susannah Boulle

Tavistock started their last league game before the Christmas break with confidence and played organised and composed hockey. Tavistock passed the ball around the field quickly, allowing Marjon little time on the ball, making for a slow start to the match as the two sides assessed their opposition.

It took until the ten minute mark for either side to register a shot on goal, with tavistock winning two penalty corners in quick succession, however neither were converted and the match once again settled into a contest dominated by the midfields.

With twenty minutes gone the match eventually sparked into life when Elz Mills-Hicks scored her first goal of the season after picking up a pass from Becky Lamb and flicking the ball into the net.

Suddenly requiring goals to get back into the match, Marjon committed more players forward although were still unable to break down the strong Tavistock defence, save for a single penalty corner which was well dealt with by Zoe Viggers; whilst at the other end the Tavistock side had the chance to extend their lead - also from set pieces - with a series of penalty corners which unfortunately weren't converted.

Both sides came out strong after half time although it was Tavistock who dominated and were able to manage the threat of their opponents to ensure victory.

Both sides spurned further opportunities each from open play, with the defences clearing well on each occasion. The final ten minutes saw Tavistock come under significant pressure from the team in red, however the Tavistock team battled to the end of the fixture to keep a second clean sheet of the year.  

 

Mens 1st Team: West Dorset 0-4 Tavistock

The Reds travelled to Bridport for this 1st v 3rd top of the table clash and it turned out to be the tough encounter the Reds were expecting, the home side have put together some impressive results so far this season and it was clear to see why they were fighting at the top of the league. In what soon proved to be an incredibly competitive game it was the home side who had the better of the early exchanges forcing Tavistock keeper Matt Graham to make a number of fine saves to keep the game all square.  Tavistocks best chance came when Barny Megicks created space for himself to fire a reverse stick effort against the post.  Tavistock looked ready to put in another fine second half performance but again it was the home side who started the brighter and should have taken the lead within seconds of the restart but were unable to convert the chance at the back post. This near miss gave Tavistock the kick they needed and they then started to retain possession of the ball and look more like the attacking threat they have been all season.  Forward Si Fenwick  converted from a penalty corner flicking the ball in off the underside of the crossbar, just minutes later the Reds were awarded another penalty corner which was slipped to Dom Stanbury who calmly flicked the ball into the far corner to give Tavistock a 2-0 lead.  West Dorset noticeably increased the tempo of their game in attempt to get the goal they felt they deserved but it was the visitors who claimed the third goal of the game, hitting the home side on the break Tavistock won their 3rd penalty corner of the game which was again slipped to Stanbury who again showed great composure to slide the ball past the keeper with a fine reverse stick effort.  The third goal killed off any chance of a home comeback and after a defensive error and lighting quick reactions from Henry Chamberlain Tavistock scored their fourth goal when Chamberlain drew the keeper and passed to an unmarked Megicks to pass the ball into an open goal.  Although the table topping Reds took their chances in front of goal the game was a lot closer than the score line suggests and West Dorset will look to bounce back and continue their promotion run.  The victory, combined with Isca's defeat to Plymouth Uni means Tavistock have a six point lead at the top of the league and are 10 points clear of third place Bude.

 

Tavistock A 3  Bodmin A 2

Finally the win that has been building was achieved by Tavistock on Saturday. Fielding a strong side, Tavistock were motivated for this game, feeling that they missed an opportunity the previous week. Pugsley standing in goal for the injured Osborne, had a solid game and that was the same throughout the team.  A fantastic defensive performance from Gott, Tosdevin, Stanyer and Hanson, allowed the midfield of the Honey pairing and Donnelly, to move the ball to the attacking trio of Elliott, Walker and Dudsley.  Tavistock built an attacking momentum from the start and Elliott found the goal from a great move up the pitch. With Hanson and Honey linking well and Honey Jnr controlling the midfield, the game was looking good.  Donnelly having a mature and controlled performance worked well with the forwards and also assisted in defence when needed.  The game although Tavistock’s to take, was always a close encounter and eventually Bodmin evened the score through scrambled goal.  The game ebbed and flowed with speed and the injured Honey left the pitch with Anning moving in and creating some excellent defensive work to cancel a lot of the Bodmin attacks. Mason slotted into the back line and showed a calm and strong performance in defence.  Tavistock scored a further two goals which were worked well around the defence but Bodmin scored a late second to keep the pulses high for the closing stages.  A great team performance and a tough match to look forward to next Saturday at Duchy.

 

Sunday 30th November 2014

Tavistock Ladies 2nd v. Callington Draw 2-2

This was an exciting and slightly frantic match suffering from injured players and ladies playing in unfamiliar positions.  Callington took control at the beginning of the match and scored an early goal, Tavistock fought back hard and attacked but couldn’t quiet manage a goal before half time.  Defensive players Alex Davis and Nicky Wood were kept busy and ably assisted by saves from goalkeeper Eleanor Mills-Hicks.  Early in the second half a cross from Vicky Moore was hit in by Judy Lowton to bring the score to one all.  This was countered with another goal from a Callington attack.  With ten minutes to go Alice Donne collected the ball and made a super run down the right wing, beating the defender in her way and slotting the ball past the keeper to give Tavistock a draw.