Men’s 4s Match reports

Men’s 4s travelled to Blackheath with a focus on starting sharply and cutting out early goals — and for once, we delivered. Some excellent early play saw us move the ball well before Drew rounded the diving keeper to put us 0–1 up.

Sadly, the bright start didn’t last. Three quick-fire goals from Blackheath swung the game, leaving us 3–1 down at the break. After regrouping and tweaking the lineup, we came out positively and began to create chances.

John Cameron caused chaos in the D, leading to what looked like a legitimate goal — until it was disallowed thanks to a theatrical dive and scream from their goalkeeper. As we searched for the imaginary sniper responsible for taking him down, John received a green card for politely suggesting the GK should be embarrassed. Down to 10 men, but you wouldn’t have known it.

We earned another short, and despite a slightly wayward injection the ball found Mark, whose shot was stopped on the line by a defender’s foot. Penalty flick awarded. Drew stepped up and buried it for 3–2.

We pressed high and hard, but then Blackheath introduced a mystery substitute — a player who proceeded to glide past everyone and set up two goals. Some might say “ringer”; others might say “panic substitution.”

The highlight of the day, though, came late on. A breakaway move saw Theo arrive perfectly in the D. His first effort was saved, but he followed up clinically, slotting the rebound into the corner for his first goal. The smile said everything — the team was buzzing for him.

Final score: 5–3 to Blackheath, but a gritty, spirited performance.

MOM: Theo — for his hard work, composure, and brilliant first goal.

Men’s 4s faced top-of-the-table Folkestone in our first live-streamed match — huge thanks to John Cameron for setting up and running the stream for the whole day.

After a pre-match reminder to start sharply and avoid soft goals… we unfortunately conceded three within the opening 15 minutes. Once we settled, though, we began to play some really good hockey, dominating midfield and moving the ball well. Pressure turned into several short corners, and Ben Mummery beat the first runner before flicking goal-bound — the ball hit the defender’s chest on the line and went in for our first.

At the break we had a rousing team talk (fully recorded thanks to the mic!), and we carried that energy straight into the second half. Another short corner saw Ben set up Mark Richardson, who slapped the ball into the far corner to make it 2–3 and spark real belief of a comeback.

We pushed hard for the equaliser, but despite long spells of control — and clear signs of Folkestone hanging on — we couldn’t quite find the third. Their celebrations at the final whistle showed how much we’d pushed them.

Thanks to John’s stream, the stats confirmed it:

58% possession overall

63% possession in the second half

A huge effort.

MOM: Simon “Wookie” Pickard — another towering, composed performance at the back.

Men’s 4s travelled to Canterbury with a bare 11 and, in classic Anchorians fashion, gifted the hosts a sloppy goal within the first 30 seconds. Frustrated, we regrouped quickly and began to wake up.

As the half settled, we started to dominate midfield with Mark Richardson spraying passes around the pitch and splitting their defensive lines. We built multiple promising attacks but couldn’t quite find the equaliser, while our work-rate as a team restricted Canterbury to very few chances of their own.

At the break we talked about pressing higher and putting their defence under real pressure — and that’s exactly what we did. The second half became a largely one-sided affair in our favour, but despite sustained pressure we just couldn’t force the breakthrough. Against the run of play, Canterbury nicked a second, and that’s how the game finished: a 0–2 loss to a very experienced side with a standout goalkeeper.

A special mention goes to Matt Jarvis on his 4s debut, slotting seamlessly into left-back and putting in a great shift. Despite the result, the performance left us genuinely encouraged — another week with a different keeper and we likely win that game. Lots of positives to build on.

MOM: A tight battle between Mark, Theo and Toby, with Theo taking it for his relentless pressing and excellent work rate.

Anchs welcomed local rivals OWHC, who were riding high in the league, on Saturday. With a team talk from stand-in skipper Mark, Anchs set about their work and generally controlled the game from the start.

A fantastic run from Dan saw him slip the ball to Adam, who buried it into the back of the net — 1–0 Anchs. More pressure paid off as Ben took his chance to make it 2–0. Some great saves from Ethan ensured Anchs went into half-time with a solid two-goal lead.

The second half was a cagey affair, but credit to Anchs for keeping their heads and letting their hockey do the talking. Some excellent marshalling at the back from Wookie helped maintain the lead, and a superb flick from Mark from a penalty corner saw Anchs go three up.

A great win, with some standout performances all around. Roll on the next game!

Today the Men’s 4s were away at Bexleyheath for a warm midday pushback. It looked like an even encounter at first, with both teams fielding youthful sides — meaning our usual advantage in pace wasn’t quite as strong.

But today, our team organisation became our greatest asset. The 4-3-3 shape worked perfectly, giving us numerical advantages all over the pitch.

Ultimately, we came away with a 1–6 win — our best team performance to date. The opposition’s defence will be relieved they only have to face Tyler twice a season; he walked away with five goals and was deservedly voted Man of the Match. The sixth goal came from Ben Mummery, after a perfectly placed (definitely not half-shot) pass from Rog Pope. Anyone who knows Rog will just be impressed he was even in the opposition D! 😆

It’s hard to single out individuals today because the whole team shone in every position. However, a special mention should go to Nigel McDonald — his training is showing real results. Our juniors and overall team play have come on leaps and bounds, and the skills and structure he’s been developing are clearly showing in matches.

Anchorians 4’s were at home this week v Blackheath

Well it’s true to say this was a game of 2 halves, less said about the first half the better, but needless to say we were 0-3 down at half time with a very disorganised and slow start.

We took the half time break to get organised and played far more like the team of the last few weeks in the 2nd half.

Tyler Marks⁩ got 2 goals to start the come back, we applied pressure and forced the keeper into numerous saves. Special mention to Toby Bunting who made his debut for the men’s team this Saturday and was unlucky not to score at the back post from another one of Tyler’s crosses.

We came back to 3-4 with a great strike from the top of the D from James Zerafa⁩. We pushed but could not find the equaliser that we no doubt deserved after such a change in performance from the 1st half.

MOM was split between Daniel Markham⁩ and Tyler Marks⁩ who between them probably ran more miles than both teams combined. Thanks to Keith and Paul for umpiring a very windy game.

Men’s 4’s were away today at New Beccs.

Sticking with our 4-3-3 system we are really starting to play to our shape and strengths with lots of keen juniors ensuring our energy levels stay high.

We had a bare eleven this week so discussed how we managed ourselves, this did not prevent us making a fast start. Putting New Beccs under pressure with lead to a great individual goal from ⁨Ben Mummery⁩ a dribble into the D and a great reverse strike into the bottom corner 0-1 to Anchs, only for Ben to try and repeat the effort 5 mins later. Slowly though New Beccs got back into the game and they pressured our goal with numerous short corners but our Tuesday night short corner defending practice paid off. As the end of the half got closer our lack of subs started to show and We conceded a scrappy goal from top of the D, so half time was 1-1.

I worried we would a deflated bunch as I walked over for the half time chat but I couldn’t be more wrong, the team was up beat, feeling confident that we were creating chances and with a second wind we went again.

We were passing the ball well and all were contributing, special mention to Robin⁩ who had received a nasty shoulder injury and his tireless runs the full length of the pitch were showing, but he dug deep not wanting to put us down to 10 players, great spirit. We had several good attacks with David Shepherd having a ball deflected a certain goal off the line with a foot but only a short corner being given.

The pace of the game was starting to show on both teams but with 5 mins to go Anchs broke away down the wing with Dan Markham and Braedon continually giving the extra effort to compete at both ends of the pitch, they found space down the right and with Ben M waiting in the D to finish another great goal (3 goals in 2 games) 1-2. The game ended with yet another short corner being awarded to New Beccs and yet another fine save from man of the match Ethan Hopkins⁩. 1-2 was the final result, a hard fought well deserved, extremely enjoyable win.

Well it’s great to be back!

3 juniors making there full debut’s, a new team shape, and a strong team performance.

Men’s 4’s started the season at home v a strong Sutton Valence men’s 3’s team team. The initial exchanges were relatively even but it soon became clear this was a stronger team than the SV team we faced last season. Anchs took the lead with a great break away goal from James Z - a reverse strike into the top corner, an early contender for goal of the season (for the 4’s). Sutton Valence though looked dangerous in attack and earnt numerous short corners with Ethan Hopkins⁩ looking like a seasoned keeper keeping the ball out of the net. Ultimately the number of short corners paid off for SV and they went 1-2 up by half time.

We had a great half time team chat and were encouraged by the way we were playing.

We started strong again, the chances started to come. We looked strong and pressed well, forcing SV into errors on the ball. 10 mins into the 2nd half and Ben Mummery⁩ dribbled from the the 23 into the D and scored the equaliser to make it 2-2. Our shape was proving pivitol with Theo Jarvais⁩ finding space in the final third and almost scoring on his debut (next time Theo, keep it up mate). SV starting pushing hard for the win causing the defence more and more trouble, Flinn Sindrey⁩ was starting to find his feet in the game and made some important timely tackles. I can only apologise but after 60 mins of running up front and midfield I was completing one of my “recovery” runs and missed our third goal, I’m sure the scorer will let me know (I think James Z) 3-2.

What an end to the game the extra SV subs started to show and again they started collecting short corners, with 2 mins to go they managed to convert an attempt 3-3, final result.

Well what a return to hockey, well done to all. Players player went to Robin Coyle⁩ for a really solid performance at left back.