Results

WOMENS 1ST XI - 04/02/2023 VS CAMBRIDGE CITY 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens 1st XI 
DATE: 04/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Womens 1st XI VS 04/02/2023 
HEADLINE: The second half was a draw, so I am taking that as a win 
LEAGUE: EAST PREMIER DIVISION 
VENUE: Wilberforce Road  
RESULT: 5-1 
 
REPORT: 
 
City travelled to Cambridge City 2s for a late, late pushback with a number of different faces in the line-up. Sophie Bendon, Rosie, Hannah Jarvis and Lauren Lawrie were able to step up and help out. Despite beating Cambridge City 2s convincingly at home, there were nerves at how the team would gel together during the game. A few tunes, a party game and a kick-about helped to utilise the nervous energy during the warm-up and Norwich were raring to go.  
 
Cambridge City 2s came out strong, with some pacing passing putting Norwich on the back foot and they scored the first goal promptly. Not allowing their heads to drop, City worked hard to keep their structure and remain calm in possession.  
Cambridge were awarded an early short corner which was valiantly defended by Fongy, who put her knee cap on the line and had to sit out for the next 10 minutes bathing it in ice.  
 
Communication was going to be key with a number of new faces slotting into the line up. Hannah Nunn, Harriet Preston and Hannah Jarvis stepped up to command a strong defensive set-up, with Georgina Barratt taking charge to smother any Cambridge attack with confidence. Despite this, Cambridge managed to wriggle free and slot the ball home a further three times in the first half. 
With a rousing call from Harriet Preston that winning a game from 4-0 down was doable, Norwich attacked the second half with renewed determination and a slight change in structure. Within minutes, a surge into the Cambridge circle led to a strike from Emily Francis that confidently beat the Cambridge keeper.  
Norwich were searching for their second with Nicola Ralph playing a well-timed pass down the channel into the path of Sophie Bendon, who struck with her lethal reverse across the front of goal, another near miss. 
 
Ellie Brine and Rosie worked hard to put pressure on Cambridge's midfield, retrieving the ball and linking with City's lively forward line of Stacey Lee, Sophie Bendon and Krystal Bishop. City's reward was a succession of short corners that Norwich were unlucky not to capitalise on, with one glancing the far post just out of reach of an advancing Lauren Lawrie.  
 
Despite the sun setting on a 5-1 defeat, the team remained supportive and an enjoyable game was had by all. 1-1 in the second half! 

WOMENS 3RD XI - 04/02/2023 VS BURY ST EDMUNDS 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens 3rd XI 
DATE: 04/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Womens 3rd XI VS 04/02/2023 
HEADLINE: A late start away… 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 2 NORTH EAST 
VENUE: Bury 
RESULT: Lost 3-0 
 
REPORT: 
I would Like to start of first by saying how well we communicated as a team, supporting each other along the way and held our heads up high even when they scored the goals. Second half a stronger performance from the team, conceding less goals, having plenty of short corners, unfortunately having a strong goalie to attack against. Strong performance from Poppy with strong block tackles than being able to carry the ball from defence to attack. Great passes from Evie to Helen who than made her way into the D to give many strong shots to their goalie. Great runs from Lucy down the wing than passing to Helen or Claire who than took a shot. Great communication from Claire in the D to let everyone know where she was. Heads were held up high with support from Vicki and Hannah. Strong defence from Gemma, Serena, Sally and Jess who than managed to lead the ball high up the pitch with less of their players on us meaning more shots and attempts at the goal. Strong support made in the middle by Angela who passed the ball to the wings to make the game bigger. Emma says she heard one of the umpires saying we were very unlucky not to score with the short corners. Well played everyone 

WOMENS 5TH XI - 04/02/2023 VS UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA 3 (A) 
 
TEAM: Womens 5th XI 
DATE: 04/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Womens 5th XI VS 04/02/2023 
HEADLINE: A well battled match.  
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 3 NORTH EAST (NORTH) 
VENUE: UEA 
RESULT: 1-1 Draw  
 
REPORT: 
Norwich City 5s arrived at UEA on Saturday with a flutter of hope in our hearts that we might get a win this week. After a crushing defeat against bottom of the table last week, it was possible to see that we had lost some of our usual mojo before we even stepped onto the pitch.  
Needless to say, our amazing captains Chloe Green and Amy Corden had a rallying pre-match pep talk prepared for us and some of our old spark was ignited again. With several key players out through injury and ski holidays (only slightly jealous) we found ourselves with a mix of new players to make up our squad. Thanks to Ellie Alderton for helping us out this week and for her tactical advice for our game. Amazing congratulations to Corinne Lawrie who played her first match for the club and had a great game. We can see already that she is a excellent player; turning well with the ball; executing some fab tackles and speedy runs into space. The addition of the Brown twins also really strengthened us in the first half and they had a great game for the 5s. Alice Brown took some casual and graceful touches in the D in the first half. And Millie Brown worked really hard to stop UEA forwards getting through our defence. Millie's tackles were effortlessly clean and she cleared the ball well. Apologies for the constant barrage of instructions Millie, I get a bit over excited!  
Even with the addition of these great players we found ourselves under a constant barrage of attack from UEA 3s. A nippy forward caused us all sorts of trouble as she broke through several times in the first half. Putting defenders Emma Guyton, Annette Peters, Allison McLellan and keeper Jo Di-Corpo under pressure time and time again. Annette had a great debut in a left half position, clearly a position she can take up again as she never missed a beat. 
Despite the constant attack from UEA, our defenders all did an incredible job keeping them out. Ali with her brutal clearances; unbeatable tackles and determination kept the goal line clear. Whilst Esme Abbott's lightning runs out for short corners kept UEA's shots from having an effect. Esme's speed and reactions here have saved us time and time again in match situations. She is a gazelle with no fear!  
Jo, our nimble and super efficient keeper won several votes for POTM again this week for her lightning reflexes and incredible saves keeping us at nil nil till half time. 
Our half time team talk was mainly tactical advice from Chloe Green, who could see where we weren't playing our best game. Chloe has a great eye for where things need to improve and we set out for the second half with a renewed sense in our ability. This half saw a much more aggressive attacking side from the City 5s: Amy Corden, Beverley Cushion, Sharon Phillips and Sofia Hancy strung together some excellent passes, using Chloe to pivot across the pitch and out to the halves effectively. We appeared to have the upper hand this 35 but were still unable to score which proved to be frustrating. 
Then the unimaginable happened! A sneak attack that didn't look very dangerous at the time from UEA ended with a goal against us. UEA were exalted and deservedly so! They had fought hard this far and it wasn't undeserved. 
We took a moment to bang our sticks in frustration in the goal mouth and then we shook it off and started again. We were NOT going to lose this match! Soon enough one of Esme's attacks led to her winning a short corner in the opposition's D. We set up and Ellie smacked a beautiful shot from the top which ricocheted- with force- off a defender and their keeper to find the backboard with a very satisfying thwack. We celebrated like we had won the league much to the amusement of anyone watching! 
With only about 3 minutes left it was disappointing not to be able to use this momentum to our advantage but a draw and one point wasn't the worst outcome. As a team we all commented that the umpires at UEA were extremely good and fair which made it an enjoyable game to play. So thank you to both of them.  
POTM Emma Guyton, although I believe it was just a conspiracy to get me to write the match report. Well played everyone!  
 
 
 
 
 
 

WOMENS 6TH XI - 04/02/2023 VS LODDON 2 (H) 
 
TEAM: Womens 6th XI 
DATE: 04/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Womens 6th XI VS 04/02/2023 
HEADLINE: A late home day win 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 4 NORTH EAST (NORTH) 
VENUE: TRF 
RESULT: W 1- 0 
 
REPORT: 
We arrived to the late afternoon game with very little time to warm up and even less time to prepare for this game. Fielding only one sub for the first half, and down to no subs by half time we knew it would be tough. 
 
We were strong from the offset, holding Loddon in their half and keeping good possession. There were a few breaks on our goal, that were quickly shut down; and a decent amount of attempts on their goal which we just couldn't convert. We had a succession of short corners, which Loddon defended well but we went in to half time nil- nil.  
 
There was frustration we couldn't quite convert, but generally we were positive going in to the second half and knew we could surely keep them to a draw at the very minimum. 
 
Eventually, for being patient, the opportunity came when Saskia lined Liz up at the top of the D, and with a swift slap in we were 1 nil up; or were we?  
 
Loddon contested the goal, saying we weren't in the D - the umpires both conferred whilst the pitch stood confused. The goal was allowed! We just had to defend the lead now. Loddon fought back but couldn't get a goal against us and we walked away with the win. 
 
Liz Hollis got POTM, not only for her goal, but also her great team spirit in working back to defend too! Very much deserved  

MENS 1ST XI - 05/02/2023 VS BEDFORD 1 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 05/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 05/02/2023 
HEADLINE: Mens 1s Restart National League Campaign With An Emphatic Victory  
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: Taverham Recreational Facility  
RESULT: 6-2 W  
 
REPORT: After a long 2 month break and some intermittent training and friendlies we all couldn't be happier to finally get back to some competitive hockey. With a mixed cup and u16 match also going on it was a feast of viewing for any norwich based hockey fanatics.  
 
After a few last minute cancellations Bedford had shown up with only 13 players so we knew we had to start fast, stay fast and make it a tough trip away for them. And we did exactly that Josh Baker had made a speedy run up the left flank within 90 seconds and blazed a reverse across the face of the goal but no one got on the end of it. A minute later Cam Cooke had won a turnover in Bedfords half and found Elliot Hibell in the D who won our first short corner of the day. Bedford once again kept the ball out the net but the early passes were all Norwich City. After a calmer few moments, it took until the 12th minute for Norwich to have their next threat. Cam Cooke won a short and Tom Cooke opened the scoring with a slap. Q1: 1-0. 
 
The 2nd Quarter started slower, Bedford started to threaten by winning a pair of short corners but thankfully Tom Harris and Alastair Cooke were on hand to have both. Shortly after City won a short corner of their own and this timenit was Elliot Hibell who stepped up to drag home and double the lead. 3 minutes later after Elliot found Josh Baker on the baseline, Josh found a foot for a short and Elliot stepped up to make it 3-0. Bedford were most certainly not out of it, they continued to threaten and after Rob Shearer found Simba Chigwada with a cutting reverse pass from inside his own half and Simba's shot narrowly went wide Norwich were well and truly warned of the danger Bedford possessed. Another short corner later and they threatend again but Alastair Cooke made a great double save to keep his net clear. But finally Bedford chiselled our defence down and with their 4th short corner and after the ball pinged around the goal mouth it was eventually bundled in. A scrappy but deserved goal for their previous 5 minutes of domination. HT: 3-1 to the hosts. 
 
3rd quarter begun with an exchange of short corners. Bedford won their 5th & 6th of the day but once again Alastair Cooke & Tom Harris were on hand to keep the net clear. And then Jonty Black and Harry Gill won Norwich's 5th & 6th corners aswell. But with a mistrap and a save Norwich couldn't make their corners pay either. Thankfully a few moments later Cam Cooke cut in from the left wing and ran along the baseline before picking out Ben Chapman at the backpost, you could tell winter nets had been in full flow for Ben as he played a cool forward defence to ensure the ball found its way into the goal. 4-1 City. And with our 7th short corner of the day City went out of sight. Cam Cooke dragged down the centre, the keeper padded back out to Chris Wardale and the keeper then saved his shot but kicked it up over Elliot Hibells head to which anyone else would bring it down first but he decide that whilst going away from goal and with his back turned away from goal he would execute a perfect no look overhead volley that cleared all the postmen, and dipped in the top left corner. Everyone was left stunned with his incredible attempt and what a way to complete your hattrick. 
 
4th quarter begun with more of the same. Jonty black won a short corner, Cam Cooke dragged towards goal and it was padded back into the D. Man of the moment Elliot hibell was on hand to lift over the keeper, carry past the postmen and on the volley upright reverse it into the top right corner. His 4th of the day and wouldve been his best on any other day but that unsighted 3rd goal was too incredible to not mention again. With the 5 goal lead in place the intensity from both sides dropped and Bedford managed to catch Norwichs defence sleeping and with a deliberate foul in the D they had gained a penalty flick. Rob Shearer made sure to put it in and end the game well for Bedford. 
 
Bedford were great visitors and we have enjoyed both games against them. This result means we jump above them into 4th place and will look to continue the efficient goal scoring again this Saturday vs Loughborugh Town at home at 2pm.  
 
 

MENS 3RD XI - 04/02/2023 VS BURY ST EDMUNDS 2 (H) 
 
TEAM: Mens 3rd XI 
DATE: 04/02/2023 
FIXTURE: Mens 3rd XI VS 04/02/2023 
HEADLINE: 3 wins on the bounce 
LEAGUE: EAST DIVISION 2 NORTH EAST 
VENUE:Taverham  
RESULT: Norwich City 3s 8-1 Bury 2s 
 
REPORT: 
On the 5th February, Norwich city Mens 3s took on higher placed Bury Mens 2s in an attempt to move further clear of the relegation zone. The home side started brightly, with Corey Rushton and Mark Fletcher providing early pressure to the Bury back line. Toby Pallister created the best of the chances early on, when his wonderful skills in the final third, culminated in a shot, well saved by the keeper. On the 17th minute, Max Wilson broke the deadlock, putting the hosts 1-0 in front after good counter attacking play by city. However, Bury responded well, with a goal of their own one minute later. A period of good pressure from city after conceding, resulted in a series of short corners, with the first excellently put away by Jeremy Elliot before a second was put away by Mark fletcher at the far post after a goal mouth scramble, giving city a 3-1 lead at half time. 
City began the second half as they finished the first, with good link up play between the defensive and midfield lines. The hard work was rewarded as Jeremy Elliot scored a fabulous solo goal to add a second to his tally. Some good defending from screens Max McEwan and Jim pallister, and solidity throughout from the back three, saw off Bury pressure midway through the second half. As the game moved into the final ten minutes, city were able to utilise their youthful midfield and attacking lines to inflict further damage to Bury, with three goals in quick succession courtesy of a further two goals from Jeremy Elliot with the later scoring his fourth after a well work short corner routine, and a powerful Jim pallister strike a minute before full time, giving city an impressive 8-1 victory. With three wins on the bounce, city are beginning to move away from the relegation battle in a hope to finish the season on a high.