Results

MENS 1ST XI - 21/09/2025 VS UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM 2 (A) 
 
TEAM: Mens 1st XI 
DATE: 21/09/2025 
FIXTURE: Mens 1st XI VS 21/09/2025 
HEADLINE: Tough away day but great result to open this season's account 
LEAGUE: CONFERENCE MIDLANDS 
VENUE: university of Birmingham  
RESULT: 5-2 win  
 
REPORT: 175 days without competitive hockey, and we were back. Our prize for missing out on promotion by 7 points last year was a long and early away day to Birmingham. The 5 am wake-up call for the 6 am bus journey was tough, but the weather post-big team nap was anything but. Wonderful sunny welcome to Brum. After a spot of table tennis in the clubhouse to get the boys going, we headed out to dodge some sprinklers before pushback. 
It didn't take long for normal service to resume as last season's top goal scorer, Cameron Cooke, had started his tally for 25/26. Lawry Williams made a glorious run down the left-hand side to enter the D and place it on a foot for a Penalty corner. Cameron's flick was initially saved, but Max Wilson hunted down the rebound outside the D and passed into the P spot, where Cam was able to slide the ball under the out-rushing Birmingham GK, and Norwich had the lead! This was not an indication of how the game would continue, though. Birmingham quickly got themselves together, Norwich sat back, and Birmingham won 4 penalty corners in the space of 7 minutes. Fraser Evans was equal to the first two; the 3rd was expertly left to head wide of the right goal post, but the 4th was coolly slotted into the side netting to bring the scores back level. 1-1 Q1. 
Q2 was quite cagey, neither side wanting to over-commit given how deadly both sides had looked on the counterattack or when they'd been given space to carry. The scores remained level mid-way through the quarter after a combination of Fraser, the goalpost and Tom Irvine's stick or maybe shoulder managed to keep another Uni of Birmingham drag flick out. The resulting 16 led to a wide pass finding a Birmingham midfielder at halfway, but Ben Griffiths was on hand to catch him napping and steal the ball back. Ben might've forgotten that this wasn't ice hockey and you can't use both sides of the stick whilst doing it as he dribbled away with the ball but the umpire also forgot and didn't call him up which allowed him to run away into space, play a 1-2 with the birmingham CB and find Lawry Williams at the p-spot who expertly rounded the Birmingham keeper to restore Norwich's one goal lead just before halftime. 
As the birmingham crowd came out in superb spirits to try and inspire their squad to make the comeback George Bedford was equal to them and confidently managed to silence them after a carry up the line under their noses and aerial into the centre of the pitch where Lawry was able to bring it down with plenty work to do but beat 3 defenders before slamming a half volley into the roof of the Birmingham net, the goalkeeper had no idea what he'd just witnessed as a debut brace for lawry etched him into Norwich city history only 36 minutes into his career with the yellows.  
Norwich showed ruthlessness beyond their years as they immediately won the ball back after pushback, and a quick long corner led to a ball across the face of the goal that was deflected upwards and held up in the air long enough for Ben Griffiths to run in and volley it into the goal, a National League debut goal for promising 17-year-old Ben! The goals continued, and the next one came from a man who's at the other end of the experience spectrum with about 50 national league caps to his name, as club stalwart Tom Cooke made sure Cameron wasn't the only family member with a goal, and he flicked a PC into the bottom left corner and extended Norwich's lead to 4 goals. A calamitous 5 minutes from Birmingham, but they regained composure and started to build some opportunities, another Penalty corner and another warning, but it went wide. Followed shortly after by another penalty corner, but a mistrap let Norwich off the hook this time. Finally Birmingham got the goal they'd threatened for 10 or so minutes... questions of a stick tackle, questions of interference, questions of a foot, but ultimately Norwich got lucky with their 2nd so this was the umpires evening it up and after a shot and rebound an attacker was able to bundle the ball in and add a little bit of spice to the match. 5-2 to start Q4, but all the momentum is currently with Birmingham. Norwich City were able to quickly quash that momentum as Tom Cooke, Harry Brown, Tom Irvine, George Bedford, Harry Morgan and Louis Preston were able to keep the ball for 3 minutes straight, even whilst Birmingham pushed to cut options. James Mackenzie, Ben Griffiths, Max Wilson & Ben Chapman all found themselves in space in the Birmingham half but weren't quite able to find the gap through the defence or goal goalkeeper and the scoreline remained the same. A confident 5-2 win was complete, and Norwich briefly became top of the table based on being the first to enter their result. 
A lot of debuts, either in the national league or for the club, a new captain, a new member of the coaching team and not a single person on the teamsheet disappointed. An excellent display to open this season's account. Bring on the first home game of the season Vs fellow Conference Midlands veterans Banbury.