Welcome to Horsham Hockey Club

28th January fixtures

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Club Auction – 4th February

We have the club auction coming up next weekend (4th February) at the club house. There are lots of items for sale, hockey or otherwise. Please come along and bring your family, there is something for everyone. Holidays, sports equipment, booze and lots of other items are normally on offer. If you have something to contribute, please contact Steph White. It is a really good fun night that is very important to the club, so please come along and grab a deal.

Saturday 4th February @ the club house, 7pm

Everyone welcome!

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Horsham Ladies Indoor success

10 Out of 10: Horsham Storm into National League Division One

After travelling to Birmingham, Horsham were unbeaten having played 5 matches over two days winning all of them.

This was added to the 5 matches won two weeks previous in National Division 2 South, which earned them a place in National Division 2 taking with them Surbiton and St Albans from the South and encountering the Army, Tynemouth & Whitley Bay and Holcombe from the North league.

Horsham started Saturday afternoon with a relatively easy game against Tynemouth and Whitley Bay, the team to have travelled the furthest, and scored two early goals courtesy of a Jess Dean short corner (the first of many) and a mazy run from Siobhan Aherne who later set up Steph Dent for the third. The match ended 6-1 after goals from Louisa Denman, Fran Crossley and another from Dean, and was the start of the 5-match winning run.

St Albans were up next and after having been a tough match in the previous competition, Horsham started slightly nervously and went a goal down within the first 10 minutes. Hard work in defence from Dean, Gill Adams and Siobhan Henn ensured Albans could not penetrate any further into the Horsham goal area. To level, short corner specialist Dean put an emphatic disguised shot into the bottom corner. This was then followed by a great team goal that started in defence, came to Zeph Hardy playing in the middle and was put in by Denman scoring the second of 5 goals for her over the weekend.

The first two games over and Horsham earned a well-deserved break and relaxation at the team hotel before an early start against the Army ladies team in the morning. Bright and early suited the Horsham team this Sunday morning and they started well against the Army with two quick goals. Great hassling up front from Heidi Menniss and Fran Crossley kept the ball in the Army’s half and Horsham were able to sneak in a third goal. The Army then rallied and came back with two goals, one of which was very well-worked and goalkeeper Hannah Simpson could do nothing about. One last goal before the end of the game, another short corner from Dean meant that Horsham were on still on track for the title.

Holcombe were up next and, having put a lot of effort into their previous match, Horsham were unsure whether they would come out fighting or be struggling for fitness. Two early goals, a fifth for Dean and one for Crossley, and a lot of controlled play between the defence of Dean and Adams kept Horsham the majority of possession throughout. More goals from Denman, Aherne and Adams showed the capacity that Horsham had within the team even when facing fatigue. However, Holcombe were not about to let the game slip away easily and the highest-scoring game on the weekend ensued. A tactical slip in defence let in an easy goal just after half time and two bullet-like flicks then gave Holcombe a slightly more even footing. Still in control though, Horsham fought back with goals from Crossley and Dent kept Horsham ahead. A fourth from a well-worked short corner put the score at 7-4 to Horsham and a final goal slipped inside the post from Dean to give a total of 7 to her and 8 for the match for Horsham.

Buoyed by victories, but jaded by the gap between games, Horsham came up against old foes Surbiton in the same fixture as the previous weekend. The ultimate game of the weekend in both time, a lovely 5pm start, and in knowing that both teams clinched promotion, neither were ready to let the game slip by. Half time came rather quickly with no goals scored after great defensive work from Adams, Dean and Henn and equal possession for both teams. Horsham rallied and realised that only a win was acceptable, some great tackling from Aherne and a slipped cross to Crossley put Horsham one ahead. More pressure was piled on the Surbiton defence after lots of pressing up front from Denman, Menniss and Dent. Jess Dean, who was outstanding during the weekend, was unsurprisingly instrumental in the final goal. Great work from Hardy in midfield gained Horsham a free hit. This was taken quickly by Dean and put straight into the D, Denman reached out and got the definitive tough to send it into the net past the Surbiton keeper for 2-0 and a final win to cap off a brilliant weekend where the whole team contributed and played together very well to ensure the title was theirs.

Coach Warren Gilmore said “What a great team performance, I could not single one person out as everyone played amazingly well over what was a long weekend against some tough opposition”.

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