Men's Three A's

Men's Three A's

League: Hereford & Glos 2

Captain: Charlie Mylchreest

Vice Captain: Matt Gardner

Fixtures 2007/08
Date Opposition H/A F/A
Sat 13 Sep 2008 Chippenham 3rds1:30pm Chippenham Sports Centre Away ---
Sat 27 Sep 2008 Gloucester City D1:30pm University of Gloucestershire Away 1-6
Sat 04 Oct 2008 Cirencester C12:30pm Balcarras Home 7-0
Sat 11 Oct 2008 Newent B3:30pm Newent Community School Away 2-2
Sat 18 Oct 2008 Stroud B12:30pm Balcarras Home 11-0
Sat 25 Oct 2008 Lansdown C2:00pm Pates Grammar School Away 4-0
Sat 01 Nov 2008 Sherborne A3:30pm Balcarras Home 5-2
Sat 08 Nov 2008 Ross-on-Wye A3:00pm Monmouth Boys School Away 6-0
Sat 15 Nov 2008 Winchcombe3:30pm Balcarras Home 6-1
Sat 22 Nov 2008 Hereford B12:00 noon Hereford Leisure Centre Away ---
Sat 29 Nov 2008 Lansdown B5:00pm Bournside School Away ---
Sat 06 Dec 2008 Cheltenham D3:30pm Balcarras Home ---
Sat 13 Dec 2008 Gloucester City D12:30pm Balcarras Home ---
Sat 10 Jan 2009 Evesham 3rds1:30pm Evesham High School Away ---
Sat 17 Jan 2009 Cirencester C11:40pm Deer Park Away ---
Sat 24 Jan 2009 Newent BTBD Somewhere Home ---
Sat 31 Jan 2009 Stroud B3:30pm Stroud Leisure Centre Away ---
Sat 07 Feb 2009 Lansdown C11:00am Balcarras Home ---
Sat 14 Feb 2009 Sherborne ATBD Away ---
Sat 21 Feb 2009 Ross-on-Wye A3:30pm Balcarras Home ---
Sat 28 Feb 2009 Winchcombe3:00pm Christ College (two Winchcombe umpires) Away ---
Sat 07 Mar 2009 Hereford BTBD St Edwards Home ---
Sat 14 Mar 2009 Lansdown B3:30pm Balcarras Home ---
Sat 21 Mar 2009 Cheltenham D11:00am Balcarras Away ---
Squad List
Name Age Position Number
Andrew Hopcraft 34 Defender 4
Charles Mylchreest 28 Midfield 66
Daniel Hills 16 Midfield 94
Dean Rae 17 Midfied 70
George Ratcliffe 15 GK 96
Iain Jamieson 19 Defender 31
Jacob Bond 16 Defender 54
James Slee 16 Defender 90
Jonathan Cartwright 17 Defender 97
Josh Baum 16 Midfield 61
Matt Gardener 24 Midfield 83
Matt Goldsmith 17 Midfield 30
Michael Woodfood 15 Defender 95
Nick Hardy 48 Forward 59
Simon Slabbert 15 Defender 106
Tom Cantle 29 Midfield  
Tom Haggie 16 Midfield 35
League Table 2007/08
Team P W D L F A GD PTS
Sherborne 22 19 1 2 117 34 83 58
Cirencester A 22 17 0 5 89 39 50 51
Hereford A 22 14 3 5 73 29 44 45
Newent A 22 13 1 8 100 66 34 40
Lydney A 22 12 2 8 67 63 4 38
Cleevillians 22 10 1 11 50 54 -4 31
Leominster A 22 8 3 11 63 70 -7 27
Gloucester City C 22 7 3 12 39 63 -24 24
Stroud A 22 8 0 14 45 76 -31 24
Wotton-u-Edge A 22 6 2 14 52 77 -25 20
Lansdown B 22 5 1 16 28 103 -75 13
Cheltenham C 22 3 3 16 25 74 -49 12

Overall, the 2007-8 season for the mens 3A's can only be described as disappointing, especially given our great promotion winning season last year. Hopes were high after the first game, where a solid 1-1 draw gave us a good start in what was going to be a difficult higher league. From then on until Christmas, we struggled to get any momentum, not helped by the varying degrees of availability of players, and we suffered a number of frustrating narrow losses, and the odd thumping thrown in for good measure!

There was, on occasion, some good, and at times very good, hockey being played, and a number our younger players (Matt Goldsmith, George Ratcliffe, Iain Jaimeson, Dan Hills & Dean Rae to name a few) showed dramatic improvements on last season and had no problem competing at this slightly higher level.

Still, we were struggling for results, and by Christmas, a meagre 2 points saw us propping up the table. Even though we had the players and the team, the narrow defeats dented confidence, and we just couldn't get a run going.

A post Christmas friendly victory over Evesham should have kick started our new year, but with an increasing lack of available players through the club (skiiing holidays beware!), the lower teams especially struggled to field what could be described as a competitive team, and the run never materialised! Our fisrt win of the season on 19th January at Stroud which gave a brief positive kick, but this was followed by 3 heavy defeats in a row, and then a narrow 3-2 defeat to Leominster effectively sealed our drop to H & G 2.

A big thanks during this period to the Uni lads who at times made up over half our team! Thanks Ben for being committed and sorting some good, and some lucky, players! You know who you are!

Wez did rally towards the end of the season, with 2 wins out of our last 3, and really did play some great hockey, defeating both Gloucester (woohoo!) and Newent (who finished 4th in the league) 3-1. Special mention in these games should go to Iain Jaimeson and Matt Goldsmith who really turned it on and gave their chances of promotion next season a push in the right direction. Also worthy of mention are Eddy and Jean Paul, and other Castlers, who stepped in for our last game and were in no small part to thank for the great result.

A big thanks to all who played, and hopefully next year we will be able to field a more regular and consistent team of players, to give us a chance of getting re-promoted! Playing hockey as we did in the last 3 games is obviously possible, and if we play like this next year, promotion should be a given.

Thanks to George, Craig, Iain, Matt.G, Matt.G, Dave Fielding, Hoppy, Ben, Greg, Phil, Campbell, Brad, Slabbert, Dan, Dean, Eddy, Adam, Tom, Nick & Dave Bagnall. If I've missed anyone, sorry!

Charlie Mylchreest