The fourth weekend of the league fixtures saw the most successful set of results for the club so far with victories for five of our seven teams in action.

Men’s 1st XI vs Barford Tigers
Two goals in 6 mins and a second hattrick is as many week’s from star forward C. Palmer saw the M1s claim a fantastic win over Barford Tigers. All credit to the visitors who played well throughout the match and showcased their technical skills but Old Hales were the superior able to hand everything that was thrown at them. Palmer opened the scoring inside 3 minutes with a well-controlled finished from a penalty corner. He then doubled the home side’s lead shortly after by forcing an error from the Barford defender before slapping the ball powerfully passed the keeper. Palmer sealed victory with another penalty corner finish on the stroke of half time. The second half saw the away side fight to get themselves back into the game and would have done so were it not for some exceptional defending lead by veteran P. Woodall. Captain Adam Banks said “It was a strong and smart performance from us against an unpredictable and fiery Barford side. Being 3-0 up at the half set the tone and standard of the match. In the second half, we adapted to their high press and saw out the result. Good to see we can still do damage whilst only having 12 players”
Result: 3-1; goals from C. Palmer (3)
Player of the Match: C. Palmer

Ladies 1st XI vs Bromsgrove
Old Hales L1s put in another strong performance against a good Bromsgrove team and were able to emerge victorious once again. Top performances from S. Atherton and M. Kelly in the middle of the pitch were too much for the visitors to handle. Captain Ella Priest reflected post match and said “Sadly we were unable to convert more goals, this will come though! I have faith! Looking forward to getting back into training, and to continue the season on a high”.
Result: 2–0; goals from S. Atherton & K. Greaves
Player of the Match: K. Nye

Men’s 2nd XI vs Ludlow
Old Hales Men’s 2 demonstrated what the term "bouncebackability” really meant as the game started poorly, with the team going 3-0 down within the first 25 minutes. Clearly Captain Nick Bindley’s pregame motivational talk didn’t hit the right notes. Old Hales responded with some nice interlinking play from Captain Nick and P. Robinson and managed to work their way up field to allow C. Walder to work his magic with a tomahawk whilst stepping back which beat the Bromsgrove keeper. Heading into half time at 3-1, Captain Nick pulled out all the stops with his talk and the team emerged with fresh motivation. O. Myers securing a second goal straight after the restart, shortly followed by a third goals from returning C. Hardy. At 3-3 with 20 minutes to go Old Hales were hungry for the win and carried on applying the pressure. O. Myers took the team into the lead by stealing the ball off the Ludlow centre back and slotting it neatly into the goal. C. Hardy sealed victory by again showing his class and getting himself a second goal to make it 5-3 after an attractive bit of build up play from P. Robinson, C. Walder and the beautiful D. Sorrell. Captain Nick said post match “We definitely have some things to work on, but we will take this deserved win into the break week and celebrate with some beers”
Result: 5-3; goals from C. Hardy (2), O. Myers (2) & C. Walder
Player of the Match: N. Brindley (awarded by N. Brindley)

Ladies 2nd XI vs Bournville & Kings Heath
New look, same result, as the unbeaten Ladies 2 go into the break-week on top form. It was a tightly contested first half but tensions eased with a goal early into the second half, with victory sealed just before full time. A breakthrough performance from B Grayson-Place really showed how much the team has come on in the last year. Captain Jess Wilkinson said “The opposition might have had Oscar winning performances but we still came away with the win. I’m really proud of how the girls have performed so far this season and can’t wait to resume after the break.”
Result: 2–0; goals from N. Walder & M de Bechi
Player of the Match: B. Grayson-Place

Men’s 3rd XI vs Bromsgrove
Old Hales M3s travelled to Bromsgrove and came up against a strong side who threw everything at the away side from the first whistle. Old Hales were left to rue errors as the hosts ruthlessly took advantage to score 4 goals in the first half, with Mark Curzon grabbing a consolation before having to depart with a recurring calf issue. A better 2nd half from Old Hales prevented any more damage. A big shout out to J. Jones who answered a late plea to put the pads on and produced many fine saves. Captain Steve Charlton reflected "Frustratingly from us there were spells of good stuff where we matched the hosts, but we were punished by a strong opposition and it's the standard and consistency we need to aim to get to as a side to compete with the better sides in the league."
Result: 1–4; goals from M. Curzon
Player of the Match: N. Hemming

Men’s 4th XI vs Bromsgrove
Old Hales M4s aka ‘Team Dad’ enjoyed a wonderful early morning match against Bromsgrove and emerged victorious. They controlled the game from the off and never looked like losing. An excellent debut from C. Raxter saw him praised by the team and was awarded the coveted Player of the Match crown. A big well done to another debutant this week; R.Turner who becomes the fourth member of his family to put on an Old Hales shirt this season. Captain James Davies commented ‘It was so enjoyable to be on the pitch this week, the lads were great and it was nice to get a win”.
Result: 4-1; goals from J. Davies (2), O. Byard-Jones, JB
Player of the Match: C. Raxster

Badgers XI vs Redditch
Old Hales Badgers travelled to Redditch and were well beaten by a more experienced team. With regular GK Riley G. missing through injury, coach L. Davis stepped up to play a deep sweeper role and boy was he needed against a very slick home team. The 15-player Old Hales squad struggled to contain the hosts who lead 3-0 at half time. It definitely would have been more without the stout defensive work of Ava T and Harriet N. A stern half-team talk from Coach J. Brooke and L. Davis saw a rejuvenated Old Hales side who performed admirably in second half. Young Arun N had several mazy runs which caused problems for the Redditch defence and some resilient performances in midfield from Frank L, Sav P and Freddie C which showcased the talent within the squad. Redditch were able to grab a further two goals before the final whistle walking away as valiant winners.
Result: 0–5
Coach’s Player of the Match: Arun N
Player’s Player of the Match: Ava T