hellenic football league news and reports

NEW COLLEGE ACADEMY NEWS

New College End Of Season - 22 May

New College Swindon finished off the 2012/13 season by holding there Annual Presentation night and awards evening on Thursday 16th May at Supermarine RFC Sports and Social Club.

A hot and cold buffet and brief season review of all 3 sides was followed by several awards being presented:-

Wilts Floodlit U18's (Presented by Matt Cosnett)

Players Player - Max Slinn
Managers Player - Lee Toomey

South West Counties U18's (Presented by Mick Burke

Players Player - Sam Lofts
Managers Player - Grant White

Hellenic Squad (Presented by Rob Hopkins)

Players Player - Ryan Elliott
Managers Player - Alex Swatridge

Special Awards (Presented by Ian Howell)

Clubman - The Slinn Family
Best Trainer - Josh Croucher
Most Improved - Jack Goddard
Golden Boot - Christy Millar 23 goals

Flowers and bottles of wine were presented to the staff at Supermarine RFC for the help and service throughout the season for all 3 teams.

A Special mention, bottle of wine, trophy and thanks for long service award was presented to Matt Lawrence for his service as club physio.

A bottle of Champagne, trophy, thanks and an acknowledgement of his 25 years service was presented by the whole academy to Paul Smith who retires in June.

A massive thank you to all the volunteers, staff, players and parents who have made this another successful season.

Pleasing Performance - 22 April

Rob Hopkins stressed that New College's performance in their 3-0 home defeat to Brimscombe & Thrupp on Saturday was more important than the result.

Hopkins made several changes to his starting line-up for the Hellenic Division One West clash after being left disillusioned by some of his more senior students’ displays of late, and he was pleased by the general reaction of his team against the league champions. After falling a goal behind in the first half, New College battled hard and provided a stiff test for Brimscombe before running out of steam late on and conceding twice more in the final 10 minutes.

But Hopkins was far from disappointed after the match, saying: “We knew it was going to be a hard game. You can see why they won the league, they’re a good, strong outfit. They’re experienced players – a lot of players are a league, maybe two below where they should be. “I did mention that we were going to change things around. The older players across all three sides weren’t really hitting the kind of levels we expect from the amount of input they were getting. The under 18s performed a lot better going to Poole Town and the side we put out was competitive right down to the last 10 minutes. The first 80 minutes we were right in it. All we asked from the players was that they gave us a bit of a shift and a performance and I can’t fault any of their work ethics or commitment on the day. They really put a shift in and all credit to them – that’s what we want. We wanted that reaction from them, to put their hands up and say they can hit those kinds of levels. We were competitive right the way up to the 82nd minute and then things started to become a little stretched. We started to blow a little bit because they had put a massive shift in all day and space just opened up for them to score a couple of late goals. The result wasn’t important to us.”

Youngsters Call Up - 19 April

Rob Hopkins is set to hand some younger members of the New College squad a start for tomorrow’s visit to One West Champions Brimscombe & Thrupp in an attempt to give his under performing experienced players a wake up call.

Hopkins comments in the Swindon Advertiser he was not happy with some of his players’ performances as the students lost 3-1 at Purton on Wednesday, calling their commitment and desire into question. He is likely to bring a number of first years into the side for the home game against the table toppers, and is hoping his selection gives his first-teamers some food for thought.

“We were very disappointed by the way we played against Purton and to be honest it was embarrassing, and I told them that at the end,” he said. “The two things we do ask from the lads is work rate and focus, and we got neither and that means we were very poor. Some of the performances from a few of the older lads were just not acceptable, and they didn’t seem to be motivated or up for it for some reason. The effort levels and technical performance was poor considering they get four sessions a week, and they should know what we ask from them and deliver. Things were said at half-time to that effect, and I was embarrassed to go into the bar afterwards and speak to parents because it was that shocking. If they keep on playing like that for us we will change things round, and there is a likelihood we could play quite a young side and give some first years a go to give some of the older players a kick up the backside.”

Despite the quality of tomorrow’s opposition Hopkins doesn’t believe the inclusion of his younger players is a baptism of fire, and has backed them to step up to the challenge. “There won’t be any pressure on them at all because we are not under pressure to win, lose or draw, as that’s not what we are about,” he said. “We’re about developing players and getting them to perform consistently, and if they get the opportunity we want them to go out with a good work rate and a good amount of focus. If we can get a result then great, but a positive performance is what we’re all about and we will be very pleased if we can get that. It’s going to be a hard game because they are by far the best team in the league, and it’s going to be a challenge for us no doubt about it. They will be raring to have a chance which is good, so I am sure there will be a lot of positives from it.”

Friday Night Fixture - 12 April

Rob Hopkins admits he is mystified by the decision to organise New College’s game at Cricklade for this evening, but refused to criticise the Hellenic League for their scheduling.

Both teams have tomorrow free but will instead clash at Stones Lane in Division One West tonight with a 6.30pm kick-off intended to counteract Cricklade’s lack of floodlights. Hopkins said: “I’m not going to be critical of the league regards fixtures because I know what they will say, why don’t you come and do it? I know they do a better job than I could, but it does seem a bit strange to not be playing on a Saturday when we both have a Saturday free. With a 6.30pm kick-off I think we’ll be turning round pretty quickly at half-time, as it will be a bit dark by the last 10 minutes. I imagine we’ll just do five minutes at half-time.”

New College have four games in the next 19 days in the Hellenic League, but a busy run of fixtures for the under 18s side means the next few weeks will be busier than they appear at first. However, Hopkins feels College have more than enough players to cope with the tough period ahead. He said: “We have a huge amount of games coming up in a short space of time, but we have enough players to deal with it and it’s just a matter of rotating the squad. We will minimise what we do in training and it will just be playing games. The players will miss out on a bit of the technical stuff, but we don’t mind this part of the season. We deal with it better than a lot of other clubs because of the amount of players we have.”

Nathan Blackford is unavailable for tonight’s trip to Stones Lane while Hopkins is facing two other injury concerns. Mandeep Khaira has a groin problem while Ryan Stanners has been troubled by a foot injury, but it is hoped that both will come through.

Continuity Hope - 8 March

New College boss Rob Hopkins had been hoping for some continuity after his side finally got their first win since September last weekend.

But he has not got his wish as several factors have conspired to ensure that a number of changes will have to be made for tomorrow's home clash with Old Woodstock. Richie Smith is unavailable while Nathan Blackford and Ryan Scanners are doubtful with knocks ahead of the Division One West fixture.

Hopkins said: “I think we might have to make quite a few changes this week because some lads have picked up knocks. Also the under 18s have quite a few games over the next few days so we'll have to spread the squad across all of that, so we might be a bit thin. It might be all-change, which is a shame after we got a win last weekend, but never mind. Hopefully we can build on what we did last Saturday.”

College might have been on the end of a 4-1 defeat in their last encounter with Old Woodstock, but Hopkins is positive on his team's chances of getting a better result this time round. “They are higher up in the table than us but we played well against them last time,” he said. “We should have come away with more than what we got.”

Super Saver - 4 March

Alex Swatridge saved two penalties at North Leigh as New College claimed their first Uhlsport Helleinic League Division One West victory in five-and-a-half months.

The students saw off hosts North Leigh Reserves 2-1, with the second of Swatridge’s spot kick stops coming in the 96th minute. College took the lead midway through the first half when Ryan Stanners beat his man and cut back for Lee Toomey to tap in from six yards. Swatridge palmed a penalty round the post at the other end before Toomey sent home another close-range finish. North Leigh cranked up the pressure in the second half and were rewarded with a goal with around 15 minutes left, but Swatridge’s full-stretch penalty stop at the death ensured College took victory.

Boss Rob Hopkins was delighted with his players’ attitude in securing a first league win since September 15. He said: “Credit to the lads because they conducted themselves very maturely in a game of quite difficult circumstances. I’ve written a report with the regard to the performance of the officials and it’s probably best I don’t elaborate further on that. The players didn’t let the situation get to them at all and 2-1 was not a fair reflection of the game, we should have made it a lot easier for ourselves. Afterwards the over 18s were told to go out and enjoy themselves and the under 18s were told to go home, have a hot chocolate and watch Match of the Day.”

New College are now out of the bottom two courtesy of their victory and Wootton Bassett’s 2-1 win at Letcombe. Hopkins is hoping Saturday’s win will inspire his team to kick on and secure their survival in the Hellenic League. “The results have gone with us and we’re now slowly creeping up the table,” he said. “Seven games of our last nine are at home and we have to take advantage of that. There are plenty of games there that we should be getting points from as a lot of them are against teams around us. We’re going to be alright if we can repeat anything like Saturday’s performance levels.”

Refreshed - 2 March

Rob Hopkins feels a three-week break has done his New College side the power of good ahead of their return to action today at North Leigh Reserves.

The students will target their first victory in Division One West since September 15 in Oxfordshire and boss Hopkins reckons his injury-free side are in decent shape. “We haven’t played for two weekends but that’s given us the chance to recover from a few niggles and knocks and there has been a bug going round too,” he said. “We were due to play Letcombe last weekend but they managed to get to the semi-final of the Berks & Bucks Intermediate Cup and that took precedence. We trained all this week and all last week and the lads are raring to go which is always a good sign, if they weren’t we’d be a little bit nervous. Hopefully we can get our first win since September.”

Hopkins is not sure what to expect from North Leigh Reserves, a side who like College are struggling but whose personnel depends largely on the first team. “I wouldn’t want the job of being a reserve team manager, I’d imagine their side changes on a daily basis never mind a weekly basis,” said Hopkins. “You can’t draw anything from previous results because you don’t know who has moved up and down from the first team, so it’s a bit of a mystery.”

He added: “With the exception of Brimscombe and Bassett, everyone seems to be taking points off everyone else. “Three good results can move you up the table and three bad results can send you down it. Every game is a cup final for us from here on in.”

Barren Of Wins - 8 February

Uhlsport Division One West, New College, make the trip to Carterton with a full squad having not won in the league since September 15.

“We’re in a bit of a rut in terms of performance levels,” said boss Rob Hopkins. “If we weren’t creating chances we’d be looking at things more seriously. We are creating enough chances to win games, we’re just not putting them away. We also need to get rid of the niggling errors that are costing us goals.”

Weather Poses No Training Problems - 21 January

New College boss Rob Hopkins has fewer concerns about training facilities than other Hellenic League managers.

The Uhlsport Hellenic League One West side has the facilities of the College the students play for available to them. “We had to cancel training on Friday because the college was closed,” he revealed. “But I think the college will be open again on Monday so we'll at least have the lads training in preparation for next week. We'll just train indoors this week and see how we go.”

Defence Lacking - 7 January

Ryan Stanners scored the only goal for New College in their 3-1 defeat against Lydney Town.

New College boss Rob Hopkins said: “The lads were disappointed when they came off because we gifted them three goals. We created enough chances to win the game but we only took one. The players felt they were quite sloppy with their competitiveness defensively and that was the difference between the sides. They defended well and we didn’t.”

Challenge As Expected - 28 December

Rob Hopkins says his New College squad have had the challenge they fully expected this season in Division One West.

The students have struggled so far in 2012/13 and have clocked up just seven points from 16 games. But with gifted players departing for pastures new in the summer, Hopkins believes a tough campaign is hardly a surprise. "It's a lot more of a challenge this year because we lost a few of the stronger older players who are now playing at a higher level," he said. "That's meant we now have a squad with an average age of 18 rather than 20 which is what we had last year. The one thing we try and instil in them is that it's about the development and getting used to the jump from under 18s to men’s football. If they aren't doing so well we have to make sure their heads are still up, but the players know they are a young side and that it's going to be challenging."

New College travel to promotion-chasing Wootton Bassett tomorrow and Hopkins reckons their opponents will be a division above sooner rather than later. "Bassett are a good side and are pushing Brimscombe for winning the title," he said. "It's a good setup there and they are a Hellenic Premier team in all but status. We know it's going to be a challenge, we'll just play how we normally play and see how we get on."

New College will have a full squad provided they did not pick up any injuries in last night's game at Fairford.

Looking On The Bright Side - 5 October

Mark Teasdale is remaining relentlessly upbeat in the face of disappointing recent results for New College. The youngsters have won just twice in their opening nine Division One West games and were knocked out of the Bluefin Insurers Challenge Cup by Thatcham Town Reserves on Saturday.

But Teasdale, whose side welcome Lambourn tomorrow, said: “It’s not all doom and gloom. We’ve had good and bad games and it’s about getting consistency. “We got beat 3-0 at Thatcham last week and we didn’t start playing until the second half. But there’s promise there, it’s just a matter of getting that consistency, the belief that 17 and 18-year-olds can compete with 26 and 27-year-olds. When things are going well you don’t have to tell the players anything, but when they are going wrong you have to step in. It’s about how we go about putting things right in training now.”

Shock From Behind - 17 September

New College came from behind to shock Purton in a feisty encounter at the Red House in Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West.

The hosts had opened the scoring in the first half when striker Richie Crocker capitalised on lax defending. However, College were a different proposition after the break and Gio Wrona, one of two substitutes made by the visitors at the interval, pulled them level from the spot. Ryan Stanners secured all three points with a fortuitous strike from range, a huge deflection leaving the keeper completed wrong-footed.

College first-team coach Rob Hopkins said: “We weren’t at the races in the first half, we seem a bit slow out of the blocks and the fact we went in 1-0 down didn’t do us any favours. We had a good chat with the lads at half time and made a couple of key subs and got ourselves back in the game. They were good finishes for the goals and it was good work to create the space. As in the first half we were a little bit wasteful and maybe we should have won more comfortably than we did. But to come back from 1-0 down to win 2-1 was certainly a good effort. We will take a lot from it. There’s a lot of local derbies this year, we’ve beaten Malmesbury and Purton so that gives us a good base becuase we’ve got another one next week against Cricklade .”

College Fall To Champs - 3 September

New College’s win tally in Uhlsport Hellenic League Division One West remains at just one after they were well-beaten by reigning champions Tytherington at the weekend.

College first-team coach Rob Hopkins (pictured) said: “We played really well against Malmesbury on Wednesday (when College won 3-2), but it was like a different team on Saturday. On Wednesday we dealt with the physical side of it well and we didn’t do that against Tytherington. Teams are used to the way we play from the back now and they were able to deal with it. We made silly errors that we paid for. We were sloppy in our passing and weren’t really at the races for long periods of the game.”

Young Guns - 17 August

In Uhlsport Hellenic Division One West, the average age of the already youthful New College side is poised to get even younger for their clash with hosts Clanfield.

Sam Brown, Andy Burke and Connor Moody are all unavailable and coach Rob Hopkins said: “We will go with a little bit of a younger side because we’ve got a few lads missing. We had a look at a few of the under 18s in pre-season, so we’ve got a rough idea who we are going to put in there.”

College fought back from two goals down but still lost a thriller against Lydney at the Webb's Wood Stadium on Tuesday night. After going in 2-0 down at the break, the youngsters showed great character in the second half of the Division One West clash. Harvey Scholes hit the kind of strike his namesake would be proud of to give the hosts hope midway through the second period. With five minutes to play, a driven free kick from the right flank was directed in by Ben Wells. However, in the final minute, College were caught pressing too hard for a third goal and Lydney were able to grab a winner.

“We gave them a 2-0 lead which gave us a mountain to climb, but we came back into it really well,” said Hopkins. “We were just a bit naïve defensively at the end and they hit us with a bit of a sucker punch.”

College And Marine Player Development - 3 August

New College will work closely with Swindon Supermarine in the upcoming season in a bid to help young players continue their development.

Academy manager Ian Howell wants to replicate the relationship the college had with the Evo-Stik Southern League club when he was assistant manager to Mark Collier there in the noughties. To that end, the college’s best players from their Hellenic League side will also sign for Marine, giving them the chance to both train and play at a higher level. One of the most well-known ‘graduates’ who previously made the jump was striker David Pratt, who later went on to play for Chippenham and Basingstoke and is now at Maidenhead.

In recent times Jamie Prictor and Jon Beeden have made the jump to Southern League football and both played for Marine in the last campaign.

As part of the link-up, New College’s Hellenic League team will have use of the Webb’s Wood Stadium pitch for home games, having previously played elsewhere on the South Marston site. Howell, who is also a youth coach at Premier League giants Chelsea, explained: “For New College it means we’ve got a nice structure in place where we can bring lads in at 16, develop them into our programme and have a link with a club at a higher level, so we can push them through. Even though we’re a football club in our own right, we don’t have players staying for five or six years because they move on, whereas a lot of the players we play against will naturally go through to the first teams of those clubs. We can’t do that as we’re never going to go into the Southern League. We want New College and Supermarine to be closer than we have been in previous years, and this will give the players the chance to step up to a better level of football. They deserve the opportunity.”

Howell added that Supermarine’s current position in the footballing ladder made it easier to set up the link between the clubs. “Supermarine had been playing in the Southern Premier and that level was too big a step up for many of our young players. But because they are now playing in Division One South & West, that will make it a slightly easier transition for an 18 or 19-year-old.”

A handful of the New College group will start training at Marine next week and manager Dave Webb, a close friend of Howell’s, was delighted to begin the link-up. “The players are testing themselves in the Hellenic League and they have a direct link to a Southern League club - to me it makes perfect sense,” he said. "We will dual-sign some of their lads this year, certainly half a dozen and maybe more, and introduce those that are doing well into games. They have got some very talented players there and we’re not going to carry a massive squad, so we need good quality back-up. The added advantage of working with them is it means you might see more people coming through the gates when New College aren’t playing.”