Versa: Issue Three

18
OA Sports
19
INCREDIBALL
achievements!
OA Cricket Club
by Richard Morgan (OA 1979)
OACC has had a good 2018 summer, fielding four senior
teams in the Saracens Herts League again, and a full
complement of junior sides in the Herts Junior Leagues. There
was another promotion to celebrate, our 3rd XI, captained by
Tariq Hassan, achieving promotion for the third consecutive
season into Division 8B next season.
Our 1st XI won seven games out of seventeen in Division 1 but
we still found ourselves in relegation trouble at the end of the
season, in a tight division, rescuing ourselves with a handsome
win versus Kings Langley on the last day of the season and
relegating Chorleywood instead. The 2nd XI consolidated in
fifth place in Division 5B but for the overall health of the Club it
would be nice to see them promoted a bit higher up the leagues
to provide higher quality cricket for both the top two teams.
The 3rd XI in promotion benefited again from strong
performances from a number of junior cricketers. Next
season, some players should find themselves playing in
the 1st and 2nd XI teams. The 4th XI again were frustrated
by finishing third in their division, Regional B, one place
below a promotion spot, being led throughout the season by
Simon Bates with great enthusiasm and intent to blood our
youngsters as much as possible.
OA CRICKET – U17S WINNING TEAM OF COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
the County Championship, annihilating Hoddesdon U17s
in the final on 2nd September. They scored 192 for 7 off 40
overs, Ross Weaver top-scoring with 64, Noah Charsley-Smith
(42) and Tim Davies (34). Hoddesdon were then skittled for
56 all out, James Barwick taking 4 for 12 and Joe Curran and
Brendan Warren each taking two wickets. The victorious team
is pictured above!
Our Under 10s ‘incrediball’ team were also County champions
in their age group. Our Under 14s and Under 15s A-teams
were runners up in their age groups after very successful
seasons.
The continuing strength of the junior section (led tirelessly by
Alison Curran), particularly the Under 17 group and the mix
of some of the senior teams this summer, indicates that we
should be able to achieve a better transition of players from
our juniors into the senior teams in coming years, something
that everyone throughout the Club wants to see.
All that remains is for us to enhance our efforts at drawing
more sponsorship into the Club, as financial pressures are the
most pressing issue. We will look back on 2018, however, as a
pretty good season overall.
ALL CHANGE
for a new season
There have been some changes behind the scenes
pre-season. Firstly, a warm welcome back to Rory
Davis as Chairman and Richard Milnes as President.
Safe hands at the helm. Kim Watson, Captain of the
Grizzlies (4ths) for the last five years takes on the role of
Club Captain. James Osborn comes in as Head of Rugby
Operations and will oversee the running of the Club. Rob
Fenton comes in as Men’s Rugby General Manager, Kate
Barnes assumes the role of Assistant Club Captain and
Craig Hattingh takes over from the long-standing Fixtures
Secretary, Darren Ead, who stepped down at the end of last
season.
A fraught season ended with relegation to Level 4 by the
closest of margins and, whilst the level of rugby played
in National Two South is of a very high quality, Albanian
management and players will earnestly want to return to the
higher division as soon as possible.
New Head Coach Gavin Hogg prepared his charges well and
ran a good pre-season. Come the season, it seemed natural
OA Rugby Football Club
By Richard Milnes
that it would take a while for new players and different
combinations to get used to a new playing structure.
Rosslyn Park caught everyone cold in the opening match.
The narrowest of defeats when Coventry (now in the
Championship) visited put all in good heart but there were
already continuity problems.
Selection was on many occasions taken out of the hands of
management. This affects preparation for each individual
match as new players are constantly introduced to the mix.
There was no lack of effort or commitment amongst any
of the squad but for the entire season a different side was
fielded on consecutive Saturdays… sometimes a vastly
different side! This is only understandable when it is realised
that no fewer than 70 players took to the field during the
year, an unconscionable number for any coaching staff.
After a lively pre-season, including a first visit to Cardiff
Arms Park, newly promoted Guernsey will be our first
League opponents at Woollams. It will be a great way to start
the fightback!
The best team achievements of the season rested with the two
junior teams, Under 17s and Under 10s. The Under 17s won
ORDER
on the Court
OA Tennis Club
by Maureen Harcourt
Although for some people the continuous hot weather this
summer was a trial, for OA Tennis, it resulted in a great season.
We did not have to cancel a single tennis match! Our Ladies
and Mixed Teams, having gained promotion last season, had
some tough matches but managed to consolidate their positions
in the 4th and 3rd Divisions respectively of the Watford and
District League. Unfortunately, our Mens Team, having gained
promotion to the 1st Division, struggled to maintain their
position so will be joining the 2nd Division next season.
Ready for the winter season, we have once again entered a
Mixed Team into the East Herts Autumn League and a Ladies
We’re always keen to hear from any readers who would like to
support the club so please do contact me via the details on page 2.
Team into the Hertfordshire Senior Winter League. As a new
venture, we have introduced a box league for Club members,
including Singles and Mixed, which will run throughout the
autumn and winter.
At the end of August, we held the Sue Barnes Memorial
Event and a great time was had by all, despite having to play
between some heavy showers! We finished the event with
strawberries, scones and cream and some quizzes.
We would like to express our thanks to the catering staff at
the OA Pavilion at Woollams who have provided us with teas
throughout the season – the food is legendary amongst other
clubs who enjoy coming to play us, just for the teas!
Margie Edge, our Club Coach, is offering a full range of
coaching opportunities for adults and children. Please take a
look at our website for more information:
www.oldalbanians.co.uk/tennis or contact Maureen at
m.harcourt@ntlworld.com or Margie at 22safina@gmail.com
for information on joining.
OA Saints
So near yet so far was the best way to sum up our third
place in the table last season, for a second year running.
After continuing to work on new methods of play,
Saracens and England 7’s player Sarah McKenna also
joined the coaching team to help develop this further.
This was a welcome addition for Head Coach Darran
Brown after assistant coach Henry Clear’s daughter
arrived early.
A key focus last season was to understand more about
where we can improve our game. Now working with
analysis software, we are able to review match footage
before training to see where we can improve our patterns
of play. This helps the players to understand more about
positional play and the strategy we are working to.
Towards the end of the season, it began to pay dividends
with some memorable scores.
Looking forward to the 2018-19 season and with Kate
Barnes stepping down, Julia Holmes has been appointed
the new Saints Club Captain and we wish her well. We
have also appointed a match day Captain and two Vice-
Captains for the season, details to be announced.
The heat has made pre-season that bit harder and we
make no bones about our ambitions to gain promotion to
Women’s Championship South this season. The players are
all putting a lot of work in and we look forward to a couple
of preseason friendly fixtures. We have our eyes set on
silverware and nothing less will do.
Minis and Juniors
Age Grade Rugby was introduced in September 2016,
setting out to ensure that ‘young players play the right
rugby at the right time’. From our U5 Rugby Rats gaining
their first rugby experiences through to our U12s
transitioning to youth rugby, almost 450 players are proud
to be part of the youngest section of OARFC. At OAs, we
are fully committed to these principles and a large number
of coaches across the age groups attended coaching
transition courses before the start of last season to ensure
that they were fully prepared to coach and support the
players with the new age specific rules.