Teddington Hockey Club’s men’s and women’s second teams are both eyeing promotion from the London Premier Division for the first time in the club’s 155-year history.
Success would mean playing in the Conference East, a regional division featuring many teams outside of London.
Both sides narrowly missed out on the achievement last campaign, but have since strengthened and are ready to go again.
The Women’s 2s have already got off to a flying start with a 5-0 win against Tulse Hill & Dulwich first team.
Captain Livy D’Castro set the standard with the opener, before a quickfire double from Molly Chesney. Elen Dutton also got a brace, with a fantastic reverse strike and a flicked penalty corner.
After the game, D’Castro said: “Our ambition is definitely to be promoted this year.
“I didn’t want to speak before in case we lost that match – it could have been a bit awkward!
“We played a friendly against Barnes 2s on Monday, they’re in the league above us, and we beat them 3-1 quite comfortably.
“Everyone in our squad is very good. That’s why we’re probably pushing for promotion, because if someone is not having a good day, you can rely on someone else.”
This club unity has significantly built up over the past decade to provide a platform for success.
Former Teddington player and coach, Shannon Coach said: “It’s taken 10 years to get where we are now. The junior section has always done quite well. Now that’s what feeding up into the Ladies.”
The Men’s 2s were also successful against Tulse Hill & Dulwich 1s, securing a well-earned 3-2 victory.
Adam Laitt and Oliver Lennox both scored following penalty corners, with Ethan Hoddle adding a field goal.
Captain Nacho Cookman was particularly pleased with his side’s mentality against tough opposition.
He said: “They’re a feisty bunch, they always get up for it.
“That’s their game plan to get in your heads, so you’ve got to stay cool, calm and composed. We said let them get angry and we stick with our game.”
Similarly to D’Castro, he and the rest of the team believe promotion is the goal this season.
He said: “There is an ambition there from the squad that if we’re going to go for it, this is the year we really go for it.”
Last season was extremely tough, coming second in the league by just three points. However, Cookman believes the team were not quite ready for promotion.
He said: “We were really proud of what we did. To be honest though, if we went up, it might have been a year too early.
“Hampstead and Westminster 2s had New Zealand’s second best flicker – he scored four every game. If we went up against that, we would have been in trouble.”
However, now they are primed with a full-time coach and six new players, including multiple juniors and returners from university.
One of these returners is “Mr Consistent” Tim Bryce, who Cookman has tipped to become player of the season.
If they achieve it, the historic success for both teams would be huge for the club’s progress, and for hockey in Teddington in general.
“Hockey does not get much publicity at all,” Cookman commented. “The more people talk about it, the more people will play it.”
Featured image credit: Mark Shepherd
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