RYE – Field Hockey New York

Rye Field Hockey Club made fluent start to the 2008/2009 season, beating last year’s regular season champions Greenwich FHC I with 8-1 (6-1). The result reflects some of the changes that have occurred during the offseason. Greenwich is in the process of digesting the departure of some of their top players who joined newly formed New York City Hockey Club (NYC) in an effort to balance the forces in New York’s field hockey scene. NYC will certainly be a strong and healthy addition to the league, and will help increase parity within NEFHA.

Rye on the other hand has not only gained the material support of a new headline sponsor, UK-based alternative investments house Man Investments (www.maninvestments.com), but has also succeeded in attracting an unusual amount of strong new players over the summer break. The new arrivals include Frederik Jonker who has joined the club from Kampong in Holland having moved to the US to pursue his Ph.D. at Yale and JC Bievre who joins Rye from Racing Club de France. In addition, making their debuts on Sunday were Alex Anich (midfielder, Australia), Shehan Francisco (forward, Sri Lanka) and Shailesh Khadapkar (forward, India). The upcoming fixture against New York Islanders will see the return of Rye regulars Aico Van Nunen, Adrian Missen and Peter Jones, completing what is likely to be the strongest Rye XI the league has seen in many years. The one remaining problem remains the keeper position following Oliver Stubel’s relocation to Los Angeles, at least until his return in February 2009.

Against Greenwich, the fresh blood in the team seemed to inspire Rye from the start. Greenwich had barely found time to get organized when Sukhi Sandhu fired the first shot from a narrow angle in the inside right channel, it was a perfectly placed strike giving Rye the critical first goal. Things even got better for Rye 2 minutes later when Patrick Stutz broke through to make it 2-0 with an “Argentinian” reverse stick shot from the top of the circle. 12 minutes into the game Rye exceeded their most optimistic pre-game hopes by making it 3-0 after Patrick Stutz stole the ball from Greenwich sweeper Jim Boothby and set up Harry Labana on the far post who made no mistake to deliver what proved to be the earliest K.O. Greenwich may ever have faced.

In increasing heat Rye then looked to consolidate possession and prevent a seemingly shocked Greenwich from regaining a foothold in the game. As the game wore on, debutant Alex Anich showed what important addition he may prove to be for the team. Anich brings a similar balance of defensive tenacity and offensive distribution as Rye’s center midfielder (but temporary sweeper) Chris Cheetham. It will be interesting to see what this duo is capable of when deployed in tandem in Rye’s “engine room.”

Greenwich regained their composure as the game moved into the later part of the first half, putting more pressure on Rye’s stand-in keeper (and President) Alexander Rooks. Following several short corners, Greenwich finally converted one of their now more frequent attacks to make it 3-1. The club’s response was quick and forceful. In the closing minutes of the half, a sustained period of pressure saw Hardaljeet “Sunny” Lobana and newcomer Shehan Francisco (2) score their first goals of the season making it 6-1.

In the second half neither team was able to change the momentum of the game. A shorthanded Greenwich was simply too exhausted to react, and in the now brutal heat and humidity Rye was happy to control the game and ensure the three points giving them their first winning start to a season in recent years. Sukhi Sandhu and Patrick Stutz added to their individual tallies to make it 8-1, closing a very convincing and promising start to this new season.

Rye: Alexander Rooks, Chris Cheetham, Dirk Zander, Eldrid Sequeira, Simon Singh, Alex Anich, Sukhi Sandhu (2), Max Rijkenberg, Patrick Stutz (2), Harry Labana (1), Sunny Lobana (1), Shailesh Khadapkar, Shehan Francisco (2), David Geerts