Guildford's focus on promotion from Vitality Women’s Conference East

^{Lucy Wood by Melinda Rock, Guildford Hockey Club}

Rod Gilmour of The Hockey Paper speaks to Guildford women as they focus on promotion from Vitality Women’s Conference East 

Six years ago, coach Shay O’Connell was approached by some Guildford women’s players he had known on the hockey circuit. He looked at the squad and agreed that Guildford was “a bit of a sleeping giant” as far as women’s hockey was concerned. ‘Let’s give it a go’, he then said.

O’Connell had met with Libby Leadbeater and Andrew Fergusson, the then captain and current team manager respectively, and started at the helm with the side nestled in South League Division 3. He was left surprised at their first-season promotion, given that around 10 of his players were under-18s playing every week.

Following the league restructure, Guildford next won the title the following season with the same squad. The Covid years then saw them finish third twice both seasons before winning the South East Premier League and promotion to Vitality Conference East. “I still pinch myself sometimes,” says O’Connell.

Guildford are currently in second place and snapping at the heels of Southgate in a promotion chase for Division 1, a race which could go down to the wire when the two sides meet on the final day of the season.

Kelly Taylor, the current captain, is the sole player remaining from O’Connell’s first year in charge. The year before last, Guildford lost nine players to university and O’Connell says that they are still an evolving squad. “Fortunately we are in a strong position and we were able to bring players through and we got through the season better than expected,” says O’Connell.

“The most important thing has been the commitment of the team. It’s very easy for a coach to say 'we need to do this and that' at training, if the players don't turn up to do those things it’s hard to achieve. We’ve had a great turn out most weeks and we can put game play into our sessions. There was a big culture change to our style of play but they now enjoy it and that’s the biggest part of it.

That style is down to O’Connell’s mantra of "scoring one more than the other team”. Essentially it's an attacking mindset, with the added addition of a defensive rock in Rose Thomas, the Welsh goalkeeper who joined from Holcombe at the start of the season. “It cost me a fortune in coffee over the summer,” jokes O’Connell on how he was able to sign Thomas.

“She believes in what we’re trying to do and is still trying to play international hockey which is a testament to where we are. She feels that the training and level of hockey means that she can still do it.”

Guildford have welcomed three Ukrainian players this season while they also have former England and GB player Lucy Wood in their ranks, who joined from Reading, with these players helping the club reach the Super 6s Championships Premier Division next season. 

“I believe you have to be hungry to enjoy your hockey and want to do well,” says O’Connell. “Having one or two players that have played a higher level and players can learn from [is key]. With the indoor as well and getting up to the Women’s Premier Division was another big step for the club in terms of the profile.

📷 ^{Chris Martin, Lowtide Creative} 

“All these players give the team that little more confidence when they go out and play. It’s been trying to bring them in different lines of the pitch. So it’s not like saying we are overloaded with experienced defenders or forwards. To me it's about the right character or personnel as it is about what they can do on the ball.”

O’Connell had predominantly been part of the Staines HC fabric as a player before he was asked to take the reins of a women’s side which went from the Middlesex Premier Division to the South Leagues and National League over a seven-year period. O’Connell is modest about his superb achievements. “I’m a firm believer that if the squad doesn’t change then the coach should at some point, if you don’t get fed up with them,” he adds. “It’s probably why I’ve stayed at Guildford as the team has changed!”

Meanwhile, Wood says that O’Connell’s “experience, tactical awareness and quiet professionalism” has enabled Guildford to reach its potential as a squad. “He values every player's contribution and has a great belief in the team,” says the 28-year-old.

Wood is an NHS physiotherapist, while she also helps run Guildford’s junior academy as well as her own Flame Hockey Academy in West Sussex. On the pitch, she is relishing the season run-in which could culminate in spectacular style on the first weekend of April.

“The remainder of the season will be very challenging; we know we need to win every game to stand a chance of achieving our ambition of promotion to Division 1,” she says.  

“Goal difference will be vital, because if it comes down to the final crunch game, we will need to both win, and have a better goal difference than Southgate. It is super exciting. We're taking one game at a time so that we are in a strong position by April 1st.”

Saturday: Guildford v London Wayfarers, 3:15pm, Broadwater School