There is no denying that last weekend was a disappointing one for the two 1st teams with the Ladies letting slip a late 2-1 lead before losing 3-2 away to Southgate on Saturday and the Men being beaten 5-2 by the same club at home the next day. The Men had a poor first twenty minutes by which time they were 3-0 down before an encouraging recovery, in front of another large crowd, saw them getting back into the game with two good goals before conceding twice late in the game against a very skilful Southgate side.
Despite their defeat the Ladies can look back on a very satisfactory first half of the season while the Men will need some quick points when they return to outdoor action in early February if they are to avoid falling into the bottom two spots in a very competitive and demanding league.
But it was far from all gloom and doom last weekend. At Weybread on Saturday the Ladies’ 2nds won again with a good team performance rounded off by a sparkling individual goal by Lauren Mickleburgh which gave them a 1-0 win over Ipswich and East Suffolk and the Ladies’ 3rds played really well and deserved more than a 1-1 draw with Loddon who had previously won all their games. The Men’s 4ths did well to hold then league leaders Norwich Dragons to a 3-1 defeat and with the Men’s 3rds winning 7-0 away to Lowestoft Town (for whom Matt Brand scored five goals to take his season tally to an impressive 21) means that the 3rds now top the table from the Dragons by one goal. Meantime the Men’s 6ths came from behind to beat Ipswich and East Suffolk 3rds 3-1 with a little help from promising youngsters Kevin Ridley, Jonathan Aldridge and Jerry Blackmore! And the even younger youngsters in the team did pretty well!
Away from home the Ladies’ 5ths beat Loddon 2nds 1-0 (with Keira Booty scoring her eleventh goal of the season) to secure their fourth successive victory and another impressive win by the Ladies Development, who beat Dereham 7-0, saw them strengthening their position at the top of the league. Unfortunately the Men’s Veterans were unable to field a team for their match at Peterborough due to a combination of injuries and work commitments and for the same reasons this week’s match at Chelmsford has been re-arranged for Saturday 9 January. These inevitable problems once again raise the desirability of dropping the Saturday Vets team and replacing it with a 7th team in the main league structure which would enable the team to draw on a wider base of players. Personally I would much prefer we continue to field a Vets team each week.
On Sunday there were encouraging wins for the U16 Girls, U16 Boys and U18 Girls in their various EH Cups with the highlight being the 9-1 victory by the U18 Girls at home against a young Norwich City team which never recovered from conceding two very quick goals. In the next round on Sunday 14 February the team is at home to Old Loughtonians.
This weekend’s matches include on Saturday the Men’s 2nds entertaining Ipswich 2nds (2.15) and Ladies Development welcoming Norwich City (4.00pm) with the Men’s Veterans at home to Pelicans on Sunday (2.00pm) in the third round of the EH Masters (Over 40s) Cup. Please see the Home Page of the website for the full list of matches. Best of luck to all our teams in action this weekend.
Please come to the live Ferret Racing and Bangers & Mash Night being held in the clubhouse this Saturday (5 December) at 7.30pm and have a bet or two on your favoured ferret! Tickets (only £5) will be on sale at the door.
News and comments in brief
§ Many thanks to keen supporters Rob and Sue Holmes who have kindly had made and donated the fixtures board now erected on the end of the sand-based pitch. We will now be able to see at a glance which teams are playing and at what time.
§ Best wishes to Ben Gowing who in January is off on his travels for several months – firstly to work in New Zealand and then to holiday in Australia and Thailand.
§ Best wishes also to Siobhan Wooltorton who last Saturday had another knee operation following her injury early this year. Hopefully Siobhan will be back playing again at the start of next season.
§ Some members (including some serial laggards) have still to pay their annual subscription. It is to be hoped they soon rectify the matter as this is very unfair to the majority of members who paid on time.
§ A Christmas Shopping and Pamper Evening is being held at the Swan Hotel in Harleston on Thursday 10 December (7.30) in aid of a very worthy cause – the East Anglian Air Ambulance. The air ambulance has been sent at least twice to Weybread – the last occasion to take our present Men’s 1st team captain off to the N&N Hospital.
With kind regards and best wishes Mike Denham 01603 506925 [email protected] 1/12/09
