SUE PRIOR
The many friends of Sue will have been saddened to learn of her death at All Hallows Hospital on 28 December. Sue was a very keen Magpie for over 40 years as player, team official and supporter. She served as vice-captain of the 2nds and captain of the 3rds. Sue was also a willing and hardworking member of the social committee helping to organise fund raising events such as the annual Cheese and Wine Evenings and for many years she helped with the May Day Tournament and Strawberry Luncheon. In recognition of her commitment to the club Sue was made a vice-president. Sue also had a range of other interests including tennis, gardening and catering and was closely involved with activities in her local community.

We extend our condolences to her son Mark, daughter Sally and partner Alan and all members of her family on their huge loss.

The cremation service will take place at the West Suffolk Crematorium, Risby on Tuesday 19 January at 12 noon, followed by a memorial service at Oakley Church at 2.00 pm. Family flowers only have been requested. Donations in memory of Sue for The Colney Centre NNUH may be sent c/o Rosedale Funeral Home, 63 Victoria Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4JE.

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MORE INDOOR SUCCESS FOR THE CLUB

Following the achievements of the U16 Girls and U18 Boys in reaching their national finals (to be played on the weekend after next) there was further indoor success for the club at the weekend with both the Ladies’ and Men’s 1sts doing the club proud. The Ladies came away from Nottingham Trent University with seven points from their first four games in Division One of the national Hockey 6s Championship while in St Albans the Men won three of their four games to finish in second place in Division Two North thereby qualifying for the Division Two championship also to be played over the weekend after next (in Bristol). Meanwhile the Ladies return to Nottingham this coming weekend for their final four games in the hope of building on the firm foundations they put down on Saturday and Sunday.

The Ladies opened with a 4-0 (Charlie Harrison 2, Sarah Brook, Charlotte White) win over Bristol Firebrands before being edged out 1-0 by Premier League outdoor side Buckingham with their goal coming from out-on-loan Magpie Jess Bloom! The next day the squad did splendidly to pull back a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 with star-studded Holcombe with late goals by Lauren Barber and Sarah Brook. In their last game they eased to a vital 3-0 (Sarah 2, Abby Gooderham) win over Wakefield to go a long way to maintaining their league status before the outcome of their games this coming weekend when on Saturday they play St Albans (11.30) and Olton & West Warwick (3.30) before taking on Clifton (10.00) and Brooklands Poynton (1.00) on Sunday. For more details of the championship please see https://englandhockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/11 where during play you can keep up-to-date minute-by-minute with the goals etc. from all the games.

CHEESE & WINE EVENING

Saturday 30 January 7.30pm
Fennings Farm Barn, Pixey Green, Fressingfield, IP21 5NH
By kind permission of Mr and Mrs Peter Davidson
Tickets are £12.50 each and obtainable from Lorraine Aldridge (Tel: 01379 586013) and from the clubhouse bar.
Please come. You will be very welcome.

In contrast to the Ladies the men lost their opening game going down 3-1 to St Albans in a game they could have got something from but for having a ‘goal’ controversially ruled out. They then played Lichfield and after a slow start they went on to win 10-2. Next day in company with several other supporters I was pleased to see the team play well to beat Barford Tigers and Bournville with skipper Leigh Sitch playing as well as ever (and that is a compliment!) after his nasty facial injury sustained just before Christmas. Toby Price put them ahead against Barford Tigers on four minutes before Chris Barber created a chance for Simon Hipwell which he gratefully accepted. Barford then pulled a goal back before Toby scored again in fine style from a narrow angle and Thomas Ridley made it 4-1 at the break. Four minutes into the second half eyebrows were raised (to say the least!) when a penalty stroke was awarded against John Livings, the Magpies’ keeper, on the edge of the circle. To make matters worse John, who was in good form, was sent off with a yellow. We then saw Simon bravely stepping up to face the stroke with a mask now hiding his luxuriant beard before the ball flew past him into the net. In seconds Chris had restored the team’s three-goal advantage before Ben Wright scored twice (the second a delightful lob over the keeper’s head) to make the final score 7-2.

The next game against Bournville was a much cagier affair with Louis Totton again giving a promising display for Magpies. Bournville took the lead before Ben set up Chris for a quick equaliser. Ben put Magpies ahead early in the second half and Toby made it 3-1 with seven minutes to go – a long time in indoor hockey. But with the game looking safe Bournville converted a corner with 25 seconds left. We then contrived to concede another corner with six seconds left! This led to another corner and with the hooter having been blown for full time Richard Larkin charged down the shot to ensure the three points.

Meanwhile at a wet and windy Weybread on Saturday the Men’s 6ths got the day off to a good start beating Ipswich 4ths 2-1. Richard Allcock and Andy Johnson claimed their first half goals were extra special with Andy’s a reverse stick effort into the top left but I had jokingly to remind them that the game was not all about them! I always enjoy telling our players this! To their credit they also said the defence played well. It was good to see goalkeeper Steve Halliley back playing after his left leg operation in October. Next on the water-based were the Ladies’ 5ths and they recovered well after conceding an early goal to beat Thetford 3-1 with goals by Georgie Cantrell (2) and Rachael Clifford. The team has now taken seventeen points from their last eight games. Skipper Jose Tibbenham not only played in this game but umpired two other games and she even started to umpire another before help came.

Meanwhile on the other pitch the Girls’ Development got the ball rolling when they drew 1-1 with Watton. Both squads were very young with several Magpies having moved up to other teams as is the aim and hope of the club. Amy Collison put Magpies ahead before Watton secured their equaliser. Next into action were the Boys’ Development against Pelicans and having lost 6-5 to Dereham in their last match they were determined not to slip up again. Arthur Johnson put them two goals ahead before Pelicans pulled a goal back. Ben Emms then made it 3-1 to Magpies only for Pelicans to score again to give them hope of at least a point but this hope was extinguished when James Webster made the game safe for Magpies. It was ‘happy birthday’ to 14 year old Morgan Manly and to manager Mark Emms – who is slightly older!

The match of the day at Weybread was undoubtedly that between the Men’s 2nds, who went into the game needing points badly, and high flying Saffron Walden. Tristan Baynes put Magpies ahead on ten minutes before Saffron Walden equalised with a cracker of a shot from a narrow angle through a crowd of players. But by half time and with the rain sweeping across the pitch Magpies were ahead 3-1 with a brace by Elliott Ashurst. Skipper Lawrence Baynes then put his team 4-1 ahead. Could the team’s supporters sit back and enjoy a comfortable win? They got their answer almost immediately when Walden got their second and it was soon 4-4. Could this be the team’s ‘Oxted’ was the question now being asked. ‘No’ was soon the firm answer when Robbie Kinsella raced down the right wing and from the narrowest of angles fired the ball into the net. His celebration was something to behold! But he was not finished. He soon scored again with a reverse stick shot from the top of the circle to ensure a splendid 6-4 win in which Tristan, with his cool control at the back, and goalkeeper Donnie Archer, with a series of fine saves on his return from injury, played vital parts. This week the team is away to Spalding (2.00).

In other home games the Ladies’ 3rds dominated against Norwich City 3rds but had to be content with a 0-0 draw and the Ladies’ 7ths battled hard against league leaders Lowestoft Railway 2nds before losing 2-0, the second goal coming from a penalty corner after the final whistle. Away from home the Ladies’ 4ths maintained their excellent form beating Pelicans 2nds 5-1 with four more goals from Laura Tibbenham with Anna Harrod adding the other; the Ladies’ 6ths had an excellent 1-0 (Alice Evans-Hendrick) over Yarmouth 2nds; the Ladies’ 2nds went down 2-0 to Cambridge University; the Men’s 3rds had a ‘bad day at the office’ losing 3-2 to Norwich Dragons 3rds, despite a fine performance by Jon Aldridge who scored and created the other goal for skipper Matt Brand; the Men’s 4ths lost 2-0 to Ipswich 3rds and the Men’s 5ths lost 5-0 to Bury St Edmunds 3rds after playing well for the first fifty minutes. Oli Clarke played well for the 4ths in left midfield and goalkeeper and club chairman Murray Graham was also in good form on his welcome return from illness before pulling a hamstring.

Good luck as always to all our teams this weekend. Please see the website for the full list of fixtures which include our teams playing in the Pelicans’ Minis on Sunday.

EDP’s COMMUNITY CHEST
Members who are readers of the EDP will be aware of the above initiative and they are asked if they would kindly cut out the tokens from their copy each day and place them each week in the Community Chest in the clubhouse. The club will then make a bid for the funds available each month.

With kind regards
Mike Denham
[email protected]
12/1/16

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