MEN’S 1STS BEAT LEAGUE LEADERS FOR DESERVED FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON

There is only one place to start this week and that is with the Men’s 1sts superb 2-0 win over league leaders Richmond last Sunday at windy Weybread. Boosted by their encouraging away draw against Brighton and Hove seven days earlier Magpies went looking for their first win of the season in front of their enthusiastic supporters and the Richmond goalkeeper was soon into action with three smart saves but he could do nothing about player-coach Ben Wright’s penalty corner drag flick which thundered into the net off a post in the eighteenth minute.

Prompted by ex-England international Mark Pearn the visitors sought an equaliser but they came up against the Magpies’ defenders timing their numerous tackles to almost perfection in front of goalkeeper John Livings who was having a splendid game. Just before the interval Andy Hipwell and Ben Wright collided nastily just outside their circle. Andy sustained concussion (confirmed by hospital tests) and a head wound similar to the one he suffered against Sevenoaks at the end of September while Ben has a suspected broken nose (and a cut on his forehead) which necessitated him being off the field for several minutes. Best wishes to Andy and Ben for their recoveries. This accident meant that Magpies’ resources were even more stretched as they had gone into the match without Zum Akhter (due to a school hockey commitment), Stuart Leate and Matt Riches (both injured) and Ben Underwood who has left the club following his new job.

Five minutes into the second half Archie Winter doubled Magpies’ lead when he finished off a sweeping move with his first national league goal. Richmond redoubled their efforts to get back into the game but they continued to find the Magpies’ defence standing firm and Toby Price willing to run at them with his exciting skills at every opportunity. While this was a fine squad effort skipper Leigh Sitch was quite magnificent in defence with his ball stopping and tackling combined with his ability to bring the ball out of defence to set up attacks. In fact one of the best performances I have ever seen from a Magpies’ player. Praise also to umpires Steve Cronin and Trevor Norman for their almost faultless control of a game played in a good spirit. Ironically after two really encouraging performances the squad are not in outdoor league action again until the end of January.

Before the above game the Men’s O50s were in EH Masters Cup 3rd Round action against Bury St Edmunds and they eventually won 3-2 but not before a considerable struggle in a game which kept the crowd royally entertained from start to finish. Phil Cobbald gave Magpies an early lead with a typically firm penalty corner strike and Andy Caston cleverly deflected the ball high into the net a minute after missing a sitter. We waited for the floodgates to open but it soon became clear they were not going to thanks to a spirited show by the Bury squad and the fact that Magpies were missing the injured Bob Skinner, ‘big money signing’ Andy Law (injured) and the on-looking Roger Kent (injured and also retired? Let’s hope not.) Thankfully Andy Palmer was having the game of his life in the Magpies’ goal and after Bury reduced the arrears early in the second half he got a yellow card trying to clear the ball.

Phil went into goal having donned a helmet to face the ensuing penalty stroke which he saved with his stick to a mighty cheer from the home supporters to be followed by one of equal volume when Andy returned to the fray a few minutes later. By now green and yellow cards were being doled out to the deserving to prove if nothing else that players of this age want to win as much as they ever did! In a difficult second half for Magpies Jon Aldridge was the only attacking ray of hope and he expertly put away a penalty stroke for a much needed third home goal. Bury then scored again but too late to influence the result of a game which deserved an entry fee for fun value alone! Magpies are through to the quarter-finals and they are away to Sevenoaks on Sunday 22 February. Time enough for the injured to recover and others to join the list! NB. Magpies’ manager Peter Dolton has decided not to resign despite accusing me again of interfering with his team selection! Give Peter Finnie a chance I say!!

CHRISTMAS FUN CASINO EVENING (16s and over only)
THIS SATURDAY (5 DECEMBER 7.30 PM)
STARSTON PLACE, STARSTON
Only a few tickets (£20 each) remain to be sold for this prestigious Black Tie event. Please contact Katrina Sitch 07730 454206.

These wins rounded off a really good weekend for the club starting on Friday with the U18 Boys winning the Norfolk Indoor Championship and qualifying for the East Finals (to be played at Oaklands College, St Albans on Sunday 13 December) with wins at Norwich School over Norwich City 8-1 (Zum Akhter 6, Toby Price, Myles King) and Norwich Dragons 6-2 (Max Macaulay 4, Zum and Toby).

The Girls’ Development should have got play underway on Saturday at Weybread in their first home match since October 10 but Norwich City were obliged to call off due to school commitments. So it was left to the Men’s 4ths who were soon into a three-goal lead against Norwich City 5ths and by half time they were five ahead with in-form Ben Kilburn netting four times with the other coming from Harry Haigh who was also setting up chances for Ben. Magpies went off the boil in the second half allowing City to pull a goal back before Ben netted again to round off an impressive personal display.

Next into home action were the Men’s 3rds against second placed Norwich City 3rds on the sand-based while a few minutes later the Ladies’ 2nds were taking on joint league leaders Bromley & Beckenham on the water-based looking to continue their impressive run of form. Under skipper Matt Brand the Men’s 3rds are playing attacking and exciting hockey but this leaves them exposed at the back ensuring, on the evidence of this game, plenty of hard work for goalkeeper Jordan Wiseman who made a series of fine saves with defenders Jack Richards and Iain Cumming making some last ditch tackles. After City took an early lead Matt Bensly, who is enjoying a good season, brought Magpies level and the prolific Gavin Cole put them ahead before the visitors drew level. Midway through the second half City went ahead once more only for Matt to score again with Gavin getting the 4-3 winner with the last hit of the game. Magpies have now moved above City into second place and this Saturday they are at home to Pelicans 2nds (1.45).

The Ladies’ 2nds looked to have taken an early lead against BromBeck only for Ellie Tennant’s effort to be disallowed. The visitors then took the lead before Ellie got a deserved equaliser shortly afterwards following good work by Anna Tighe. Both teams fought hard for the winner in a second half distinguished by some good saves by goalkeeper Megan Brown and some impressive runs down the right wing by Anna. The game finished 1-1 and with it yet another excellent point for the team who this Saturday (2.00) host Norwich Dragons who beat them away heavily on the opening day of the season.

In other home games the Ladies’ 7ths got back to winning ways beating Loddon 2nds 2-0 with goals by Annie Lancaster and skipper Karen Ray while the Ladies’ 5ths beat Dereham 4ths 4-3 in an exciting game. Georgie Cantrell continued her goal scoring run putting Magpies ahead but from 2-2 in the second half the home team looked to be heading for defeat when Dereham edged ahead. Imogen Meynell -Anderson then added to her previous goal finishing off a fine individual run with the equaliser before in the last seconds of the game skipper Jose Tibbenham touched in the winner.

Away from home the Ladies’ 1sts got a good point drawing 2-2 with Sevenoaks with goals by Emma Lee-Smith and Kara Kilbourn (her first in the national league) to take them into the mid-season break with fourteen points from their eleven games to-date. Meanwhile the Ladies’ 3rds and 4ths both won before their eagerly awaited return clash this Saturday (12.15). The 3rds had a comfortable 5-0 win over Dereham 3rds to retain their league top spot when after a slow start Charlotte Rourke-Beasley fired them ahead at a penalty corner before Katie Kinsella added a second. After the break Sarah Legg grabbed a brace with Charlotte adding the fifth. Meanwhile with skipper Treacle Griffin still fuming (and rightly so) at their defeat the previous week the 4ths beat Norwich City 3rds 4-2 with goals by Rhe Coleman and three (including two penalty stroke conversions) by Kate Russell. Will the 4ths be able to make amends on Saturday for their 4-2 opening day defeat at the hands of the 3rds? I’m sitting on the fence on this one!

Also away from home the Men’s 2nds lost 6-1 (Tristan Hipper) to Wisbech; the Men’s 5ths drew 1-1 (James Webster) with Norwich Exiles; the Men’s 6ths lost 7-1 (Lewis Belsey) to Bury St Edmunds 5ths with our defence in early Christmas generosity; the Boys’ Development lost for the first time this season going down 2-1 (Jude Pottruff) to Norwich Dragons and the Ladies’ 6ths lost 4-0 to North Norfolk 2nds.

Good luck as always to all our teams this weekend including the U10/U12 Boys’ and Girls’ squads competing in the annual Magpies’ Minis at Weybread on Sunday. Please see the website for the full list of the club’s fixtures for the weekend.

CONGRATULATIONS AND BEST WISHES TO
Emily and Dickon Taylor on the birth of Felix (8lbs 2ozs) last Friday evening. Felix is the first grandchild of club president Philippa Taylor and her husband Julian.

The following club members who have been selected to play for England in the World Cup Masters in Australia at the end of March – Tristan Baynes (O40s), Andy Law (O50s and vice-captain), Phil Cobbald (O55s) and David Blackmore (O60s). Jon Aldridge was selected for the O55s but had to decline due to business commitments.

Abby Gooderham on her selection for the England U18 assessment squad.

Out-on-loan Magpie Tim Whiteman who is in the England team playing in the World League Final in India. England have made an excellent start beating Canada and Australia. As in the case of Abby this is a belated congratulations with apologies.

Finally, regular users of the club’s website will have noticed that the site has been down on a couple of occasions recently. This is due to the servers hosting the website coming under heavy cyber attack. We are grateful to Nigel Bedingfield of IceniPost.com who manages the website and helps the club in so many ways for doing all he can to minimise the affects of this modern day scourge.

With kind regards
Mike Denham
[email protected] 1/12/15

www.magpies-hockey.co.uk web site hosted and managed by IceniPost.com

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