EIGHT WINS BUT STILL LOSS OF MOMENTUM

I have to confess I left the club last Saturday evening feeling a little low despite our teams achieving eight wins (including a walkover for the Ladies’ 6ths) from our fifteen matches; the Boys’ Development not having a game.  Seven days earlier our four senior sides had all won only for the Ladies’ 1sts and 2nds and Men’s 2nds to follow up with defeats and with only the Men’s 1sts maintaining momentum with a win.

But there were some notable achievements to celebrate with the Ladies’ 5ths taking centre stage beating league leaders Thetford 4-1 (Anna Tighe 3, Victoria Findlay) at Weybread with their best performance for two seasons. They played really well in the first half by which time they were two goals ahead.  After Thetford pulled a goal back the team regained control of the game to move into second place in the league one point behind new leaders Diss with a game in hand. This coming Saturday in their penultimate game of the season they host Broadland 2nds (12.15) who last weekend were unable to field a team against our 6ths. In other home wins the Girls’ Development beat Yarmouth 2-0 (Millie Preece 2) to maintain their fine season while the Men’s 6ths, who clinched their league title seven days earlier, completed their campaign beating Bury St Edmunds 4ths 2-1 with goals by Tristan Hipper and Greg Jagger while away from home the Men’s 7ths travelled to play Ipswich Cranes 2nds with just nine players but still came away in their last match of the season with a 4-1 win. Fabien Mitchell was twice on target with the other goals coming from Eric Davy and Roger Kent, the latter with the last hit of the game. Running the lowest team in a club is always a particularly demanding role and I pay tribute to Tom ‘Magic’ Miller for the cheerful and efficient way he has gone about the job over the past few months.

Another good away win was achieved by the Ladies’ 7ths who beat Loddon 2nds 2-0 with goals by Emma Tolhurst and skipper Shirley McAllen while the Ladies’ 3rds were winning for the sixth successive game (during which they have conceded just one goal) beating Evergreens 5-0 (Catherine Kilbourn 3, Kara Kilbourn, Nicole Eaves). The Ladies’ 4ths went down 4-1 away to Loddon 1sts despite a goal by Bella Hall and a penalty stroke save by Jessica Harvey; the Men’s 4ths completed their promising season losing 4-2 (Jon Wells, Harry Haigh) away to third placed UEA while at home the Men’s 5ths lost to a second half goal by high flying Bury St Edmunds 2nds when a draw would have been a fair result.

Meanwhile the Men’s 1sts were beating Chelmsford 4-2 away with goals by the in-form Chris Barber (2) and skipper Mark Wheelhouse (2) to retain their outside chance of winning the league and with it promotion back to the national league. For this to happen Magpies will need to pick up two more points than leaders West Herts (who have a far superior goal advantage) over the last two games of the season starting this Saturday at home against free-scoring Wapping (NB. 12.30) before they conclude their season away to Norwich City. West Herts are at home to Bedford this Saturday and then away to Wisbech so there is a glimmer of hope.  Chelmsford’s first goal came from a stroke following a defensive error caused either by Leigh Sitch or Richard Larkin who were still claiming innocence (or blaming goalkeeper Rees Leonard) back in the clubhouse several hours after the event!  NB. Rees has conceded fewer goals (31 in 20 games) than any other keeper in the league.

While all of the above was going on we were getting news at the club that the Ladies’ 2nds were involved in a goal-fest away to Cambridge City going down to a rare defeat by six goals to four with Anouska Stott, Hayley Toleman, Rachel Herod and Sophie Mullan all finding the net. At the same time we were hearing a trickle of disheartening news that in the Investec East Conference Ipswich had beaten Sevenoaks, Chelmsford had continued their remarkable run by beating St Albans and Horsham had beaten Wimbledon. We then heard that things had got even worse with Magpies going down 4-2 (Emma Lee-Smith 2) at Old Loughtonians. This all leaves Magpies in a precarious fourth place with only five points covering them and the six teams below them with two games to play. This Saturday the team is away to Ipswich (2.00) where a draw would be very useful!

Before the result came through from Old Loughts some of us had just seen the Men’s 2nds (who were without injured skipper Lawrence Baynes) lose 5-1 to lowly but fired up Bishops Stortford who were three ahead in the first fifteen minutes. Martin Fields pulled a goal back for Magpies just after the break but this was a performance the squad (apart from in-form James Meek) will want to forget in a hurry. In contrast we then saw the Men’s 3rds, missing leading scorer Gavin Cole through injury, put on an excellent display against now champions Dereham 2nds before going down 5-3 (Matt Brand, Andy Johnson, Jake Morton) in an exciting and high quality match.  On Saturday the Men’s 2nds are away to Cambridge City 2nds (11.30) for whom victory would mean the league championship while the Men’s 3rds are away to IES 2nds (1.00) looking to consolidate their fourth position.

At a sunny and warm Weybread on Sunday the Mixed team reached the 4^th round of the EHB Trophy with a 5-0 win over Wisbech. Despite dominating the game they were only one goal ahead at half time but after a rousing team talk by skipper Leigh Sitch the squad really got going (but only after keeper Rees Leonard had turned a Wisbech shot onto a post) and Princess Whiting touched in Katrina Sitch’s firmly hit penalty corner to ease the concerns of their 30+ sun drenched supporters. Thereafter Martin Fields, not to be outdone, confirmed his proud position as the team’s go-to scorer with a hat-trick in the last few minutes of the sportingly contested game. Next round – Lewes at home on Sunday 13 April.

Good luck as always to all our teams in action this weekend including on Saturday the Ladies’ 2nds who are at home to St Albans 2nds (2.15) and on Sunday the Men’s O60s who welcome the LX Club (12 noon) for their annual friendly prior to the O50s taking on Indian Gymkhana.  A list of the fixtures can be found on the club’s website.

Other news

a) The club fielded four teams in Sunday’s Norfolk Minis at Pelicans HC and it is congratulations to the U10 Girls on winning their event and to the U12 Girls on finishing second in their competition. Both have qualified for the East Finals to be held at Weybread over the weekend of Saturday/Sunday 26/27 April. Meanwhile theU10 and U12 Boys came 5^th and 3^rd respectively in their events.

b) Magpies’ U18 Girls are through to the finals of the EHB Cup (to be played at Old Loughts on Sunday 30 March) after Leicester, who beat them in the last round, were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player. This is tough on the Leicester girls but team officials obviously have a duty to ensure that the rules are followed. In the semi-finals Magpies play Beeston (1.45) with Old Loughtonians and Isca contesting the other semi.  The final and 3rd/4th place game will be played later in the day.

c) Norfolk Hockey is looking for a Ladies’ Masters’ hockey representative. If you are interested please contact Avril Mallett on 01603 411352 or if you are interested in representing the East Ladies at age groups 40s, 45s, 50s or 55s please contact Avril for details of the trials to be held in April.