With nine wins and two draws from 15 league matches last weekend was one of the most successful for the club so far this season and it could have been even better had the Men’s 1sts been able to take something (other than pride in performance) from their match with Wimbledon on Sunday in front of a large crowd at Weybread.
The weekend began on Saturday at Weybread with the Men’s 5ths returning to form with a 3-1 victory over Norwich City 3rds while the Men’s 4ths posted their first points of the season with a deserved 3-0 win over North Walsham. Arriving at 11.00am I’m sorry I missed the rare sight of Rob Goodson scoring for the 5ths and Stuart Peters finding the net for the 4ths!
The winning run for the club continued at Weybread with two splendid recoveries with the first featuring the Ladies’ 3rds who after finding themselves 3-1 down, not helped by conceding two sloppy goals, recovered to beat Dereham 3rds 4-3 with Krystal Bishop and Kira Wooltorton both scoring twice to round off a fine win for Julie Podd and her team. Next up it was the turn of the Men’s 3rds who came from 3-1 and 4-2 down to win a high quality match against league leaders Market Deeping by six goals to four. The Men’s 3rds have fielded some strong teams in recent years and in my view this was the strongest of all of them with Philip Cobbald controlling the middle and skipper Matt Brand leading the forward line and the rest of his team to an excellent win.
The day got even better when the news came through that the Ladies’ 1sts had secured their first win of the season by beating Cambridge City 2-0 with goals by Jess Howland (her first national league goal) and a second of the season by Frances Sumner; the Ladies’ Development had returned to winning ways with a 5-2 win over North Walsham; the Ladies’ 5ths had won 5-1 against Pelicans 3rds and the Men’s 7ths had won again despite conceding goals (three in total) for the first time this season. However, with eleven goals scored at the other end it is too early to press the panic button and call for a change of management!
On Sunday it was a matter of ‘so near yet so far’ for the Men’s 1sts when from 2-1 down they recovered well to take a 3-2 lead against a strong Wimbledon side (including former England international Ben Marsden and current England international Ben Hawes) only at 3-3 to have a 67th penalty stroke saved and followed very shortly by a Wimbledon winner. Despite the disappointing result this was a good performance by the squad and with a little tightening in defence they will be hoping to return to winning ways at St Albans on Saturday (1.30).
Meantime the Ladies’ 1sts are at home to Ipswich (12.30) who beat Dereham last Saturday 10-1 so a tough match is in prospect as our team look to build on the four points they have won in the past two weeks while the Men’s 2nds, after their 3-3 draw away to Letchworth, entertain Harpenden (1.45) seeking to move up the league after their indifferent start to the season and the Ladies’ 2nds, following their 2-2 draw away to Cambridge City 2nds (with goals by skipper Melissa Hunter and Tania Pendreich), are at home to Lincoln (2.15). Good luck as always to all our teams in action this Saturday (please see website for all fixtures).
News and comments in brief:
· Congratulations to Kathryn and Paul Bullen on the birth of Luke Benjamin.
· James Goodson (who despite his damaged fingers is bravely hoping to return to 5th team action this Saturday after missing the win over Norwich City 3rds) tells me he is available to umpire – but is still awaiting an invitation!
· It was good to see ex-Magpie Matt Riches playing for Wimbledon last Sunday. However, he only lasted two minutes before pulling a hamstring trying to keep up with Toby Tibbenham!
· The value of face masks at penalty corners was well illustrated when a Wimbledon defender was saved from a really nasty injury when he took a shot full in the face. But it didn’t stop a penalty stroke being awarded!
· James Smith thanks members who have already kindly volunteered to help at the Fireworks Spectacular on Friday 5 November. If you are able to help but have not added your name to the board in the clubhouse would you please do so this weekend?
· The EHB has just announced that they have joined forces with Frank Warren, one of the country’s best known sports promoters, to launch a bid to bring the 2014 men’s and women’s hockey World Cups to London.
Mike Denham 01603 506925
[email protected] 19/10/10
