SO NEAR‘Character-building’ and ‘the fickle hand of fate’ were two expressions being voiced at the conclusion of the U16 national indoor club championships in Wolverhampton last weekend. Our Boys and Girls went so close to deservedly making the semis with the Girls cruelly denied by a converted penalty corner awarded with one second on the clock. The last seventy three seconds of the game included a converted penalty stroke by our opponents, a penalty corner for Magpies and the fateful conclusion! We all know that ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ are an inevitable part of sport, from which we can all learn, but this was a stunning ‘low’ for both the squad and their supporters alike. It is good to know that the girls had recovered sufficiently to be in good (or bad!) voice in the mini-bus on the way home.
Both teams drew their first game on Saturday in contrasting ways with the Boys letting slip a two-goal lead against Bath Buccaneers and the Girls recovering from the shock of conceding twice in the first two minutes against Isca and with fate playing a hand both hit the left post with seconds remaining. After good wins in their second games both needed to start well on Sunday but it was not to be although after a poor start the Boys battled back to lose narrowly to Beeston after they thought they were denied a penalty stroke. The Girls then lost to Wycombe, the very impressive eventual champions, before their fateful match against Belper. The Boys then trounced Havant 7-0 with all the goals coming in the last 14 minutes of the 24 minute match but with two subsequent games not going their way they too were out.
Both squads did the club enormous credit over the weekend and all members can be proud of the part they played typified for the Girls by the all-action display of captain Sarah Brook, the strong defending of Fiona Mackensie, the versatility of Holly Baker and the forceful play of Kira Wooltorton and for the Boys by the all-round performance of Elliott Smith, the ball skills and running of Tom Graham, the defending of skipper Will Blyth and the outstanding goalkeeping of James Graham who with Tom reached the grand old age of 16 on Saturday.
Meanwhile in Croydon the U18 Girls had a tough Saturday but will have taken heart from a draw with Trojans and a draw against Beeston, the eventual champions, on Sunday. Finally – at the end of an outstanding indoor season for the club – our thanks go to the managements of all our teams for their hard work and dedication.
Back at Weybread and elsewhere the outdoor game was in full swing while in Wolverhampton the U16 Boys’ manager Murray Graham was concerned about how well the Men’s 7ths were doing in his absence with John Pestell in goal and John Snelling sweeping behind him! In the event they won again to maintain their 100% record without Roger Kent who scored a hat trick on his promotion to the 5ths in their 4-3 win over UEA 2nds. Well done also to Sam Moore who scored all three goals for the Men’s 2nds in their timely 3-1 win over Ramgarhia and congratulations to skipper Melissa Hunter and the Ladies’ 2nds on their 1-0 win over St Ives with a much changed team in view of the indoor events. There were also good wins for the Ladies’ 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths and the Men’s 6ths without skipper Kevin Ridley who was supporting Katherine and Thomas in Wolverhampton. On another encouraging note umpire Mike Bartram (North Walsham) has kindly contacted the club to say what a pleasure it was to umpire the Gorleston versus Men’s 4ths match last Saturday.
This coming weekend the Men’s 1sts have centre-stage as they return to national league outdoor action on Saturday for the first time since November 20 when they have a tough rearranged home game against Holcombe (2.15) at the start of the second half of their programme. A little earlier (at 12.15) the Men’s 3rds will be determined to return to winning ways after their defeat by Ely City when they entertain Bourne and the Men’s 4ths welcome Sudbury (4.00). Both teams have sportingly agreed to change their start times to accommodate the Men’s 1sts as have the Ladies’ 6ths to allow the Ladies’ 1sts to play a friendly against Chelmsford (10.30) prior to the restart of their outdoor league season on Saturday week. Best of luck to all our teams in action this weekend (a full list of fixtures can be found on the website) including the U18 Girls who play Pelicans on Sunday (12.00) at Weybread in the EHB Cup.
News in brief
· Congratulations to Clare and Robin Hayward on the birth of their daughter Meredith.
· You will be very welcome at this Saturday’s Savoury & Sauvignon Soiree being held in Tibbenham’s Barn in Weybread. Tickets are £12 each (including food and drink) and are obtainable from the clubhouse bar or by calling 0774 779 5481. Please come even if you buy your ticket on the door!
· Richard Alexander (ex-Magpies) and George Pinner (ex-Ipswich) are in the England squad for the FIH Indoor World Cup to be held in Poznan, Poland from 8-13 February. Unfortunately the outstanding Ashley Jackson misses England’s first ever appearance in the event due to injury.
Mike Denham 01603 506925 [email protected] 25/1/11
