MEN’S 6THS HEAD SUPER SATURDAY
What a day for the club last Saturday! There were home wins for the Ladies’ and Men’s 1sts, a home win for the Ladies’ 2nds, an away win for the Men’s 2nds and an away win for the Men’s 5ths – their first of the season. Plus I hasten to add triumphs for four of our other ladies’ teams.
But I want to feature first the Men’s 6ths who by beating Norwich City 6ths 3-1 at Taverham made sure of the 6NE league title. This was the team’s thirteenth win of the season from fifteen matches and came with the help of two goals by Myles King and one by Andy Caston who was just back from Chile (high altitude training perhaps?!) Congratulations to skipper James Smith and his squad on this fine achievement with thanks also to Charlie Graham who was in administrative charge earlier in the season prior to commencing his training at Sandhurst. This coming weekend in their last match of the season the team entertain second placed Bury St Edmunds 4ths (1.45).
Meanwhile we were enjoying a generally splendid day of hockey at an overcast Weybread where the sun did eventually decide to put in a late appearance. As the day progressed so did the noise levels of the excited spectators due in no small part to the appearance of the Men’s 1sts after their game! The Ladies’ 7ths got the day off to the perfect start with a remarkable 7-5 win over Dereham 5ths after being 3-2 ahead at half time. Their goals came from skipper Shirley McAllen (2), Emma Tolhurst, Eve Barnes (2), Lucy Freeman and Rachel Goodson who it was good to see back playing again after the addition to her family. The game was also notable for the first ever game of hockey for Cherry Seaborn’s mother Annie who is still working on matching Cherry’s pace!
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS AND CANAPES PARTY – HAVE YOU GOT YOUR TICKETS YET PLEASE?
Saturday 15 March – 7.30pm – Tibbenham’s Barn, Weybread – Tickets £10 are available from the clubhouse bar. Please come!
The Men’s 1sts then took centre stage against local rivals Dereham and they played some of their best hockey of the season. In-form Chris Barber gave us a deserved first half lead when deflecting in at a penalty corner only for Dereham to equalise on the cusp of half time when a poor clearance from our defence gave them another penalty corner chance. Thereafter Magpies turned on the style with the pace of Toby Price and Chris Barber a big threat to the Dereham defenders. Two quick goals by Peter Bale and Toby effectively won the game for Magpies before a late goal by Chris made it 4-1. With Wapping beating leaders West Herts 5-4, Magpies, to their surprise, are now only one point behind the Hertfordshire side with three games remaining. It would be an even bigger surprise if West Herts were to drop any further points but just in case Magpies need to repeat Saturday’s form beginning away to Chelmsford (12.00) this week.
In many respects the Ladies’ 1sts match against Sevenoaks was even more important – or at least it was before the West Herts result came through – as they needed to get something from the game to avoid moving nearer to the relegation play-off spot. Tensions were eased when Emma Lee-Smith thumped in an early penalty corner but anxiety was evident in the crowd (at least speaking for myself!) when Sevenoaks equalised just after half time. But we were back in the lead a minute later when a firm strike into the circle by Lucy Miller found its way to Angie Wheelhouse and a few minutes later Emma drove into the circle to score with another trademark strike. Thereafter Sevenoaks threatened in a couple of breakaways expertly dealt with by Kath Johnson and Lizzie Jones. This thoroughly deserved victory, with BBC Radio Norfolk present, makes Magpies’ position far more secure with three games remaining and victory away to Old Loughtonians (2.30) on Saturday would dispel any lingering doubts.
Meanwhile on the other pitch the Ladies’ 2nds were moving to another impressive win when beating Cambridge University 4-1 with a goal by Krystal Bishop and a hat trick by Anouska Stott. In seven matches since the restart after Christmas the team have taken 16 points and they are now sure of avoiding the four automatic relegation spots. This Saturday they have a tough away game against Cambridge City (12.30) who are five points above them in third place. In the last game of the day at Weybread the Ladies’ 6ths drew 0-0 with Sprowston 2nds. Later we heard that the Men’s 2nds had completed a notable double over high flying Ipswich beating them 4-2 with goals by Martin Fields, Robbie Kinsella, Simon Hipwell and Richard Ling. We got to know of Simon’s goal so quickly he must have phoned while running back for the restart! This Saturday they host lowly Bishops Stortford (2.15) having beaten them 3-2 way back in November.
HMHC MAY DAY WEEKEND HOCKEY FESTIVAL 2014
Club members are invited to enter teams in the ever-popular Mixed event to be held on Saturday 3 May. There is a maximum entry of 20 teams so please organise your team as quickly as possible and enter it via the link at the top left of the Home Page of the club’s website.
To offset home defeats for the Men’s 4ths and Men’s 7ths we were cheered by news of further successes away from home with the Ladies’ 3rds beating Watton 2nds 6-0 (Sarah Legg 3, Jemima Jacobs, Lisa Dobson and Rachel Herod), the Ladies’ 4ths getting the better of Evergreens 2-1 with two goals by Victoria Findlay, the Ladies’ 5ths squeezing home 1-0 against North Walsham 2nds with a penalty corner strike by skipper Jose Tibbenham and the Men’s 5ths beating Thetford Town 2-1 (James Goodson and Alfie Fawkner) to record their elusive first victory of the season. The team have threatened to break their duck in recent weeks so it was particularly pleasing to hear of this win which leaves Thetford Town propping up the table with a game in hand. Meanwhile the Men’s 3rds were going down 6-3 to Ipswich Cranes (Andy Johnson 2, Guy Paul) and this Saturday they have (at least on paper) a far harder game when they entertain Dereham 2nds (4.00) for whom victory would secure the league title and the Girls’ Development were doing well to hold table toppping Norwich City to 2-1 with our goal coming from Georgie Cantrell, our youngest player.
There was mixed fortune for our youth teams in last Sunday’s EHB events. The U14 Girls beat Bury St Edmunds 12-1 (Victoria Findlay 5, Abby Gooderham 3, Anna Tighe, Lottie Summers, Alice Woollatt, Matilda Warde-Aldam) away having already qualified for the East Finals to be played on Sunday 6 April; the U14 Boys also had a comfortable away victory over Bury Edmunds winning 9-1 (Archie Winter 2, Jake Sewell 3, Jack Hobbs 2, Will Simpson, Tom Norton) but missed out by two points from qualifying for the East Finals. The U18 Girls bowed out of the EHB Cup losing 4-2 to a quality Leicester side despite playing well after taking a first minute lead through Lizzie Jones. After Leicester equalised with an excellent goal they took the lead through a misunderstanding in the Magpies’ defence before going 3-1 up. After good work by Kira Wooltorton and Sarah Brook down the right Georgie Minta got her team back into the game before Leicester scored again with the last hit of the game. Meanwhile the U18 Boys lost 5-1 (Matt Judge) despite playing some good hockey away against an impressive Bromley & Beckenham side in the EHB Plate.
In a very busy Sunday we also fielded seven teams in the Norwich Dragons Minis with all of them producing some promising hockey with the Girls’ U10s ‘A’ and ‘B’ and Girls’ U12 ‘A’ winning their respective events. Congratulations to them. This coming Sunday the Girls’ and Boys’ U10 & U12 ‘A’ teams will be competing for places in the East Finals when they travel to Pelicans HC for the Norfolk Championships. Meanwhile the club will be hosting an informal event at Weybread for U10/U12 Girls’ and Boys’ ‘B’ teams.
Good luck as always to all our teams this weekend including the Mixed who host Wisbech (1.00) in the 3rd round of the EHB Trophy on Sunday. A full list of the fixtures can be found on the club’s website.
YOUTH REPRESENTATIVES REQUIRED FOR HARLESTON MAGPIES YOUTH COUNCIL
Harleston Magpies Youth Committee are looking to set up a Youth Council made up of three Girls and three Boys up to the age of 16 years old to provide useful feedback to the Youth Committee. This will be an informal group and would cover such topics as Social Events, Fund Raising, Equipment, Welfare, Coaching, Presentation Evening etc. Your views will really help. If anyone is interested would they please contact either Kirstin Cumming, Nick McAllen or any member of the Youth Committee.
Other news and comment
a) It is good to know that club trustee Jeremy Podd is home again after five days in the Spire Hospital in Norwich enduring a double hip operation. After demonstrating he could climb up 10 steps he was evicted (sorry, discharged) last Saturday morning accompanied by a substantial supply of painkillers. Good luck Jeremy for your speedy and full recovery and it would be good to see you back at the club before the end of the season – if only to help out in the kitchen!
b) Indian Gymkhana beat Jersey 8-1 last Sunday and now have the pleasure of a trip to Weybread the play the mighty Magpies’ team on Sunday 16 March (2.00) for a place in the final of the EHB’s Masters O50s Cup.
This edition is far too long. I will try to be briefer next week!
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With kind regards
Mike Denham
4/3/14
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