magpies-hockey.co.uk
BAD WEEKEND FOR SOME
There is no denying that last weekend was a bad one for three of the club’s senior teams, namely the Ladies’ 1sts, Men’s 1sts and Men’s 2nds who all lost. Our other senior teams fared better with the Ladies’ 2nds and Men’s 3rds both gaining deserved victories while the Ladies’ 3rds were gifted three points as Dereham 3rds were, unfortunately, unable to raise a team.
The Ladies’ 1sts, away to second placed St Albans on Saturday, went down to a fourth successive goalless defeat and they now have the daunting task of their return to the National Premier Indoor League to look forward to over the weekends of 10/11 December and 7/8 January in Bristol before returning to outdoor action on Sunday 5 February. They warm up with the East Indoor Championship in Cambridge on Sunday. The Men’s 1sts also failed to score in their narrow and undeserved home defeat on Sunday at the hands of City of Peterborough. Despite not being at their best they deserved at least a point as the Peterborough goal was hotly disputed to say the least. On such decisions hang the result of some matches. But we won enough penalty corners to have taken the much needed three points against a Peterborough side which failed to sparkle. On the bright side MOTM Rees Leonard had a fine game in goal and the youthful Tom Graham gave his best performance of the season. Like the Ladies the Men can now concentrate on the indoor game for a few weeks.
On Saturday I had my shortest ever trip to see a Magpies’ team in action (before moving on to Weybread) when at the Hewett School in Norwich the Ladies’ 2nds were in dominant form beating Norwich Dragons 2nds 7-0. The first goal took some minutes to come but thereafter – with MOTM Emily Brown, Kira Wooltorton and Anouska Hipperson in especially good form – it was only a matter of how many the team would score with touchline estimates ranging from 6 to an optimistic 10! Afterwards with my comments of last week in mind I was reminded that the team did score from a shorty. Well done girls!
When I got to Weybread I was pleased to hear that the Ladies’ 5ths had won again (3-0 over Pelicans 3rds) and the Men’s 4ths had got a vital 2-1 win over Pelicans 2nds with goals by Toby Williamson (made by Andy Johnson I was reliably informed!) and Neil Toulson bringing back happy memories of his first team days. I was in time to see the Men’s 3rds fall behind against Cambridge University 3rds in a ‘shaky at the back’ spell before two goals by leading scorer Gavin Cole put his side ahead at the interval. The team continued to squander a succession of penalty corners with the home crowd (totalling 4) calling for more variety (our sideline tactics are faultless!) before sweeper Iain Cumming found Phil Cobbald on the edge of the circle with a fine through pass – following a vital save by ‘keeper Harry Bamber – and Phil made no mistake. The students’ second goal came too late to worry the league leaders. In the late game the Men’s 6ths were also deserved winners beating Dereham 4ths 3-2 with goals by Jonathan Payne, Will Johnson and James Smith.
Meantime the Men’s 2nds were preserving their 100% record of victory in all their home games and defeat in all their away games by going down 4-1 away to Cambridge University 2nds where Richard Larkin was MOTM for the second successive week. It is to be hoped that the 2nds maintain the admirable part of their record this coming Saturday (2.15) when they entertain league leaders City of Peterborough 2nds. Before then at Weybread the Ladies’ 2nds have a stern test against Ipswich 3rds (12.30) looking to retain their one hundred percent record for the season. In other eagerly awaited clashes at Weybread on Saturday the Men’s 5ths (after their 3-0 away win against Thetford) entertain the 4ths (10.30) while the Men’s 7ths, 3-1victors over IES 3rds, take on Dereham 5ths (4.00) seeking their seventh successive win. Good luck to all our teams in action this coming weekend – please see the Home Page of the website for details.
In brief
a) It is good luck and best wishes to Daniel Legg and Verity Blyth as they embark on their New Zealand sojourn. They will be missed both on and off the pitch during the next few months.
b) It was good to see Jaik Mickleburgh taking time out from his cricket career to play for the club on Saturday after a gap of some years.
c) Well done to the U18 Boys on beating IES 9-0 last Sunday in the EHB Cup and to the U18 Girls on beating Norwich City 4-0 in the EHB Plate.
d) Good luck to the GB Men’s team as they compete in the Champions Trophy starting this coming Saturday in Auckland. In Pool A GB play Pakistan (Saturday), Australia (Sunday) and Spain (Tuesday).
e) Three gentle moans – the amount of bottles and other litter left alongside our pitches; the failure of some dogs to take plastic bags with them while walking the club’s grounds and the failure of some of our teams to phone in with their result after playing away. My first moans of the season!
With kind regards and best wishes
Mike Denham
30/11/11
To find out more about Lowestoft College ring 0800 854695
