THE VIKINGS COME HOME TO DISS
Next Wednesday (7 November) the 1st Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment (nicknamed The Vikings), which recruits its soldiers from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire, will be marching through Diss to mark its fourth and expected final homecoming from Afghanistan. Eddie Thorne (the club’s 5th team captain), who served with the Battalion, has asked me to say that everybody is welcome and encouraged to come along and support the event if they have family or friends in the Battalion or just wish to show their support for the Armed Forces in general. The parade will start at 12.30pm from the Mere Street/Chapel Street junction and proceed via the Market Area (Inspection), Market Hill, Denmark Street/Roydon Road before concluding at the Corn Exchange. The town is likely to be busy so it is suggested those intending to be present get there early.
The after-effects of some dental treatment kept me away from the Euro Hockey League at East Grinstead HC – well done to East Grinstead and Reading who have joined Beeston in the Last 16 round – and from Weybread last weekend and watching the referee conning antics of footballers on television was no compensation! This was especially so as last Saturday’s results for the club with 10 wins, 3 draws and no defeats were the best set I can ever remember. Well done to all our teams!
While not present at Weybread I kept in regular touch with proceedings there and further afield and special mention must be made of our teams securing welcome victories for the first time this season. The Ladies’ 5ths beat UEA 3rds 1-0 (Imogen Meynell-Anderson) away while the Men’s 3rds gained a 2-1 home win over UEA – with the help of the Gavin (Cole) and (James) Stacey goal scoring partnership – and the Men’s 5ths came from two down away from home to edge out Lowestoft Railway 3-2 with OG and Will Main (2) finding the back of the net. It was good to learn that skipper Eddie Thorne played for half of the game despite his leg injury for which he is awaiting the operation date.
Continuing on the Men’s side of the club the 1sts got a splendid 1-0 away win over the previous 100% St Albans to close within one point of the Hertfordshire club with Andy Hipwell finding the net midway through the second half; the 2nds ran riot against City of Peterborough 3rds winning 7-3 with goals by David Francis (2), Fred Merrett, Toby Price, Dom Absolon and OG (2) while a splendid hat-trick from Luke Edwards helped the 4ths to a valuable second win of the season (goalkeeper Felix Trash did not touch the ball in open play and Bob Skinner’s dodgy hamstring held up!) when they beat Gorleston 3-1. The 6ths gained a good point with a 2-2 draw (Harry Haigh and Pete Thornett) against Norwich City 5ths and the 7ths were in the points for the third successive week drawing 1-1 with IES 4ths. This coming weekend the 1sts have a double-header hosting City of Peterborough 2nds at Weybread on Saturday (2.15) before playing Cambridge University away on Sunday (12.00) in a match brought forward to enable us to play in the East Indoor Tournament on Saturday 1 December. On the opening day of the season Magpies recovered from a goal down to beat the students 2-1 so another close game is in prospect.
Joining the Ladies’ 5ths as winners were the Ladies’ 2nds, 4ths and 6ths while the1sts were unfortunate in having to settle for just a 1-1 draw (Emma Lee-Smith) away to Old Loughtonians prior to their one-week break in a very successful season to-date. The 2nds, with goalkeeper Siobhan Cleeve in good form, had their best win of the season beating Dereham 4-0 away with goals by Lizzie Jones (a calmly taken penalty stroke) and a super hat-trick by Hayley Toleman and they have an even tougher game this Saturday when they entertain Bury St Edmunds (12.30) who are close behind them at the top end of the league. The 3rds took their goal tally in the last five matches to a remarkable 37 (with just 2 against) with a table topping 7-0 win over Watton 2nds and the 4ths returned to goal scoring and winning ways with a 3-0 win (Hannah King, Charlotte Beasley-Rourke, Sarah Legg) over Lowestoft Railway on a cold and miserable Weybread morning. Meanwhile the 6ths responded to their heavy defeat the previous week by beating Norwich City 6ths 2-1 to maintain their promising start to the season. Please see the website for the full list of this Saturday’s fixtures – and good luck to all our teams.
The club will be without some of its most promising young members this weekendfor the very good reason they will be in Cannock playing for the Saxon Tigers in the EHB’s Futures Cup (England trials) against teams from the other regions starting on Thursday.Sarah Brook and Tom Graham (with ex-Magpie Elliot Smith now with Cambridge City) will be playing for the U18s while Amy Campbell, Sam Lyne, Toby Price, Sam Rowe, Saffron Wilford and Kira Wooltorton have been selected for the U16s. In addition Lizzie Jones will be in Leeds for a 3-day training session with the U17s while Arianne Dyball is a non-travelling reserve. It is ‘very best wishes’ to all these members who I hope will not be too downhearted if things do not go their way. There will be other opportunities for them to show how good they are if they stick at it.
Harleston Fireworks Spectacular – Friday 2 November (gates open 6.00pm)
a) It is hoped you and your family and friends will be able to get along to this enjoyable event. Please come hungry to enjoy the excellent BBQ! Tickets (at £5 for adults and £3 for children (between ages 5 and 15 inclusive) with Under 5’s Free) are available in town from Kitchen Sense, Jacksons Fruiterers, The Card and Party Shop and Wiskers Pet Shop until 12 noon on Thursday. Tickets will be £1 more expensive on the gate.
b) Volunteers are still urgently required to help on the night from 5.45pm. If you are able to do so would you please contact James Smith – [email protected]or 01379 898767.
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With kind regards
Mike Denham
31/10/12
