FIRSTS FOR TOBY AND BEN
After last Saturday’s splendid 5-1 win over free-scoring Oxted – especially notable for first national league goals by Toby Tibbenham (a superb individual effort) and Ben Wright – the Men’s 1sts travel to play Indian Gymkhana this Saturday (2.00) and a win could see them move above their hosts to the top of the early season league table. But a tough game is assured, in what is increasingly looking to be a very competitive league, as a strengthened Indian Gym have made a fine start with three wins from three games after their surprisingly poor 2009-10 season.
Simon Hipwell had a fine all-round game for the 1sts and he took his form into last Saturday’s Curry-Oke where many other splendid vocal performances included those from Richard Larkin, Robbie Kinsella and the Ladies’ 2nds. Thanks are due to all who attended for helping to make the evening so enjoyable including jukeboxjon and Philippa Taylor and her curry making team. The food was even better than the best of the singing!
But back to the hockey which last Saturday included wins for the Ladies’ 3rds, Ladies’ 4ths and Girls’ Development and a 1-1 draw for the Ladies’ 5ths against Pelicans 2nds, a feature of which was a fine goalkeeping performance by Ellie O’Sullivan. Meantime the Men’s 3rd team skipper Matt Brand not only inspired his team but also himself with his half time motivational talk after which he scored twice and Toby Hughes once to turn a deficit into a good 3-1 win over Ely City.
On Sunday we were treated to two really promising youth performances which saw the U16 Boys beat Ipswich 11-5 and the U18 Boys defeat Bury St Edmunds 9-2 in their respective EHB Cups. Tom Graham scored a hat trick for the U16s including two splendid individual goals taking the ball from the half way line on each occasion but he was eventually outscored by Mitchell Tompkins who netted a fine four! Later Ben Wright ran the U18 Bury defence ragged during which he went one better than Mitchell and scored five times. Although I have highlighted the major goalscorers these were two very good squad performances and a delight to watch.
The Ladies’ 1sts and Men’s 2nds have centre stage at Weybread this Saturday where both teams will hope to secure their first points of the season. The Ladies’ 1sts, after their encouraging performance away to Horsham last Sunday, entertain Old Loughtonians (12.30) and the Men’s 2nds take on Cambridge Nomads (2.15). Other home teams include the Boys’ Development (10.45) and Girls’ Development (12.15), both of whom have made excellent starts to the season, and the table topping Men’s 7ths (4.00) who have yet to retrieve the ball from their own net!
News and comments in brief:
· Congratulations to Dickon Taylor and Emily Brown on their recent engagement.
· Last week the headline on this column read Jugs Will Come! – after splendid feats by two of our Vets. The exclamation mark should have been a question mark as we are still waiting!
· Have you paid your subscription and, if applicable, your training fee yet please?
· My erratic and much ridiculed scoreboard operating performance last Saturday was due to technical and not manual dexterity problems – honestly!
· It is good to see Peter Butcher umpiring again this season – thank you Peter.
· I thank our teams playing away for ringing in with their match results for the clubhouse board. ‘No Mr Dolton’ it is not necessary to ring in if you have just played at home!
· As in previous seasons discarded bottles around the pitches are still not levitating into the bins!!
· Please note your diary – Harleston Fireworks Spectacular at the club on Friday 5 November.
Good luck as always to all our teams in action this weekend (please see website for all fixtures) including the Men’s Vets who are at home on Sunday (12.30) to Norwich City in the EHB Cup.
With kind regards and best wishes
