ROSE-COLOURED SPECTACLES

There is no disguising that last weekend was a disappointing one for the club with the record reading – played 17, won 6, drawn 1, lost 10, goals for 29, goals against 32. But seen through rose- coloured spectacles there were, in addition to the six wins, some battling performances and only 32 goals against.

I will start with the wins and in the order they were achieved. The Ladies’ 5ths made it three wins from three when they beat Broadland 2nds 5-1 away. It was 1-1 at half time with Millie Preece having found the net. Thereafter Jose Tibbenham’s team took control of the game with goals by Alice Woollatt, Anna Kilbourn, Imogen Meynell-Anderson and the skipper herself after she had started the game in defence. Another away victory was achieved by the Boys’ Development who beat Pelicans 4-0 with goals by Jude Pottruff (2), Alex Kilbourn and Tom Caston and in doing so they went to the top of their league after admittedly only two games but top is top and this coming Saturday they are away to Norwich Dragons (3.30). Next to celebrate victory (but doing so calmly) were the Girls’ Development who entertained a young and under full strength Yarmouth side containing two adults. The final score was 8-0 but in the record books, based on the league rules, this goes down as a 5-0 win. Our scorers were Emily Woollatt, Georgie Cantrell, Phoebe Eglington (2), Taylor Freeman (2) and Keisha Hilaire also with a brace. This Saturday with Norwich City B having pulled out of the league dedicated player-manager Sandra Elliner has arranged a home friendly with Lowestoft Railway (10.15).

The second and last home win of Saturday was achieved by the Ladies’ 2nds who beat Ipswich 2nds 2-0. Magpies dominated the first twenty minutes of the game but only had Kara Kilbourn’s very welcome goal to show for their superiority. Ipswich, for whom it was good to see ex-Magpies Connie Bedingfield and Lizzie Wheelhouse (please see below) playing, came more into the game without seriously testing the home defence in which goalkeeper Calianne Clark didn’t touch the ball. At the back skipper Frances Taylor was as steady as ever while Rachel Herod and Tor Findlay were especially prominent in attack and it was Tor who made the game safe for Magpies with a typically clinical finish with five minutes to go. This week the team are away to Wapping (12.30) in the Olympic Park.

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Halloween Fancy Dress Party – clubhouse – this Saturday, i.e. 11 October (7.30pm). Tickets £5 on the door. The event includes prizes, music and fun and games (including apple bobbing!) for all. Please come – you will be very welcome.

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The fifth and final Saturday win came with the Men’s 1sts maintaining their 100% start to the season with a 2-1 win over Wisbech thanks in no small part to goals by Ben Wright (his fourth in three games) and Toby Price. Wisbech hit back after Ben had put Magpies ahead only for Toby to fire in a penalty corner before half time with what turned out to be the final goal of the game. To the mounting frustration of your scribe and other members it took at least six phone calls to find out the result of the game! Is it asking too much for a member of the team to phone the clubhouse with the result? A job I suggest for vice-captain Leigh Sitch! Question – why is it when first team photographs are posted on the website there is always one of Leigh?! But no phone call will be necessary this Saturday as second placed Magpies are at home to third placed Wapping (12.00) and a searching test is assured if Wapping play as well as they did in the corresponding fixture last season which ended in a 0-0 draw.

The last win of the weekend came on Sunday when the U14 Girls opened their EHB Championship campaign with a comfortable 5-1 win away to Pelicans. Millie Preece scored the first two goals with the others coming from Grace Collison, Taylor Freeman and Lottie Summers. The team are next in action at home to Dereham on Sunday week.

The Men’s 2nds were hoping to open their account for the season last Saturday when they were due to welcome Ramgarhia but we got the news on the Friday that the club had withdrawn from the league. This was bad and sad news not only for the club, which has now folded, but for East hockey generally. We can ill-afford to lose clubs. Ramgarhia, which had gone down to one team, joined the league 24 years ago and they were welcome visitors to Weybread. Last season they were in East Premier A playing our 1sts. How quickly things can change. This Saturday the Men’s 2nds are away to Waltham Forest (1.00).

The one draw last Saturday was achieved by the Ladies’ 3rds who played well, with vice-captain Rachel Baynes in fine form in defence, and they deserved to beat Broadland after going close to scoring on a number of occasions but despite frequent shouts of “goals will come” from the touchline they never did! Let’s hope they do on Saturday when the team are away to Loddon (10.30). Next up and against Bury St Edmunds were the Men’s 4ths as the temperature dropped by some 10 degrees and the rain came as forecast. It was good to see skipper David Blackmore back in action after injury and Richard Gill playing with his customary skill in mid-field. Myles King put the team ahead in the first half with a smartly taken short corner before in the second half a strong Bury side took control of the game to win 4-1 helped by a couple of slips in the home defence. This Saturday the 4ths are ‘away’ to the 3rds (3.30) who went down 2-1 (Guy Pelling) last Saturday to Pelicans 2nds. Based on what I have seen over the past two weekends the teams are fairly evenly matched so an exciting contest is in prospect. When the two teams met early last season the 4ths got a late equaliser to make the final score 2-2 before being thumped 6-1 in the return.

In a busy programme of eight matches at Weybread this Saturday the Ladies’ 1sts will be hoping to bounce back following their 2-0 away defeat to leaders East Grinstead when they entertain Chelmsford (2.00). It is also to be hoped that the team’s injury problems will have eased although Kath Johnson will sadly not be playing as she is likely to be out for several weeks after her arm injury sustained against Ipswich the weekend before last. The Men’s 5ths will also be hoping to get back to winning ways after their 2-1 (John Pope) defeat by Sudbury 3rds when they host Dereham 4ths (1.45) while the Ladies’ 6ths will be seeking their first points of the season when they entertain Reepham (12.15). Meanwhile the Men’s 6ths are away to Ipswich 3rds (3.00) after going down to 3-1 Lowestoft Railway 2nds. Richard ‘Chopper’ Allcock came on in the second half to score their goal after being relieved of pitchside child minding duties.

Last but certainly not least the Boys’ U14s and U18s both suffered defeats in their EHB Cup games at a warm and sunny Weybread on Sunday. The U14s came more into the game after half time before going down 4-0 to a strong Norwich Dragons side despite some good saves by goalkeeper James Harvey while the U18s never fully recovered from conceding an early goal to City of Peterborough. The final score of 5-2 was not a true reflection of how the Magpies played, with Tom Yallop in good form in goal, and after being 3-0 down at half time they matched their impressive opponents with Elliott Ashurst converting two penalty strokes in fine style.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL OUR TEAMS THIS WEEKEND. Please see the website for the full list of fixtures. 

England Hockey have announced the 2014 HiPAC (High Performance Assessment Camps) and Futures Cups squads lists. 

Congratulations to the following Magpies’ players who after their performances for Bury Tigers in recent weekends have been selected for the Saxon Tiger squads. It is hoped that the members who were not selected will not be too downhearted and that they will continue to develop their skills. I have in mind ex-Magpie Richard ‘Ratty’ Alexander who after some initial selectorial setbacks went on to play many times for England and also for Great Britain in the Olympics!

U15 Girls Lauren Rowe, Anna Tighe (non-travelling reserve)

U15 Boys Archie Winter

U16 Girls Abby Gooderham, Alice Hopgood

U16 Boys Jolyon Summers

U17 Girls Maria Andrews

U18 Boys Toby Price

Please see the Latest News section of the website for more details.

IN BRIEF

a) Belated congratulations and best wishes to Lizzie and Mark Wheelhouse on the birth of Noah on Thursday 5 June. Noah was at Weybread on Saturday with his mother and grandmother Ruth.

b) It is also congratulations to Andy Halliday and Jon Bleby, team Manager and assistant coach of the GB Men’s Hockey Team, who duly completed the NOW: Pensions Mountain Dribble for charity. For more details please see www.englandhockey.co.uk or click on the England Hockey logo at the top right of the our website pages.

c) Social media – please see i) Social Media info for a message from James Lane regarding social media in relation to HMHC and ii) the three Social Media buttons at the top right of the website pages.

d) Tickets for the Harleston Fireworks Spectacular to be held at the club on Friday 7 November are now on sale at the clubhouse bar. They are £1 cheaper than on the night.

e) 300 Club – if you have yet to pay your sub for the year perhaps you would kindly respond to organiser Angie Wheelhouse as soon as possible.

f) Scoreboard on water-based – it is now mended with thanks to John Moore. So no more stupid questions like ‘Are we losing 11-0?’ when the score is 0-0!

This article is far too long – sorry!

IceniPost.com – sponsors of www.magpies-hockey.co.uk

With kind regards Mike Denham [email protected] 7/10/14

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