SPECIAL CHALLENGES AHEAD

I wish readers and their families (and by association all our teams and club officials) the very best for 2016 as we look forward to a busy and important few months for the club with special challenges facing a number of our teams.

Will the Ladies’ and Men’s 3rds be able to maintain their promotion bids? Will the Ladies’ 4ths maintain their good run which has taken them to second place behind the 3rds? Will the Men’s 1sts be able to build on their fine win over table-topping Richmond in their efforts to avoid relegation? Will the Boys’ Development be good enough to retain their league leadership? Will our Mixed and Men’s O50s teams do as well as last season and will our promising U10/U12 teams do as well as we hope? Will the Ladies’ and Men’s 2nds get enough points to avoid relegation? Turning to the indoor game will the U16 Girls and U18 Boys win their respective national indoor events and will the Ladies’ and Men’s 1sts at least maintain their league positions after relegations last season? A lot of questions with the answers to be revealed as the second half of the season unfolds.

We have only a few days to wait to at least get some idea how the Ladies’ and Men’s 1sts Super 6s indoor teams are likely to do as both are in action this coming weekend. The Ladies open their demanding Division One campaign at Nottingham Trent University (Lee Westwood SC) on Saturday when they play Bristol Firebrands (1.30) and Buckingham (6.30) while on Sunday they face Holcombe (12.00) and Wakefield (5.00). Their four other round-robin games will be played at the same venue a week later when they take on St Albans, Olton & WW, Clifton and Brooklands Poynton. The team welcome back Sarah Brook but will be without the attacking skills of Maria Andrews due to injury and the irreplaceable fire power of Emma Lee-Smith who is out on temporary loan to East Grinstead for their Premier Division campaign as they aim for the top four and a place in the semi-finals (and hopefully final) at the SSE Arena Wembley on Sunday 31 January.

The Men will hope to finish in the top three of the round-robin Division 2 North Championship at Oaklands College, St Albans to enable them to proceed to the Division 2 Championship over the weekend of 23/24 January in Bristol (again!) joining three teams from the Division 2 South event. On Saturday they take on St Albans (2.00) and Lichfield (5.00) while on Sunday they face Barford Tigers (10.00), Bournville (2.00) and Preston (4.00). It is to be hoped that skipper Leigh Sitch will be fit to play after his nasty facial injury sustained in the East Championship just before Christmas and it is good to see Donnie Archer fit again and ‘out on loan’ Chris Barber and Carl Sitch in the squad. Andrew Bedwell and Sam Rowe were not considered for selection due to injury and illness respectively.

Our squads are as follows:

Ladies – Lucy Belsey (captain), Charlotte Lee-Smith (GK), Lauren Barber, Charlotte White, Molly Redgrove, Debbie Francis, Sarah Brook, Sophie Sunderland, Abby Gooderham, Charlie Harrison, Louisa Greenacre (manager), David Brook (coach).

Men – Leigh Sitch (captain), Donnie Archer (GK), Chris Barber, Tristan Baynes, Simon Hipwell, Richard Larkin, Stuart Leate, John Livings (GK), Toby Price, Thomas Ridley, Carl Sitch, Louis Totton, Archie Winter, Ben Wright.

Meanwhile all our other teams will be in Saturday outdoor action having hopefully shaken off any festive excesses! At Weybread in a full programme of eight matches the Men’s 6ths set the ball rolling at 10.15 when they entertain Ipswich 4ths with whom they drew 2-2 away early in the season while the Girls’ Development play their first home match since 10 October when they face Watton (10.45). The Ladies’ 5ths will hope to maintain their good run which has seen them take fourteen points from their last seven games when they take on Thetford (12.00). Next into action will be the Boys’ Development and they will be keen to get back to winning ways when they play Pelicans (12.15) whom they have already beaten twice this season.

The Men’s 2nds are a better team than their league position would suggest and this must soon be reflected in their results starting, hopefully, when they welcome third placed Saffron Walden (2.00) while the Ladies’ 3rds, and league leaders, take on Norwich City 3rds (1.45) whom they beat 4-0 away back in September. The Men’s 5ths are next on the sand-based when they play unbeaten league leaders Bury St Edmunds 3rds and they will be encouraged by their recent performances while in the last game of the day the Ladies’ 7ths are also up against the league leaders when they play Lowestoft Railway 2nds (3.30) boosted by their 2-0 win over Loddon 2nds.

Away from home the Ladies’ 2nds will hope to maintain their impressive recent form when they travel to play Cambridge University (1.30) who beat them 2-1 at Weybread in September while the Ladies’ 4ths, who are in second place after an excellent season to-date, play bottom placed Pelicans 2nds (10.30). Meanwhile the Ladies’ 6ths take on Yarmouth 2nds (1.00) who are just three points off the top of the league.

Also away from home are the Men’s 3rds, and league leaders, who play Norwich Dragons 3rds (12.15) and the Men’s 4ths who take on bottom placed Ipswich 3rds (2.00) whom they beat 5-1 at home earlier in the season.

Good luck as always to all our teams this weekend.

I MAKE A PLEA. Bearing in mind that our playing resources on the men’s side of the club are always stretched in the school hockey term may I ask that members who are not committed in this way (and even if they are) make every effort to be available for selection as often as possible please. This is essential if we are to help our hard working team captains fulfil all our fixtures.

UMPIRES
It is about time that this column paid tribute to all who umpire our matches whether they be appointed umpires, club members umpiring before or after their own games or other club members helping out on a regular basis including our pool umpires. We are indebted to them. It hardly needs saying, but I will nevertheless, that without umpires our sport would wither and die. If a player is tempted to have a moan about an umpire I suggest that the umpire will have made less mistakes (assuming any) than the player!

SOCIAL AND FUND RAISING EVENTS
Cheese & Wine Evening (7.30pm – Saturday 30 January). There is a new venue this year for this popular event by kind permission of Mr and Mrs Peter Davidson, namely Fennings Farm Barn, Pixey Green, Fressingfield, IP21 5NH. Tickets are £12.50 each and obtainable from Lorraine Aldridge (Tel: 01379 586013) and from the clubhouse bar. Please come. You will be very welcome.

The Spring Raffle is back! Raffle books will be distributed over the next couple of weeks and members are urged to kindly sell their small supply to help the club pay its bills and build up a reserve for future developments at Weybread.

With kind regards

Mike Denham
[email protected]
5/1/16

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