A WEEKEND OF VARIED EMOTIONS

Last weekend was a mixture of frustration (to put it mildly in one case), disappointment, encouragement and excitement for our teams as summarised below.

Ladies’ 1sts. The team laboured to a deserved 4-1 win at a cold Weybread over bottom-placed Ipswich. Emma Lee-Smith put them ahead in the first half only for a lively Ipswich to equalise after the break. The game was then transformed when seemingly out of the blue Abby Gooderham fired home one of the goals of the season with a superb reverse stick shot from the edge of the circle. Susan Wessels then converted a penalty corner before Abby set up Susan for a simple tap-in after another piece of individual skill. With time running out Abby seemed destined for a deserved second goal only for the umpire to blow for the end of the game with the ball about to roll into the unguarded goal! The team remains in fourth place and this coming Saturday is away to Maidenhead (1.30).

Ladies’ 2nds. There was further frustration for the team when they conceded two early goals away to St Albans 2nds following decisions which on another day might have gone in their favour. But they went on to battle hard combined with some excellent hockey and they got a deserved late goal when Kara Kilbourn deflected home at a penalty corner. With this 2-1 defeat the team need to win at least two of their last three games (starting at home this Saturday against Maidstone (2.00) to have any chance of avoiding relegation.

Ladies’ 3rds. After their 6-0 away win over Pelicans 2nds (with goals by Sarah Legg 2, Millie Preece 2, Katie Ogden and Mia King) and the draw for the 4ths the team now lead their league by three points from the 4ths who have a game in hand. Katie Woollatt was MOTM. This Saturday Lucy Field and her team are at home after four successive away games when they host third-placed UEA 2nds (3.30).

Ladies’ 4ths. After five wins on the trot the team had to be content with a 1-1 home draw against a gritty Norwich City 2nds. Laura Tibbenham put them ahead in the first half after considerable City pressure and City hit back with a scrappy goal after the break for a deserved equaliser. Despite these two dropped points Treacle Griffin and her team can still win the league but they have a tricky away game with fourth placed Norwich Dragons 3rds (11.30) this Saturday who drew last weekend after coming up against the resolute defence of lowly Evergreens.

END OF SEASON SENIOR AWARDS EVENING including Buffet & Disco
SATURDAY 19 MARCH, APOLLO CLUB, HARLESTON
Arrive 7.30pm Awards 8.00pm Taxis 12.00am. Dress: Smart
Tickets (which must be purchased in advance) are £20.00 and are available from clubhouse bar or from Jackie and Kevin Ridley 01379 854697 or 07815 199803. Please come to help make this evening both enjoyable and successful.

Ladies’ 5ths. Two weeks ago in a re-arranged away game the team went down 6-3 to Watton 2nds but they were determined there would be no repeat at home and they ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. Imi Meynell-Anderson and Alice Evans-Hendrick put them 2-0 up at half time and skipper Jose Tibbenham made the game save with a couple later in the game. Fourth place is still attainable by the team but they will need to keep winning including at home to UEA 3rds on Saturday (10.15).

Ladies’ 6ths. It was good to see the team earn a deserved point at home in a 2-2 draw with Evergreens 2nds. Ellie Fawkner gave them a first half lead and after Evergreens fought back to take the lead Ellie popped up with the equaliser with five minutes to go in an end to end match. This Saturday they are away to Norwich Dragons 6ths (3.15).

Ladies’ 7ths. With a scheduled 5.30 start away to Norwich City 7ths the team knew they were in for a late finish. In the event with a delayed start they eventually came off the pitch at 7.20! After starting with ten players they lost Jane Collins through injury. Nevertheless they put up in a strong performance eventually losing 3-0. This week they are at home to Pelicans 3rds (12.15).

Girls’ Development. Manager Sandra Elliner was obliged to select a very young side to play Pelicans with several players unavailable as they were playing the next day and with four playing for the 6ths. After a good game Pelicans came out on top winning 2-0. This Saturday the team is away to Yarmouth (10.00) whom they beat 5-0 in the middle of December.

Men’s 1sts. They just had to win their home match on Sunday with Teddington to keep alive their very slim national league survival hopes but it wasn’t to be sadly as they went down 5-3. Myles King (with his first national league goal) and Ben Wright (with a penalty stroke conversion) had given the team the boost of a two-goal lead. Teddington hit back just before the interval and the game was transformed early in the second half with Teddington scoring three times in four minutes. Myles then scored again to give Magpies some hope but seeking an equaliser Magpies were caught on the break and the visitors, for whom it was good see out-on-loan Carl Sitch playing against his brother Leigh, scored again to win 5-3. This Sunday the team play their last home game of the season when they host Cambridge City at the changed time of 12 noon.

Men’s 2nds. Skipper Lawrence Baynes and his team were looking to build on their fine away win over Spalding when they took on fellow-strugglers Cambridge Univ 2nds at Weybread. It was soon clear they were in for a tough game and it was good to see Sam Moore and Richard Ling playing for Magpies for whom Thomas Ridley was in sparkling form. After a keen struggle the game seemed to be heading for a goalless draw but the students struck with five minutes to go. This spurred Magpies on even further and Thomas gave them a deserved equaliser. While now off the bottom of the league Magpies will need to win at least two of their last four games to avoid relegation starting hopefully away to Felixstowe on Saturday (2.00).

Men’s 3rds. The team knew they were in for a tough game against league leaders IES 2nds despite beating them at home 5-1 earlier in the season. They conceded two sloppy goals early in the game and after getting to half time without further damage they let in another soon after. 3-0 down soon came 4-0 but third-placed Magpies hit back with late goals by Jake Sewell and skipper Matt Brand to lose 4-2. With three games left promotion is still a possibility for Magpies but they will need to beat Norwich City 4ths at home on Saturday (1.45) to have a realistic chance.

END OF SEASON SENIOR AWARDS EVENING including Buffet & Disco – please see above

Men’s 4ths. After their fine win over IES 3rds the previous week the team took a big step to avoiding relegation when they beat IES 4ths 1-0 away to move up to 5th place in their league. Their goal came in the last minute through Ali Williamson with his first for the club in thirteen years after he beat three players in the circle. What a goal! But they are still not completely safe although a win on Saturday at home to North Norfolk 2nds (12.00) would do the trick.

Men’s 5ths. They were up against league leaders Bury St Edmunds 4ths in the last game at Weybread by which time I have to confess I had sought the warmth of the clubhouse and with it an excellent meal thanks to the Ladies’ 1sts. Andy Caston twice brought his team level before Bury pulled away to lead 5-2. Lewis Belsey then scored to make the final score a respectable 5-3. On Saturday they are away to Thetford Town (2.30) who like them are in mid-table comfort.

Men’s 6ths. Eric Davy’s team continues to amaze! Their 2-1 home win over Norwich Dragons 5ths was their seventh in their last eight games – with the other ending in a draw. They were a goal down at half time before Eric got the equaliser (although this was incorrectly challenged in the clubhouse by jealous team-mates!) after Jon Wells had created the penalty corner. With seven minutes to go and with an appreciative roar from the spectators Richard ‘Chopper’ Allcock fired home the winner after a shot from Roger Kent had come back off a post. The prospect of promotion for the team remains a concern (!) but they have three demanding games remaining including away to Norfolk Nomads on Saturday (2.30).

Boys’ Development. While father Andy was scoring a brace for the 5ths sons Tom and Jake Caston were scoring the four goals by which the Dev team won 4-0 away to Pelicans. Tom went one better than his father scoring three times while Jake had to be content with one. The team, which does not have a game this week, is now back on the top of their league two points ahead of Norwich Dragons (having played a game more) who they play away on Saturday week.

Mixed. The team is at home to Norwich City on Sunday (2.00) in the 3rd round of the EH Trophy.

U18 Girls. The team had the frustration of their mini-bus breaking down on their long trip to play Neston South Wirral on Sunday in the quarter-finals of the EH Plate. They then had the further frustration of losing 1-0 through a late goal. But to their credit they honoured the fixture.

U16 Girls. Frustration mixed with bewilderment (and something stronger) must have be the emotions of the team and their supporters when after beating Cambridge City 2-1 and drawing 1-1 with hosts Leicester in the regional finals their game against Worcester was called off with ten minutes to go when they were leading 8-0 (with Abby Gooderham scoring a remarkable seven goals). The reason being that it says in the rules no team may lose by more than eight goals. This meant our team lost out to Leicester on goal difference of two after Leicester had surprisingly beaten a strong looking Cambridge City 8-0.

U16 Boys. They had drama of their own at the regional finals in Canterbury drawing 3-3 with Teddington after being three up with six minutes to play. They then came from two down to draw 2-2 with Old Loughtonians before losing 3-1 to Canterbury.

U14 Girls. They missed out on reaching their regional final when they lost 3-2 away to Norwich City. They recovered from 3-0 down with goals by Grace Collison and Georgie Cantrell and were pressing for the equaliser at the final whistle.

U14 Boys. The team is through to the Midlands regional final on goal difference after Norwich Dragons beat Bury St Edmunds 3-1 on Sunday.

U10/U12 Boys and Girls. Congratulations to our four ‘A’ teams who have qualified for the East Finals to be held at Weybread over the weekend of Saturday/Sunday 16/17 April after their exciting successes in the Norfolk Championships at Pelicans HC on Sunday. The U10 Girls finished as champions while the other teams came second. This coming Sunday they will be joined by our ‘B’ teams, who had their own event at Weybread, when they all compete in the Norwich Dragons Minis.

Finally, a remarkable record at Weybread last Saturday when on the sand-based pitch there was a member of the Davy family playing in all four games for Magpies, namely Louise (10.45 for the 5ths), Katie (12.15 for the Development), father Eric (1.45 for the 6ths) and Louise and Julie and mother Marie (3.15 for the 6ths).

Best of luck to all our teams this weekend. Please see the website for the full list of fixtures.

With kind regards

Mike Denham
[email protected]
1/3/16

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