IT’S WINTER!
The wintry conditions last Saturday put paid to four of our games and caused two to be abandoned at Weybread due to heavy snow late in the afternoon. Luckily the other seven games were played although in very cold conditions making things uncomfortable for players and spectators alike. But it is winter so we shouldn’t moan too much! In the event only two of our games at Weybread were called off, namely the Men’s 1sts against Felixstowe and the Boys’ Development who were due to play Dereham while away from home the matches between the Girls’ Development and Lowestoft Railway and the Men’s 2nds versus Saffron Walden also fell victim to the weather.
Play eventually got under way at Weybread at 1.45pm with the Men’s 3rds playing a vital relegation game against Lowestoft Railway with the Ladies’ 6ths starting fifteen minutes later against Norwich Dragons 4ths.
Lowestoft Railway started at a fierce pace against the 3rds and took the lead in the second minute following up a good save by goalkeeper James Lane at a penalty corner. Luckily for Magpies the visitors began to slow and on fifteen minutes Jack Frere-Smith slammed in the equaliser and six minutes later, with his team-mates urging him to pass the ball, vice-captain Andy Johnson decided to keep possession before firing home from the edge of the circle. By half time Magpies were 4-1 up with in-form Duncan Steven scoring twice and fourteen minutes into the second half he completed his hat-trick – a proper hat-trick of three successive goals! It wasn’t all one-way traffic as James was called on to make a couple of smart saves before Gavin Cole, who had taken a bang early in the game, ran on to a pin-point through ball from Phil Cobbald to round the keeper before scoring with a crowd pleasing reverse stick shot. Gavin completed the scoring a few minutes later to round off a really impressive and important 7-1 win for skipper Matt Brand and his team. This coming Saturday they have a tough away game with Norwich City 3rds (4.00).
Meanwhile the Ladies’ 6ths found themselves three goals down at half time against Norwich Dragons 4ths before fighting back in the second half with two goals by Keira Booty before Dragons scored in the last five seconds to win 5-2. It was good to see Keira and also Rosie Blackmore back playing for the club again.
With snow falling and settling it looked increasingly unlikely that the last two games of the day would be completed and so it transpired with the Ladies’ 3rds game against UEA 2nds abandoned just after half time with Magpies leading 3-0 (Katie Woollatt 2, Caz Aldous-Goodge) while the Men’s 5ths came off at half time against Norwich Dragons 4ths with the score at 1-1 (veteran Stuart Peters). It was good to see Tom Sumner turning out for the 5ths; at least he didn’t have to go the full distance on his very welcome return!
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HMHC’S 80TH ANNIVERSARY BALL – SATURDAY 13 JUNE 2015
PLEASE NOTE THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY.
Details to follow
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Away from home there were good wins for the Ladies’ 2nds and 5ths while the Ladies’ 4ths went down 6-0 to Norwich Dragons 3rds. The short comment on the latter game I received from vice-captain Treacle Griffin was “Cold, wet and miserable” so enough said! It was also very cold for the Ladies’ 5ths and Reepham but Magpies had the consolation of winning 3-0 with goals by Millie Preece (2) and Keisha Hilaire. Meanwhile the Ladies’ 2nds were beating Broxbourne 2-0 (Ellie Tennant 2) to complete an excellent double over their Hertfordshire opponents thereby stretching their unbeaten run to seven games during which they have taken 15 valuable points. This coming Saturday they host Canterbury 2nds (12.15) in another important game.
Also away were the Men’s 4ths who went down 2-1 (skipper David Blackmore) to Sudbury 2nds despite once again dominating a game without turning this advantage into sufficient goals while the Men’s 6ths were getting a good point from their game against IES 4ths. The game started 20 minutes late to allow the snow to abate and by half time IES were 2-1 ahead with the Magpies’ goal coming from skipper Eric Davy. In the second half Magpies got the equaliser when Jon Wells passed to Eric who found Jo Walker in the circle for the vital second goal. “IES were robbed” was Eric’s honest assessment of the game!
On Sunday there were no weather concerns as our Mixed team opened their England Hockey Mixed Trophy campaign with a 9-1 win away over Norwich City. In a well-contested (despite the score) and sporting encounter Magpies were 5-0 up at half time with goals by Martin Fields, Chris Barber (2), Lizzie Clymer and Lucy Whiting. Lucy’s effort was the goal of the game as she received an excellent defence splitting pass from Lizzie to score from the top of the circle. City had their best spell of the game just after half time during which Leigh-Ann Worrall pulled a goal back before Lauren Barber fired high into the City net to re-establish Magpies’ superiority. Chris then scored again and Martin rounded-off the scoring with two more goals. But sorry Chris and Martin – you did not score hat-tricks! Simon Hipwell modestly claimed to have created five of our goals! This was a good win for our team expertly managed by Sam Moore. (In the second round we play Hertford at home on Sunday 22 February (1.00 (W)).
During the second half your scribe heard a shout only to be struck a split second later by the ball. How the ball managed to miss the fence and my head and plummet down on my left foot I’ll never know. After the game one of our players showed me a lot of sympathy by saying “Didn’t you see the ball? It was up in the air for eight seconds”. “No I didn’t” I said “I was too busy talking!”
Magpies’ squad – Leigh Sitch (captain), Katrina Sitch (vice-captain), Chris Barber, Lauren Barber, Andrew Bedwell, Amy Campbell, Lizzie Clymer, Matt Collinge (GK), Martin Fields, Simon Hipwell, Richard Larkin, Will Martin, James Meek, Frances Taylor, Lucy Whiting, Sam Moore (manager).
This coming Saturday the Ladies’ 1sts are back in outdoor league action for the first time since 29 November when they welcome Ipswich (2.00) who will be desperate for points and encouraged by their win over Horsham in their last match before the break. For their part Magpies, while having 18 points from their first eleven matches, know that another win or two in a very competitive league will be necessary to avoid a repeat of last season’s late relegation concerns. Meanwhile the Men’s 1sts are away to Chelmsford (12.00) knowing that they must not slip up after receiving the boost of league leaders Wapping losing to St Albans last Saturday while the Men’s 2nds are at home to Cambridge University 2nds (12.00) looking to continue their fine run of form which has seen them win four of their last five matches.
Good luck as always to all our teams this weekend. Please see the Latest News page of the website for the complete list of our fixtures including the U10 & U12 Boys (am) and Girls (pm) in the Pelicans’ Minis and the Boys’ U14s and U16s in EHB Championship action at Weybread (both at 12.00) on Sunday. Fingers-crossed for the weather.
Other news and comment
a) It is good to know that Siobhan Wooltorton and Sam Moore are making good progress following their knee operations last year. Sam has recently been on a re-hab course with another one to follow in a few weeks. Hopefully both Siobhan and Sam will be back playing at some stage next season. We have missed seeing them play although it is always good to see them supporting our teams each week.
b) Congratulations to Sol Barker, Jonty Hershel-Shorland and Myles King on being selected to play for Norfolk U16s at Norwich City HC last Sunday. Norfolk beat Suffolk 8-4 before losing 5-2 to Cambridgeshire.
c) Our fixture secretaries now have another 21 league matches to re-arrange following the recent bad weather. Please see the Latest News page of the website for the complete list and news of the re-arranged dates and times when agreed.
d) The Norfolk Minis will now be held at Pelicans HC on Sunday 22 March and not Sunday 8 March.
With kind regards
Mike Denham
[email protected]
3/2/15
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