Rushing about

I've missed posting for a few weeks, as my home internet connection has been down.  This has been commented on, so it appears that I may have some readers I wasn't aware of, so thanks very much, whoever you are.  I'm hoping to be more regular going forward.  It has also made arranging teams very hard, as we use a web based team selection and notification system that really makes it easy, and it wasn't accessible.  It's hard to imagine how we ever managed without broadband.

Saturday I needed to be away fairly quickly after the match, though I did act as lead for the opposition convoy back to our club first and stayed for 15 minutes for a slice of pizza and some chips.  We were due to be skating in Winchester so all a bit of a rush.  However, even 15 minutes is important for keeping the social side of the club going.  All the opposition came back which was good to see, although I'm sure they were happy to celebrate their 5-1 win.  It was a really good competitive game though, against a team that are top by some distance, and we had played well and had even had a couple of extra chances to score (one mine).  As seems to be the form at the moment, after the match I was voted Donkey again, for missing the goal at one end, and presenting the opposition with a goal at the other: my missed tackle wild flap at the ball was widely admired.

We made the skating, well I didn't as it took half an hour to park the car, although I wasn't desperately fussed as I am pretty rubbish.  Next day, we had to get back, as the U14s including Nick had a game at Newlands, and my eldest had a cup game in Prestwood (though football rather than hockey).  Nick and co. had a great game, which ended 3-3, with A&C three times coming back from a goal down, lots of other goalmouth action and end to end hockey.  A game that was really enjoyed by all the parent spectators of both teams, with considerable cheering throughout, and a great last game before Christmas.

I do aim to try to do some exercise over the holiday, though I suspect that may be limited if the temperature drops below zero.  However, it's the thought that counts.

Donkey for the season

Saturday I had been selected for the 3rds, as the team I normally run wasn't playing, owing to a cancellation because of half-term from our opposition.  A home match at a nice time which I was looking forward to.  Afterwards I would have a short break before umpiring the Men's Development (Badgers) side, mostly U14s.  Crispin rang me up to say a couple of his lads had had to drop out and could my youngest Nick join as a substitute.  Nick was very happy about this, his first ever such match, although getting ready took slightly longer and I was a tad late for the 3rds.  When I arrived the 3rds were in fact playing, and I looked at my watch in surprise and thought they must have started a fraction early.  Then there was a strong whistle and all the players started shaking hands.  My hand went to my head: I'd turned up for the end of the match.  I apologised profusely.  Thomas said that in response to me mail "see you at 3pm", he had twice sent me an email saying "no, 1.30", but I think he could have sent me twenty emails and it wouldn't have made any difference - I had 3pm fixed in my head.  Fortunately they had 12 players, so it wasn't a disaster.  I joined them down at the club for a drink, and mentioned that I had been voted Donkey the previous week.  Ben promptly said that this made me 'Donkey for the season'.  Harsh but fair.

A little later I umpired the Badgers, a really good match which were losing 0-1 until John got a bash on his lip half way through the second half and had to go to hospital for a few stiches.  I came on as a substitute and someone else took over as umpire, and the final score was 1-5.  I did score our goal, but I'm not sure my overall contribution was that positive!  However, fab to play with Nick on the same team.

Yesterday Nick played again in an U12 vs U14, to replace another cancelled match, again because of half-term.  A really good match, where the U12 played terrifically well to limit the U14 to just a 3-0 win.  We will have some very good Hockey players in these groups.  Overall, a good weekend, but I am clearly going to have to work harder to avoid being Donkey in future.

Voted Donkey

After our matches we vote on Man of the Match and Donkey.  The former title is obvious, the latter is reserved for the daft mistake or something else on the day that merits the perpetrator winner of the title.  Yesterday I was voted Donkey, unanimously, in fact even I voted for me.  What did I do to deserve this ignominy?  And this after I had just given up my time to umpire the previous match too.  Well I thought I did what used to be called 'playing in the spirit of the game'.  We went one down, and then pulled one back to draw level.  The game had just a few minutes to go when one of the opposition burst through our defence towards me, and unfortunately the ball hit me on the foot as I tried to defend our D.  The umpire blew for a free hit just outside the D, but alas I knew the ball had hit my foot inside the D, so I confessed my mistake, and the umpire converted the free hit to a penalty corner.  The opposition took a short push in and cracked the ball across for the same guy I had fouled to steam in and deflect the ball into the roof of the net.  It was a very good goal, but Bob, as my left back couldn't believe I'd owned up.  He wasn't cross, just disbelieveing.  We pressed for another equaliser but just a couple of minutes later the final whistle blew.

Sitting in the bar after the match, Bhavik, our Man-of-the-Match asked me if I'd own up again in a critical league match and after a moment's pause, I said I would.  Winning is good, or at least avoiding defeat, but for me the way the game is played is important too.  I'm afraid therefore that I can envisage being voted Donkey again.

Quid pro quo

At the start of the season, my son Dan passed the ball to me on the edge of the opposition D and much to my surprise I scored a cracker into the top corner.  Last week I had a shot saved by the keeper at 1-1, with 10 minutes to go, but Dan pounced on the rebound and scored his first ever goal and the winner.  He confided to me afterwards that he'd slightly mishit it and the ball nicked the post as it went in and for a moment he thought he'd missed it.  However, a goal is a goal, especially when it's the winner and your first.

This week, the 5ths didn't have a game, so Dan played for the 4ths, and I played for the Vintage against a good Reading side.  We lost 2-5, partly due to me turning up late (and 2 goals down) whilst I sold my car.  Despite my apologies, I did feel obliged to buy a jug afterwards, which I have to say disappeared very quickly.  I think the proceeds from my car sale may be rapidly accounted for.

Today I watched the U14 Boys Development team play their first match of the season against Wycombe.  Our boys went 0-2 down with goals either side of half-time, but then picked up the tempo, and in an excellent second half, pulled a goal back and would have got an equaliser but for some excellent saves by the Wycombe keeper.  The last 15 minutes was end-to-end stuff as A&C went for the equaliser, and Wycombe went for the killer third, but in the end it finished 1-2.  Well done to all the boys, many of whom were playing their first full pitch 11-a-side, and three of whom had played earlier for the U12s in a mini-tournament.  I don't think they'd realised just how tiring running over the whole pitch for an hour is, but in the last 15 minutes it didn't seem to matter as both sets of parents cheered them on furiously in an exciting finale.

Squash and chocolate chip cookies in the pavilion rounded off the afternoon.  When they win, I'll get out the fizzy stuff - Fanta that is.

New season

So here we are at the end of the first league weekend of the new season, with all teams in action and some junior matches too.  It has been a while since my last post, so this one is a bit of a catch-up.  This comes after a busy pre-season including a number of friendlies following our open day at the start of September which was extremely well attended by the men, the ladies and the juniors with a number of new faces which was fantastic to see.  On top of that, the planning application for the redevelopment of Newlands (including our two pitches and a clubhouse) has been formally validated and is out in public for consultation.  The new training schedule has been up and running for several weeks and is also seing lots of older juniors, and seniors working on fitness and skill.  Sunday mornings has been expertly run as usual by Emma, and load of new faces, especially the littl'uns who are playing quickstiks with slightly lighter sticks and slightly larger and lighter balls, which is really good for teaching them the basics.  Busy, busy, busy.

Yesterday I played in the 5ths, having previously umpired the 3rds.  We had a really good game, but were undone by some fantastic crisp passing and finishing by the juniors in Bracknell's development-style team.  On a couple of occasions I was completely bypassed by the Bracknell youngsters moving at speed and passing the ball into the goal.  While I don't like losing, I had to admire their ability and teamwork.  In a couple of years time, I don't think I'll even get close to them, not that that will stop me trying.  Last year, I played the first couple of 5th's games with 9 players, and the other teams were playing with 11 or at best 12.  Yesterday all the men's teams had at least 12, and we put out a Vintage and a Badgers, so we have increased the depth of our playing force.

So well done to the team that has got the season up and running, don't forget to work on fitness, try and pay your subs on time, and let's support the planning so in a year or so we are playing on some brand spanking new astros.

Hot and humid

Tuesday was my umpiring assessment for Level 1, having completed my 3 training games.  David had offered to assess me, while umpiring the other side of the pitch.  It was a top-of-the-table summer 1st XI league, so no room for error.  As well as that, the A&C side had our county disciplinary officer, Mark, playing, who is also a good umpire.  After a slightly dodgy start, while I got into the pace of the game, it didn't go too badly, and I'm pleased to say I was passed.  Mark and David briefed me at the end on what I had done well and not-so-well: need to use my voice more, and need to improve my presence and commanding signalling.  Actually I really enjoyed it, and it was definitely helpful to get some critique too, so I can get better.  I know that a few others are being assessed over the summer, so hopefully we should be well equipped with umpires going forward.

This evening was the last of our family hockey evenings, which have proved very popular.  Dan and I arrived a bit late, thus neatly missing the warm-up, to see Millie, aged 2? trotting onto the astro with her 18 inch stick, ready to play.  She immediately realised that a pink top and shorts was not suitable and went to the bibs bag to put on a fluorescent orange bib, roughly the same height as she was.  She then started repeating the word 'gum' as she batted a ball about: we had no idea what that meant though.  I thought an adult ball was probably not ideal so I went off to get her a quikstiks ball (bigger and lighter and easier to hit for littl-uns).   On returning with the ball for her Mum, she was looking very smug with her elder brother's black gum shield hanging out of her mouth; good to see that she has realised the importance of safety gear at such a young age.

Given it was our last summer session, we decided to get split into groups and get straight into some small games.  It was very hot, so I thought that would be fine in lieu of a warm-up, though I was proved incorrect as I was completely stuffed by Ellie for the first goal inside ten seconds.  As last week, after a refreshing drink, we had a 12-a-side (actually might have been 13, and as we had 3 goalkeepers, they were swapping round after each save or goal).  I believe I saw some of the adults running (and falling over) at various points, but I'm pleased to say we were usually outclassed and definitely outpaced by the juniors.  My side were again one down after about 10 seconds (Ellie again?), and looking like shipping more, but came back to equalise with the last hit of the game.  I believe the goal was scored by my umpiring assessor David, who despite being a Level 2 umpire, had been previously breaking a fair few rules, but had come good at the end.  Fortunately his son Hugo doesn't seem to have inherited any bad habits, and was frequently steaming down the right wing.  Squash and Penguins (biscuits, that is) rounded the evening off.

With all this summer fitness work, I fully anticipate us being ready and raring to go for the start of the season, which is starting with a club-day on the 4th of September (more details soon).  Have a great holiday and I'm looking forward to seeing you all come September.

Family evening a winner

As it is the close season, it has been a couple of months since my last post, for which I must apologise as I think you are supposed to be regular with them.

Last Thursday, and the one before we have been trying something new, which is to try and get parents to come along and try Hockey with their children, and maybe encourage a few to join us for the season proper.  Many of the parents were previous players who put their sticks down some years ago.  Years ago, I used to play on the left wing and I used to practice hitting the ball across the face of the goal while running flat out for our then centre forward Andy to deflect in (harder than it sounds, especially on grass).  Thursday, Andy turned up with his daughter Hannah, along with 24 or 25 others.  We split the group in two, one half 'beginners' and one half 'current players and pros'.  We practiced a few of the new foundation skills recommended by England Hockey, Andy commented that it was very different to how he remembered it.

It was very hot and humid, so we had to break for drinks on a couple of occasions, and after the second break we got everyone together for a final full pitch match of 12 a side.  Ages ranged from 7 or 8 I think, up to 50 (maybe more), pushing only for safety.  I played at the back in order to make sure we weren't caught out by the opposition forwards Elizabeth and Mae (aged 7 or 8) who had decided to goal hang in the hope of bagging the winner, but then chatted nicely with my goalkeeper Jack.

The game raged back and forward with neither side able to achieve the breakthrough, and although very entertaining ended goalless following a last second save by Jack to deny Amy.  Just before the end, the ball broke through to me and after intercepting it to prevent Elizabeth or Mae slotting home, I moved the ball wide to safety in preparation for a pass up the wing.  In came Andy with a absolutely crunching tackle (foul), accompanied by a lot of laughter, and "It's alright, it's only you!"  Now that's what I remember, and it seems the game hasn't changed so much after all.

Awards and prizes

For most clubs, it is customary to have awards ceremonies at the end of the season, and to say thanks to all the helpers, usually at an end-of-season dinner.  We're no different, with a marquee outside the club house.  This year we decided to maximise the use of the marquee by having a junior party and awards ceremony on the Friday evening before the main club supper.  Great attendance at both and lots of folks getting their rewards and thanks for all the effort they have put in through the season.  One of the littl-uns was almost too shy to collect his prize and went up with Dad, but apparently clutched his prize closely for the rest of the evening.  As is always the case, there are a large number of people who help out to make the club work, and it's not possible to thank them all individually, but everyone always knows who those stalwarts are.  Any hope I had of winning player of the year for the 5ths was dashed when I realised that you can't vote for yourself, so as I got no votes, Josh got it instead, deservedly I must admit.  As usual, the organisation by Emma, Rowie and Martin was flawless, and it was great to see such a good buzz about the place.  I had to leave at 12.30, as I was shattered after taking Nick to Go Ape earlier in the day, but the party was still in full swing when I left, with the dance-floor full.

Although the season is now officially over, there are still some tournaments, summer matches and festivals to look forward to.  In fact the U12 Boys team which Ravi was managing had a tournament in Milton Keynes this morning, and Sarah was helping with the Bucks Girls this afternoon; you have to admire the resilience of the Hockey fraternity to be able to turn out like that the day after the club supper.  I popped round the club this morning to see if there was any clearing up to be done but the place looked surprisingly tidy, I'm sure that was due to Hannah and Warren and others in the early hours, so many thanks to them.  So now is time to recharge the batteries and enjoy some occasional hockey in the sun to avoid getting too rusty, and help keep up the fitness.

Last match drama

Yesterday was our last game of the season.  Unfortunately it wasn't a great one as I got a puncture by the M1 en route to West Hampstead with half the team in the car including all our keeper and his kit.  Having felt the steering feel a bit odd, I had pulled over to inspect the car, and had found a rear nearside nearly flat tyre, which deflated completely in the following couple of minutes.  The boys actually found it all quite entertaining, and were quite happy chatting and admiring some of the flasher cars going past.  Last time I changed a tyre it didn't take that long, and we were in plenty of time, so I wasn't unduly worried, even though I had previously never changed a tyre on this particular car.  However, this soon proved a rash assumption, as it took me over 10 minutes just to get the emergency spare out from underneath the car, during which time the rain had started pouring down.   Finally the spare was on, and we repacked the car, including the punctured tyre, which meant that all boys were now covered in sticks, bags and other kit.  We were now late and getting later, not helped by a top speed of 50mph on the spare, actually I had to limit it to 45mph as any more and the car felt very strange.  Lying in a puddle under the car getting the spare out didn't leave me in the best frame of mind for a match, not helped by the fact that when we finally arrived 20 minutes late, West Hampstead insisted we start immediately without even allowing time for our keeper to kit up, or properly organise ourselves.  By the time our keeper Harry got on the pitch we were one or two down, and 6 or so down after 20 minutes before we had fully sorted where we were all playing.  We finally lost 10-0, which given the dreadful start wasn't a bad effort.  Man of the match was probably our keeper Harry, playing his first men's match, who made a string of good saves after he got on, and I just hope this hasn't put him off as I feel sure he is a keeper for the future.  

 

I didn't get time to get a new tyre on Saturday, which was a problem as I needed the car Sunday morning to ferry my son and Tommy up to Milton Keynes for an U12 minis tournament.  Saturday evening I spent looking for somewhere open on Sunday for tyres, so well done to Chiltern Tyres in Little Chalfont who were ready for business at 9am on Sunday morning and had me back on the road in half an hour, even though I needed two new rear tyres rather than just the one, because of course you always find that another tyre is looking thin as well (though not yet quite illegal I must emphasise).   This did mean, with the clocks going back that I lost two hours sleep, but it was all worth it as Nick and Tommy's team did well enough to qualify for the next round.

Despite the fact this weekend was a bit of an unwanted drama, I've hugely enjoyed the season, and in general I think we have improved throughout.  I'd certainly like to thank everyone who has helped us out, either as a player, umpire, or supporter, whether once or all season.  I'd also like to thank James for doing such a great job standing up as captain at short notice at the start of the season and organising so well.  We've lost more than we've won, but that has just made our victories all the sweeter, and even when we've lost we've shown some real grit and desire and a never give up attitude.  The only thing left is to send James your votes for player of the season, for the end-of-season awards at the Club Supper in April.  I've voted for someone younger than me, which won't give you much of a clue as I think only Bob is older (sadly Bob, this means that despite some stirring performances from you, I voted for someone else).  Already I'm looking forward to rejoining battle next season, almost certainly slower, but with still undiminished ardour.

England made me late

Andy rung me on Friday to pursuade me to umpire his match against City of Oxford, prior to my match in Staines at the end of the day.  After promising to buy me a beer, I acquiesced, thinking that I could just nip down the M40 after the Oxford match.  At 11.00, however England were 3-1 up against Holland in the World Cup, which doesn't happen often.  I printed out the directions and worked out that I'd have to leave at 11.15 to be ready for the start in Oxford, so I could at least watch 15 minutes.  Holland came back to 3-2, then equalised with an 'own goal'.  It seemed unpatriotic to abandon England at that point so I rechecked the directions and thought that with a fair wind I could just fit in the end of the England match.  Alas, Holland scored again and I rushed out of the house.  Unfortunately the traffic was bad, and I didn't quite make it in time, but a spectator deputised for the first 5 minutes until I got on pitch.  The pitch was a little bouncy to say the least, certainly not the pristine water-based pitch that Germany were playing on at the same time in the final against Australia, a match I had been hoping to watch.  After a small beer, I drove down to Staines for the 5th XI match, which ended 2-2, but could have been 8-8, with shots saved off the line, disallowed, off the crossbar, and inches wide, with both sides pushing frantically for the winner in a match which, although it would only decide a mid-table position in the bottom division of the MBBO, you would think was the world cup final.  Unfortuately, having scored both our goals, Avtar was hit by a lifted ball with just 5 minutes to go, and had to go to hospital with a shattered finger.  A fluke accident, with no one to blame, just one of those things that occasionally happens. We wish him a speedy recovery.  Into the clubhouse after a feisty match, and an excellent chilli and an entertaining debate on which of the boys most merited a lift home with Thomas in his Ferrari, which given it was a lovely day, he had taken to the match for a spin.
This morning, I saw the next generation of England players at our Junior Training, with Jamie (aged 3) expertly dribbling round a line of cones and then whacking the ball at his Dad (who could learn a thing or two I would say).   Later, after getting back home, my eldest said that he had noticed the World Cup Final was on the BBC, so he had recorded it for me (well the second half anyway), so thanking him for his thoughfulness, I sat back to watch the last 35 minutes, with Australia 1-0 up.  A fast game with some moments of fabulous skill, particularly the German short corner goal, which however proved insufficient as Australia won with a well taken short corner of their own and jubilation.
In relative terms though, a 3 year old running round his Dad was also a super piece of skill, and in the last 5 minutes of our 5th XI match on a Staines afternoon, it certainly felt like we matched the passion!

Quiz night

After being thoroughly soaked in torrential rain during our 1-1 draw, yesterday evening I attended my first quiz night for some years at the clubhouse.  After stocking up on drinks and recapping the day's results (a usual mix of wins, draws and losses), the 9 or 10 teams settled down to await the first questions.  As is usual, I had no idea what some of the questions even meant, although others seemed trivially easy.  The secret of any winning team is that what is double-dutch to one member is clear as day to someone else and most of your angles are covered.  The winners had obviously got more angles covered than us, although we were only a couple of points behind at the final count.  Most impressive was Dave remembering not just the required two but all six of the names of the Thundercats, who I had never even heard of.  My 'O'-Level Latin from 30 years previously did come in handy at one point to get the Latin letter for 500.  Some excellent debates were had about some of the answers in the team, with blame enthusiastically apportioned when the correct answers were read out to groans.  An entertaining evening with our President's Numero Unos team winning (incidentally our President is also the organiser's Dad).  Thanks to Rowie for the questions, fish and chips, organisation, prizes and bar-duty.  The only thing she delegated was the question-reading to Davey, sitting on his stool by the bar recovering after being run ragged earlier (as I hear) by a 13 year-old, who did a fine job, barring the odd mispronunciation.

And so we'll now have to wait until next year for our next club quiz, where having learnt the names of the Thundercats, the question will instead be to remember the names of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or some other forgotten or obscure cartoon army.  Looks like I may just need to be in a team with Dave again.

Chow down at 4pm

Today I was reminded of how it used to be by my old colleague-in-arms Neil versus how it is now.  When I first started playing adult hockey at 13 for Letchworth (and I was the smallest boy in my year), we all started outside the clubhouse on the grass pitches (weather permitting) at 2.15.  At 4pm, matches finished, we washed the mud off in the showers, and convened in the clubhouse for teas and a beer, or in my case a weak lemonade shandy.  At 4.30pm, the clubhouse would have Home and Away sides from 3 Men's and a couple of Ladies matches in it.  Sometime around 7pm, our away teams would arrive, and the clubhouse remained heaving until at least 9pm, usually later.

Sadly, those days are no longer with us, as with astro pitches being in use throughout the day, we rarely have more than two matches worth of teams in the clubhouse at Chalfont Park at any one time, and with the pitches no longer being by the clubhouse, we often only get half-hearted attendance back at the clubhouse.  I think this is a huge shame, as for me, win or lose, the social element is a key part of Hockey, and even if sometimes a little bit inconvenient, I would always encourage players (and supporters) to go back to the clubhouse.

Saturday was a rare example, despite the late 4.30pm start time, of both my team and the opposition returning to our clubhouse for teas, and finding a few of the Vintagers still there drinking some Rebellion (which I can thoroughly recommend).  Of course, it had taken our opposition a little while to find the clubhouse, as they had failed to follow me down Rickmansworth Lane and had taken a sat-nav route via Denham.  When they eventually arrived, baked potatoes and topping, tea and Rebellion were consumed.  My son and I partook, even though we were going out for Moules Frites within the hour (and I still had room for a pudding).

A clubhouse by an astro is still the ideal, and I was reminded of this when umpiring the 4ths morning match in Newbury, where a new clubhouse has just been built next to an existing astro, and everyone from both sides stayed for tea.  And of course, this is what our astro project is all about, and why we are seeking the funding pledges and all the hard work is being done by many people to help us get there.  I look back fondly on the 4pm chow down, though not the muddy pitches, but if we keep pushing our vision, we can have both astros and a co-located clubhouse and the best of both worlds.

One win is all it takes

After our huge loss a couple of weeks ago, last week we were looking forward to playing a team at a similar level to us.  It was a generally even game, but we lost 3-0 in the end as the opposition centre-forward, normally in a much higher team but returning from injury, scored a hatrick in 10 minutes.  Yesterday we faced a team that had convincingly beaten us 7-0 earlier in the season, so we were philosophical about our chances.  At half-time it was still 0-0, but then it had been the previous week and we had lost.  The second half started and after 15 minutes we won a short corner and to our delight, the ball was scrambled in by Steven and we were ahead.  5 minutes later, and Steven was put through to go one-on-one with the keeper and calmly scored the second.  I couldn't quite believe it.  Finally the opposition got into gear and started to apply the pressure.  Our defence was becoming a bit untidy and with 10 minutes to go, they bundled one in (I think actually it barely made it over the line).  The pressure continued to mount, with several last minute clearances by Tom, but the minutes were ticking away as we grimly held on, and suddenly the final whistle went.  The backslapping, excitement and grins on everyone's faces, including our very surprised spectators, were priceless.  Our web site lists wins in green and losses in red, and this season, with many younger players new to adult hockey, we've been mostly in the red, but all those losses were forgotten with our unexpected win.  In my last post I suggested that hope springs eternal, but what a great feeling is hope fulfilled.

Outplayed but still unbowed

Yesterday I played in my biggest loss in over 30 years.  In fact I have been lucky enough not to lose that heavily since I was (I think) 14, in one of my first games of men's hockey for Letchworth Extra 5ths.  It was an away match, on a bumpy grass pitch, and it was cold and miserable, but I remember we went 2-0 up, and then I hit the crossbar.  I don't know what went wrong, but somewhere along the line, we let 13 goals in, to lose 2-13.  Saturday we weren't even allowed to score a goal, although we did force their keeper into a couple of saves, as we were totally overrun by a very good Milton Keynes side.  We had arrived to find one end of the pitch still partly frozen, and had to wait while efforts were made to defrost it.  Unfortunately, as it was a water-based pitch, someone had the bright idea of turning on one of the water cannon to try to unfreeze the offending part of the pitch.  As you can guess, with the temperature below zero, this didn't work too well.  Later when we left, the entrance was like a sheet of glass.  Nevertheless, with the opposition chomping at the bit, we started, and were a goal down inside a minute.  I won't say how many we let in, but the gap was more than 2-13.  It wasn't even that we played badly, it was just a mismatch, and if it hadn't been for our keeper Louie playing a stormer, it could have been more.  Our lads played through to the end, and didn't give up, and in fact weren't even disheartened: we all knew we were completely outgunned.  Pasty, beans and a big mug of tea in the MK clubhouse later (right by their astros), and we were looking forward to next weeks match, against a team in a similar position in the league to us.  Hope springs eternal.

Much later in the day I played as one of the adults in the Badgers match against Aylesbury.  I had expected to umpire, but I ended up playing.  By the time we started it was 5pm, and was really getting cold.  Unfortunately we had to abandon it part way through the second half as the pitch was freezing into slippery concrete as we played, and was becoming too dangerous, which was a great shame because it was a good even match, with all the boys on both sides, mainly 12 year olds, playing well.

Earlier today, I was privileged to watch a top notch game of U16 Boys hockey between Gerrards Cross (and some of our Amersham boys) and Oxford Hawks.  I dropped my son Dan off, who was playing in the joint GX/ACHC team, and stayed to watch, which I usually don't get to do as I am usually umpiring or coaching another junior team.  Final score was 1-3 to Hawks, although the third goal was only scored on the break a few minutes from the end after GX had been pushing hard for the equaliser.  Pace, skill, position, movement, crisp passing, strong tackling, quick closing down to pressure the ball carrier, a couple of excellent reverse stick goals, and some great saves in a really close competitive match.  Many of the boys were taller than me, and certainly quicker and more skillful, and are still getting better and faster, unlike me.  Nevertheless, I plan to turn out next week against Ashford for the 5ths, and maybe some of my experience, if not my speed and skills, may still be of some use.  As I said, hope springs eternal.

New stick starts but fails to score

Having bought a new stick before Christmas, I was finally able to use it yesterday away to Leighton Buzzard late in the day.  Of course getting used to the new stick was the reason why my passes went astray, I was unable to position myself correctly, mishit my shot at goal, and is understandably the reason my fitness was affected, causing wilting late in the second half.  Fortunately I think some of the opposition had also been affected by the winter holidays, so despite my showing, we had a competitive 2-2 draw.  It has been really good to see how well some of the boys new to adult hockey at the start of the season have adapted.  The Leighton Buzzard clubhouse was conveniently on the way home, so even though it was late, we stopped briefly to be sociable, (and for a bowl of chilli while watching some of Spurs-Leeds on the big screen), before making our way back south.

When I got home I found that my eldest had gone out to a party at Frankie and Benny's in Wycombe, and that I had been volunteered to take a turn at picking him and a couple of his mates up at half-past-nine.  On the way back, I commented on my aches and tiredness, and thus prompted, my son did take the hint and asked me how we had got on.  Looking across at me, and at 16 enviably fit, he then suggested that I should go out for a run more often; I thanked him for his recommendation.  He is right though, so I suppose I will have to try and make an effort; maybe I can make it a late New Year's resolution.  In fact, I reckon many, possibly most, of us could do worse than following his advice.  It just goes to show that maybe there's wisdom in youth as well as in the old men.

Seniors off but Juniors start the New Year's Hockey

After several weeks of holidays, the league season proper was due to resume this Saturday, and I for one was certainly looking forward to brushing away the cobwebs and getting a run around.  All last week we looked at the snow on the ground, hoping that the warm weather would arrive and allow us to play at the weekend.  Dan and I were due to start at 10am in the 5s, so we were not hopeful.  By Thursday we still had over 10cm of snow on an untouched pitch (see photo).  The opposition for our home matches were ringing up to find out if we were playing, and our own away matches were being cancelled.  A note from the league said that we had to wait until Friday 3pm to cancel for adverse weather so we hung on until in the hope it would look better.  Although it had warmed up, the ground was still covered and eventually on Friday we had to send out our own cancellations, but we agreed that we would try to clear the pitch Saturday morning so that at least the Juniors could train on Sunday, followed by a county training session we were hosting.

I dragged my boys out of bed on Saturday to help, pursuading them with hot croissants.  We drove down to Newlands at just past 10 to find that the warmer air and rain had almost cleared the pitch.  There were a few small patches of slush but these were obviously melting fast.  In fact the pitch would have been playable by lunchtime, sometimes though, you just have to make a call.

Sunday was a lovely day, and when we arrived for the second session, the little-uns were running around in their training matches.  Looking around Newlands, you would never have guessed that this looked like the arctic tundra just a few days before.  We had excellent attendance for all the sessions which was great to see, and Soma was teaching some new skills, which is always appreciated.  In fact all sessions ran on a little so that everyone got a bit of extra time to get into the swing of things, prior to our first post-Chrismas junior matches next week.

As we were setting up the county session, one of the county trainers came up to me.  It was Neil who now also runs part of the Juniors at Wycombe, and who I used to play up front with in the (pre-merger) old Chalfont 1s.  Like me, he was finding that these days, hamstring problems often take their toll, and he was having a (hopefully temporary) forced breather.  I never quite managed to outscore Neil, though I did come close one year.  When he resumes in the Wycombe 5s, maybe he and his son will play against me and mine in our 5s.  Old warriors never die, they just get hamstrung.  And so, fingers crossed on the weather, and muscles and ligaments allowing, back to matches next week.