Helen Hawes named man of the year

A very good night for all who attended the dinner on the 5th, with a well timed power cut preventing the satellite link to the veterans and third XI from being activated. Very suspicious that Ed Breton indicated that the power should be back on at 22.00 and at 22.02 the power was back with us. As always votes of thanks go to those who ensured that people like me could just turn up, drink plenty of alcohol, eat well, have a laugh and go home contented. Special thanks to Sarah, Alison and Ed B who did the hard work to make the evening a great success and I am sure that there were others who also had a hand in setting up the club - apologies for not naming you personally.

Well done to Helen Hawes for winning the club captain's award for years of unrecognised work behind the scenes and in ensuring that the ladies club is in such a strong position - the ladies never seem to have any crises experienced by the other teams in the club but if they do they resolve them without involving everyone else. The general consensus was that next year they play in purple.

The first XI players player award went to Rippers - Ed B please find the trophy in one of the cardboard boxes but come back to me if you can't so I can chase Mike N.

Second XI award went to Jon Heard with the ladies giving out a number of awards to various members of their team.

Rob picked up the 4ths award even though he was rude to me when I umpired them in February.

Not sure who won the 3rd XI and Veterans awards as they were presented in China by Robert Mugabe and made reference to Tibet.

Next year I am setting the social committee and myself a target of 100 attendees so to that end a date will be decided on by the end of October so there are many months to sell the tickets and ensure that teams are involved.

Have a good summer, keep recruiting where ever possible.
David Knapp

Match reports - April 5, 2008

Ladies XI 1-1 Guildford 2nd XI
The season finished with one of our best performances of the campaign against a … er … surprisingly strong Guildford side who had they been able to play like this every week, or even field the same XI, would have romped the division. That they finished below us was possibly more to do with the fact their 1st XI were not in action. Anyhow, with two wins since October, Guildford dominated the first 25 minutes, almost laying siege as we rarely managed to break out of our half, although some outstanding defence limited them to few shots, and they failed to capitalise on numerous short-corner chances. We actually finished the half the stronger, twice going close. The second half was more even, although Guildford always looked more likely to score, and when they finally scrambled home a short corner midway through the half and then created several more chances, the writing seemed to be on the wall. But, to our immense credit, we dug deep, weathered more attacks, and started to push for the equaliser. The last five minutes were nothing of not entertaining. Guildford claimed a penalty flick when a surging run at goal was ended by a typically forceful Ros tackle, neither umpire ruling it unfair to the almost tearful protests of the forward, and a minute later Vikki Mottram hit the post. Eighty seconds from time a break down the right, a cross and an ecstatic Jackie Joyce swept home the equaliser to our undisguised delight. Guildford’s day ended in embarrassment when their coach, who displayed boorishness as well as ignorance and tactical naivety, decided to lambaste our umpire for the incident near the end, ignoring the fact that neither official had seen an offence. Three of his squad shook hands with the official while a number of them, egged on by the boor, loudly made clear their feelings. Class.

A superb end to the season with one of our most spirited displays, and a reflection on just what a united and excellent bunch of ladies we have in the club.

Vets XI 0-2 Tring
The Vets ended the season in defeat but it was one of the most entertaining games of a long campaign. Tring brought a much stronger side than we had seen previously, including our old friend Matt Leedham, returning to hockey after an 11-year break, but we played some superb hockey in the first half but went into the break one down. We failed to hit the target often enough and our short-corner routine never really functioned. As we pressed for the equaliser, Tring started to threaten more but our defence held firm until ten minutes from time when they scored a second from a breakaway. Five minutes later Dodie Khurshid found himself in utterly unfamiliar territory – in the D lining up for a shot – when he was fouled. The resulting flick from Andy Eve was in the realms of the worst ever but by then the game was up.