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THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF CLIFTONVILLE HOCKEY CLUB

 RESULTS, SATURDAY  24^th  MARCH 2001

THIS WEEK, SATURDAY 31^st  MARCH 2001

FORTHCOMING MATCHES, SATURDAY 7^th APRIL 2001

CLUB HOUSE DUTY = THE LADIES

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Club Dinner Dance – 31^st March 2001

Bonus Ball Winner: Unknown

Club Lottery Numbers: 13 17 22 27 36 41

Match Reports

Ladies vs. New Beccs, lost 5-0 (10th March)
Less said about this game the better! One good thing was the excellent performance of Julie Charnley in goal. She made some astounding saves and prevented the final score being totally embarrassing. We only had 10 players, got to the pitch 15 minutes after pushback time and rushed straight into the game. We were pants! They were not and have won the league, I understand.

Ladies vs. Tunbridge Wells, won 3-0 (17th March)
Much better game. Tunbridge are good side and we usually have a close game with them, but this day we were much the better side. We also had the luxury of 12 players and rolled the left midfield position. This gave us that bit extra in midfield which we dominated. Due to age, I can't remember who scored the goals, but I know it wasn't me!

Vets tournament 18th March at Canterbury
Again this year we got stuck in the same section as Canterbury and Ashford, the two favorites to win the title. We played 3 games, all the water-based Astro. Having played on water based astro once before I was quite looking forward to the tournament. But all that went out the window when we started playing. It was like playing back at Jacky Bakers on grass! I soon learned you don't stop the ball with your stick on the ground - your stick must be about 8 inches off the floor to have any chance of stopping the bouncing ball. Sarah and I hated the pitch and Sarah told the Canterbury skipper what she thought of the pitch too! We lost all 3 games, but had a great day out and nice bacon butties.

Ladies vs. BBHC won 4-2 (24th March)
Lovely game - we started well and soon went 2-0 up. First goal was a peach from Claire, second was another well-worked goal which I think Sharon scored. Then we got complacent. They got one back just before the half time whistle. Start of second half we were still a bit too complacent and they equalized. We then got ourselves together and after a barrage of attacks, Mary finally put the ball in the goal and we edged in front. We didn't give up, got our marking sorted and kept on attacking and lo and behold in the dying seconds I SCORED. There wasn't even enough time to take the push back, due to my celebrations and shouts of I'm getting married! As I have now edged in front in the "marriage" competition. Stu's not home yet from his match as I am writing this, but as he's only scored 1 goal all season I feel pretty sure I've won.

The final score is Tracy 2, Stu 1, what a thriller it’s been! I'll be sending out the invites during the summer.

Big thanks to Lorna for umpiring. We think we have finished mid-table in Division 2, so sitting nicely for another enjoyable season next year.

Tracy Ballard

1^st XI vs. Sevenoaks, lost 1-0
A disappointing season ended on a disappointing note when the 1^st XI were beaten 1-0 by Sevenoaks. In what was a very close and hard fought game, chances were few and far between as both teams realised the relevance of the game; the winners would stay up and the losers would be relegated. In such a close game, it was always going to be small things that turned the game, and those small things in my humble opinion were the umpires. When a ball is stopped on the line with a foot, and a man is pushed over from behind when pushing the ball into an empty net, a penalty stroke should be the result. When in this case a penalty corner and a sixteen-yard hit were awarded respectively, the writing you might say was on the wall, and reflects the sum total of the luck that went our way this season, nil.

After the game, we were informed by an official that the game itself had no real relevance anyway as five teams are to be relegated from our league this season. This result left us fourth from bottom, and Sevenoaks fifth from bottom. In a league of twelve, two teams promoted, five relegated! A complete and utter farce, especially when you consider the fact that this is still to be confirmed. A piss up in a Neasden brewery would be beyond the abilities of some hockey officials.

I remain completely convinced of our promotion next season from the Kent League, especially when one considers the strength of some of the younger players emerging in the lower teams, who will all be given their chance to stake a place in the 1^st team. Beer at the dinner dance will go a long way to securing team places. I expect a cheap evening!

Floppy

3^rd XI vs. Holcombe 3B, lost 5-4
For the second time it was an ‘OH NO, NOT AGAIN’ sort of feeling as we finished on the wrong end of an exciting game.  This match was hard-fought as 5^th place Holcombe tried to open up a 5-point gap over us, though we have a game in hand.

Things started poorly for us as we allowed Holcombe to control the first 20 minutes, scoring 2 goals in the process.  On both occasions, defensive errors allowed unpromising Holcombe situations to be capitalized upon.  Finally, we woke up and scored a superb goal through centre forward Adam Strickett who connected with an accurate cross, wrong-footing the ‘keeper in the process.  Within 5 minutes we had drawn level as Greg Howard forced the ball home from short-range.

After half time we switched off (YET again) and a goalkeeping error (oops!) allowed Holcombe to re-take the lead.  We pushed forward but unfortunately were caught by another Holcombe break and from the short corner an excellently taken goal returned the 2-goal cushion.

Again it was up to us to lift our game.  Firstly GREG ‘Psycho’ HOWARD took out one of the more dangerous Holcombe players (accidentally of course, though ANDY KINGSTON grinned from ear to ear…) ADAM Strickett was able to claw a goal back soon after.  Minutes later a shot was illegally cleared off the line before Ville put the ball in the net, but unfortunately the whistle had gone for a penalty flick. Unfortunately, Mark Keenagh was not able to maintain his scoring record as the keeper saved with ease.  However, we were not to be denied and sweeper and guest star Simon ‘santa’ Lowden cracked the ball home from a short corner.

We were just getting on top but were disrupted as centre-back Mark Williams making his debut was struck in the face by the ball and had to leave the field.  He later required 7 stitches, not that any of us thought it was particularly serious… sorry!  This allowed Holcombe to pour forward once again and forced keeper CAPTAIN MORGAN into a number of saves, including a spectacular (yes, the team looked gobsmacked) goal-line clearance with his stick.  However Holcombe’s persistence finally paid off as they managed to beat SPANKY late on with the defence again embarrassingly outnumbered.

We look set to finish 6^th out of 12 in the Premier League, though 2 wins could lift us into the top 5.   One more game left as captain then I hand over the reins to PORNO for the last league game while I pop over to Neasden, Oregon for Easter (as you do…)

Team:   D. Morgan, C. Hovenden, R. Macer, M. Williams, S. Lowden, R. Garnier, G. Ingoldsby, G. Howard, M. Keenagh, A. Kingston, A. Strickett.  Sub: M. Knell

Court and Social

 The following is a list of goalscorers as reported in the newsletter.

As you can see Tracy your goal at the beginning does not appear in any newsletter and therefore I make the score Tracy 1 – Stuart 1. Since Stuart has agreed to abide by the newsletter, I am accepting bribes at the dinner dance.