There were nine wins and a draw across Bedford Hockey Club’s 14 senior squads at the weekend, with just four teams losing out on points.
The Men’s 1st XI put on a fantastic display for the Chester Road home crowd, with Alex Sawyer opening the scoring just four minutes into their match against Norwich City.
By the 11th minute, Bedford were already 3-0 up as more goals came from Richard Evans and Ollie Jackson.
After a phase of end-to-end action, Norwich brought the score back to 3-2, before Bedford’s Harri Connelly got on the scoreboard, only for Norwich to strike again, leaving the score 4-3 to Bedford at the half-time whistle.
The second half saw Bedford dominate as two further goals from Connelly and Evans, giving each their hat trick, took Bedford to an 8-3 triumph, and lifted Bedford to third in the table.
The squad will relish the challenge of travelling away to battle it out with undefeated, top of the table Ipswich this coming Saturday (17 October).
The Men’s 2nd XI felt the full force of Old Southendian’s first team, who sit top of their division; the score finishing 6-0 to the opposition.
The Men’s 3rd XI beat Letchworth 6-2, aided by goals from Lee Hoggett, James Oakley, Josh Dixon and William Bates, whilst the Men’s 4th XI, in the same division, fell 3-0 to Blueharts.
The 5th XI took points from a 2-2 draw with Luton Town thanks to goals from James Logan and Tony Gammon.
There was also a 4-1 win against Potters Bar for the 6th XI , while the 7th XI beat Southgate Adelaide 4-2.
A tough week for the Ladies’ first team
The Ladies’ 1st XI are experiencing a tough return to the National League and they suffered again on Saturday, losing 6-0 to Cambridge City.
This coming weekend, they step out at Chester Road looking for the boost of a home crowd, where they will face up to Olton and West Warwickshire with a 1pm push back.
For all the other women’s squads in action on Saturday, there was the joy of victories.
Seeing three players named Rebecca and one named Bex possibly confused the Ladies’ 2nd XI’s Letchworth opposition, with Bedford’s goals coming from two of the Rebeccas – Stabler and Budd – in a 2-1 win.
Goals by Fran Landers, Molly Hawkins and Natalia Norford Reynolds saw a 3-2 win for the 3rd XI.
A hat trick from Sue Glover and a fourth goal from Manpriya Sira gave the 4th XI a 4-1 win over Rickmansworth, whilst it was 2-1 for the 5th XI against Letchworth, with goals from Charlotte Goodson and Amelia Kite.
After remaining goalless throughout the first half of the Ladies’ 6th XI match, also against Letchworth, Bedford made their breakthrough in the second half as Ali Woodward finding the back of the net on the 42nd minute.
Joy Leeson doubled the tally with a converted penalty stroke. The 2-0 win saw Letchworth knocked off their top of the table position, with Bedford taking over the prime spot.
The Ladies’ 7th XI got to play their fixture on Sunday (11 October), heading to Luton. Bedford’s development squad put up a good fight, but it was Luton who walked away with the 2-0 win.
Bedford’s Under-18 Boys and Ladies’ Over 45s were also in action on Sunday, and both celebrated decisive victories in their respective England Hockey Championship matches.
The Boys beat St Albans Under-18s 6-1 under the captaincy of Will Jackson, with goals coming from Jack Bellamy, Alex Sawyer, Lewis Pettengell and Ollie Jackson, plus a brace for Alex Turner.
The Women secured a 5-0 win over Cambridge City aided by two goals apiece for Angharad Kinnear and Andrea Mason, with the fifth added by Sherri Fensom.
Words by Jean Fitch
