Goals from Simba Chigwada and Vincent Pretorius helped secure a 5-3 victory over Old Southendian as Bedford Hockey Club Men’s 1st XI headed a plethora of success across Bedford Hockey Club’s squads at the weekend.
They will enjoy a home fixture, hosting Broxbourne this weekend, when the club will be celebrating its President’s Day.
The Men’s 2nd XI scored a solid 4-0 win away to St Albans. They will look to thrill the home crowd this Saturday when local rivals, Shefford & Sandy travel to Chester Road.
The Men’s 3rd XI scored a 4-2 home win over Stevenage and they head away for their next fixture to Broxbourne, who sit just one point above Bedford in the league.
The next triumph of the weekend came for the Men’s 4th XI.
Their 5-0 victory over Hertford’s 3rd XI lifted their spirits after losing to Hertford’s 2nd XI the week previously. Bedford face the challenge of taking on third in the division, Blueharts this weekend.
The Men’s 5th XI took the majority of the first half to open the scoring against their hosts, St Albans but went on to secure a 3-0 triumph.
Hertford, with 11 wins under their belt, will travel to Bedford’s home ground next weekend to test Bedford’s resilience.
The Men’s 6th XI returned from Bishop’s Stortford with a 5-1 triumph; goals from Dan Sims and Mike Anderson contributing to the final tally leaving Bedford second in the division.
They face a local derby this weekend when they head down the road to third placed Shefford & Sandy.
Ladies 1st XI struggles continue
The Ladies’ 1st XI had hoped the points gained from the draw in their previous fixture marked a turning point for them. However, after taking on Oxford Hawks, their struggles continued when the Hawks took the 3-0 win.
Although the second placed Ladies’ 2nd XI, playing on home turf, bounced back from their previous week’s loss with a win, they made hard work of taking the 3-2 victory over eleventh placed Sudbury.
The match looked like it was going to finish in a draw with Bedford only grabbing the win in the final minute of the match.
It was a frustrating 1-0 loss for the Ladies’ 3rd XI after travelling to Bishop’s Stortford; Stortford’s goal coming twelve minutes into the match from a penalty corner.
The Ladies’ 4th XI, who are top of their division, were frustrated to have to share their points with third placed, Hertford when the match finished in a 3-3 draw.
Bedford opened the scoring from a penalty corner with Hertford drawing level a few minutes later through a converted penalty stroke.
Bedford regained the lead early in the second half but Hertford drew level and then took the lead.
As the clock was ticking down to the final whistle, Bedford saved themselves from a potential loss when the ball found the back of the net from open play.
Despite second placed Luton Town gaining a win in their fixture, Bedford remain five points ahead. Bedford travel away to eleventh place Stevenage this weekend.
The Ladies’ 5th XI were left deflated after their trek to Saffron Walden.
Although taking on the top of the table could be predicted to be tough, they had hoped to fare better than with a 4-1 loss.
The Ladies’ 6th XI, like their 4th XI clubmates, had to settle for a 3-3 draw.
It was Broxbourne who opened the scoring, just four minutes into the game, from a scrappy goal-mouth melee which saw the ball trickle frustratingly over the goal line.
A goal from Charlotte Goodson in the 14th minute balanced the books again, with a second a few minutes later by Toni Wakeham-Moon, playing on pitch alongside her daughter, seeing Bedford take the lead.
A further goal by Goodson before the half-time whistle gave Bedford a 3-1 lead at half time.
Broxbourne pulled two goals back after the restart from two converted penalty corners to level the scores, leaving the final score at 3-3.
Masters Men struggle but Ladies take win
Both the club’s Over 45s teams were performing in their England Hockey Masters Championship matches on Sunday.
The men found themselves up against an incredibly strong opposition in Khalsa Leamington and lost out 7-0, but the Ladies fared much better in a trip to Rugby and East Warwickshire.
It was a far more pleasing outcome for the women, winning on a penalty shoot out after a 2-2 draw. The squad now head into the quarter finals and have been given a home fixture to face Sevenoaks in March.
The Under 18 Boys were also successful, securing their place in the semi finals of the cup after thrashing Khalsa 6-1, with five of those goals coming in the first half.
The final match of the weekend at the club’s home ground, was a Boys Under 16s friendly against St Neots, with many of the Bedford team under 14 years of age.
They did however hold their own against the visibly bigger St Neots players, Bedford holding their opponents to a creditable 5-5 draw.
Words by Jean Fitch
