Bedford Hockey Club’s Girls’ Under 16 side came away as champions of the East Hockey Under 16 Junior Club Festival on a successful Sunday for the club, scoring ten unanswered goals in securing the title.
They won 6-0 against Bishop Stortford and then 4-0 against St Albans capping a great end to the season for the girls, who have all worked very hard.
A special mention also goes to Bedford’s Under 8’s, with teams finishing joint 3rd and 6th in their tournament in Luton, with one of the club’s youngsters, Sisi, being awarded a fair play award for excellent sportsmanship and teamwork.
At the other end of the age range, the Women’s Over 45’s are through to the semi-finals of their England Masters Championships after a 3-0 victory over Sevenoaks with goals from Emma Whitehall, Kelly Bingham and Cheryl Harding.
The squad is thankful to gain a home draw for the next round against Taunton Vale who will be travelling to Bedford on 6 April to battle it out for a place in the finals.
Ten goal thriller for Men’s 1st XI
With just one final match remaining in the regular season for most of Bedford Hockey Club’s league teams, celebrations have started for some, whose promotions are already guaranteed.
The Men’s 1st XI continued their winning streak at the weekend after travelling away to Bishop’s Stortford. Bedford opened the scoring, followed by a flurry of goals alternating between the two teams, finishing with Bedford taking the 6-4 victory.
The result saw four goals from the stick of Alex Drummond, one from Arran De Souza, and one by youngster, Harry Pybus – his first for the team – capping off his brilliant man of the match performance.
The squad’s highly successful Premier League run, which has them sitting in third place, concludes this coming Saturday when they welcome top of the table, City of Peterborough to Bedford’s Chester Road home ground.
Rhys Badman netted the first goal for the Men’s 2nd XI just two minutes into the match, before Broxbourne equalised.
A well-worked goal from Finn Lever took Bedford back into the lead before the half-time whistle; a lead that was stretched further by a second goal from Finn midway through the second half securing the 3-1 win and taking Finn’s tally for the team to 9 for the season.
It was a 2-2 draw for the Men’s 3rd XI against St Albans’ 3rd XI, both Bedford goals coming from Josh Dixon, while a strong team performance from the Men’s 4th XI saved them from relegation with a miraculous 3-2 win over league leaders Royston.
Bishop’s Stortford opened the scoring 2 minutes into the Men’s 5th XI fixture, going on to win 6-2, while the Men’s 6th XI’s 4-0 win over St Albans puts Bedford in an unassailable position at the top of the league.
It was the final match of the season for the Men’s 7th XI, also against St Albans.
A great team effort cemented a 3rd place finish in their league by signing off with a 5-0 win; goals coming from Paul da Silva and Jon Chard, complimenting a well-deserved hat-trick from Luke Killen.
The Ladies’ 1st XI will be looking to finish the season with their heads held high when St Albans head to Chester Road after their trip to Stourport ended in a 3-1 loss.
The Ladies’ 2nd XI drew 1-1 to Blueharts in a dominant performance and were unlucky not to get another goal. Both teams remain tied 3rd in the league, with Bedford above on goal difference.
The eighth place Ladies’ 3rd XI held fifth place Blueharts to a scoreless draw, while the Ladies 4th XI secured a 3-1 win, also against a strong Blueharts team, whose keeper made many superb saves throughout the match.
The victory was enough to secure them promotion as Division 3SW champions, with two matches for them still to play.
The Ladies’ 5th XI suffered a frustrating 1-0 loss away at St Albans, while the Ladies’ 6th XI have suffered from the natural progression of players through the ranks, but to the detriment of the team they have left.
With some player injuries added to the equation, Saturday’s game ended in a 2-0 loss for the team, also against St Albans.
The Ladies’ 7th Development XI has seen some phenomenal performances this season, with excellent fresh talent coming into the club; many of the youngsters undoubtedly heading for first team positions in years to come.
Saturday’s match ended in another 2-1 win against Bishop’s Stortford.
The opener came from a cross into the ‘D’, which was picked up by George Luther and flicked into the top corner. The second was a reverse hit from Maddie Taylor, smacking the corner of the back board.
The goals take the team’s tally to 50 for the season.
A youngster to watch for is Isla Maclaren who – though still under 12 – was playing her first adult match, putting in an amazing performance in midfield.
The squad have their final action for this season when they welcome Letchworth to Bedford’s home ground on Saturday.
Words by Jean Fitch
