Hockey Newsletter No. 6
19 April 2008

There seems to be early indication that the senior Second and Third teams are going to be difficult to beat this season.

The seconds show much depth and skill in putting a 5-0 victory on the board against Northwood. There was some delightful interplay with only poor finishing in front of goal marring an otherwise impressive performance.

The Thirds travelled to St Anne’s to play their match on Astro and once again, the team performed above expectation in handing out a 7-0 drubbing to the Northwood Third team.

The Club has now resorted to making use of the St Anne’s Astro as we cannot accommodate more than six fixtures at Beckingham on any given Saturday. This will be alternated between our lower sides when we have a full set of home fixtures. Please keep a careful eye on the home fixtures and where they are being played.

We have an exceptionally large group of U16 players with over 40 members on our books – where possible we are going to try to put together matches for an U16D team in the Saturdays ahead so as to avoid having to substitute almost an entire C-team to give everyone a taste of the game.

Well done to Bruce Nozaic the coach of the U16C team who did just that while winning by 3-2 also against Northwood. The U16B and A teams disappointed in their inability to finish off promising attacks and both went down to Northwood. U16A lost 0-1 and the B-side lost 1-3.

At U14 level the B-Side will need much attention on their basic skills and fitness in the weeks ahead to improve from their 0-8 loss. The U14A’s once again put together a solid performance in securing a 2-0 victory. There is no doubt that they are workmanlike, keen to learn and are fast improving their athletic ability. There are certainly some future stars in the making.

The First team, as all the others, played in sweltering heat to put up a good display of disciplined and controlled hockey to win by 9 goals to 0. Without detracting from the performance, much will be learnt from the video footage complied by Ant Chantler as viewed from his “Eagle’s Nest” scaffolding on the Eastern side of Beckingham. Next week on Friday the First Team entertains Auckland Grammar from New Zealand while the Saturday fixtures are against St Charles at St Charles. We then host the seemingly invincible and superb Michaelhouse teams on Saturday 3 May. They are in top form and playing brilliant hockey.

All the best and if there are any concerns or suggestions please mail me at gt@hiltoncollege.com

Gavin