Being a slip date, and there having been many weather hit matches in recent weeks, all but a few of Bedford Hockey Club’s teams were in action over the weekend.
It was a late night match on Friday for the Men’s 1st XI, and they were prepared for a tough encounter, taking on top of the table Blueharts.
Blueharts opened the scoring after being awarded a penalty stroke just ten minutes into the game, but the scores were levelled five minutes later when Bedford’s Richard Evans stepped up to net a penalty stroke of their own.
With the clock ticking down, following a game of end-to-end play, the score remained 1-1, before a goal by Tom Parry in the 55th minute took Bedford into the lead.
Only a few minutes after however, Blueharts were awarded a penalty corner, taking it to 2-2 with ten minutes to the final whistle.
Hopes of points for Bedford were dashed when, with two minutes remaining, Blueharts bagged a goal from open play, taking the win 3-2.
The men have an away fixture this coming Saturday (21 February), when the squad travel to third in the table, Pelicans.
It was a rare sunshine-soaked Saturday for the other teams playing.
The first half remained goalless in the Men’s 2nd XI match against Letchworth; Bedford finally taking the lead with an open play goal by Arran De Sousa-Butterworth. It was a lead that only lasted for ten minutes, as Letchworth converted a penalty corner to force the draw.
The Men’s 3rd XI suffered a 3-1 loss against top of the table Blueharts. They face another challenging fixture this weekend, when they travel to second in the table St Albans.
There was a loss, too, for the 4th XI, going 2-1 down away to Vauxhall’s 1st XI; Jeremy Woodrow getting Bedford’s consolation goal.
Two goals from Elliot Potter and one by Tony Gammon saw a 3-1 win for the Men’s 5th XI against Letchworth, taking the Bedford squad’s goal tally for the season to a phenomenal 58, and keeping them top of the table by six points.
A real team effort brought a 5-2 victory for the Men’s 7th XI, with goals by Zameer Safdar, Keith Waterhouse, Chris Townson, Robert Campbell and Paul da Silva.
After a week’s break, the table topping Ladies’ 1st XI will be back in action this coming Saturday, when they hope to thrill the home crowd. They have a 2pm push back at Chester Road, taking on Upminster.
Fourth in the table, Ladies’ 2nd XI were disappointed to end 1-0 down against ninth placed Letchworth, whilst the Ladies’ 3rd XI will have to have their fixture rearranged for a second time after their match was hit by frost once again.
The Ladies’ 4th XI were ecstatic to come away with a 3-0 win over Welwyn Garden City; two goals coming from the stick of Natasha Dutton and one from Ella Litchfield.
They will be hoping this is the start of a winning streak, travelling away to St Albans next weekend, with St Albans sitting immediately above Bedford in the division.
It was a 1-1 draw for the Ladies’ 5th XI against Royston, with Bedford’s goal scored by Louise Bulzis.
A 4-1 win, with a hat-trick by Nicola Reddy and a further goal by Olivia Brock, for the Ladies’ 6th XI against Chiltern’s 1st XI, sees Bedford sitting in a comfortable sixth spot.
All 14 of the club’s senior squads will be back playing this coming Saturday, weather permitting, with the Ladies 5th XI preparing for a double header, travelling to Cheshunt on Sunday for a second time in two weeks, after arriving for that previously arranged fixture only to find the pitch under water.
Words by Jean Fitch
