There were six wins, two draws and six losses across Bedford Hockey Club’s adult teams at the weekend, with the junior squads also in action on another busy weekend at Chester Road.
The Men’s 1st XI followed up on last weekend’s win with a decisive 5-2 triumph, away to Broxbourne.
They have the home advantage for their upcoming fixture, when they host Ipswich at Chester Road on Saturday. Ipswich sit 4th in the division, with Bedford 3rd on goal difference, so a competitive match is guaranteed, following the 3pm push-back.
Sadly, it was another loss for the Ladies’ first team, Bedford unable to find the back of the net, whist their Cambridge University opponents bagged two goals to take the points.
Like their male counterparts, Bedford will hope to benefit from the home fixture next weekend, although it’s second place Stourport who travel to meet them, so Bedford will need to find some magic if they are going to turn their luck around.
It was wins for both the club’s second XI squads, the men, who currently sit second, taking Shefford & Sandy 4-0, and the ladies, who top their table, showing their strength with a 5-0 victory over Upminster.
The men have a home match this coming weekend, against bottom of the table Bishop’s Stortford, whilst the ladies head up the road to Letchworth.
The Men’s third team, playing in the same division as their second team clubmates, held Broxbourne to a 2-2 draw, although taking on top of the table, Luton Town next weekend may prove a challenge.
Second in the division, Hertford 1st’s, were too strong an opponent for the fifth-place Ladies’ 3rd’s, Bedford going 2-0 down. There’s a good probability of points for their next fixture when Harpenden, in tenth spot, visit Chester Road.
There was a win and a loss for the club’s fourth teams.
The Ladies made hard work of gaining their victory, despite dominating the play for the whole of the match against Stevenage, Bedford only found the back of the net, for their 1-0 win, in the closing seconds of the game.
They will need to take their ‘A’ game with them to Rickmansworth next Saturday, Rickmansworth holding top spot.
There was a loss for the men, meanwhile, after they fell 3-1 at Blueharts.
There were losses too for both the 5th teams, the men’s three goals unable to compete with the seven scored by Hertford, and the ladies not finding their usual match-winning ways on this occasion, ending 2-1 down to Broxbourne.
The men have a tough fixture this coming weekend, against second in the division, Blueharts, whilst the ladies, currently in third, host bottom of the table Shefford & Sandy.
The Ladies’ 6th team suffered their first loss of the season, the young Bedford squad struggling to outplay the more senior, and very experienced, Chiltern opposition who bagged three goals.
This Saturday has Bedford heading to top of the table, Letchworth, for an early morning fixture.
It was a different story for the Men’s 6th team, and one that sees them stretch away from the others at the top of the table.
Their phenomenal 9-1 triumph, over Saffron Walden, takes their goal tally for the season to 35. There’s a strong likelihood of further goals when they head away to 9th in the table, St Albans.
The final two scores, from adult fixtures, were a win and a draw for the two 7th team squads.
The men held a 2-2 stalemate after travelling to Saffron Walden, with goals from Luke Killen and Paul da Silva, while the Ladies beat Luton 3-2 thanks to two goals from Fi Portlock with the ever-present Steph Daniels scoring the other.
Both Bedford teams sit third in their divisions.
In junior fixtures, except for the Under 14 Boys, who had a bye, there were Cup matches across the boys’ and the girls’ age groups, for Under 14, 16 and 18’s. All faced tough oppositions, and there were some incredibly closely fought matches.
The Under 16 Girls’ match against Cambridge was a real thriller, Bedford scoring twice to take the lead, only for Cambridge to equalise late in the game, taking the match to a penalty shoot-out, which Cambridge won, by 3 goals to 1.
The greatest success went to the Under 18 Girls, who gained a very skilled 3-0 win against Norwich, taking Bedford on to the next round.
Words by Jean Fitch
