It was another mixed bag of results for Bedford Hockey Club’s 14 adult squads across another busy card at Chester Road on 15 November.
Whilst the Ladies’ 1st XI gained points from a 2-2 draw away to Bishop’s Stortford, with goals from Ellie Scott and Esmée Challacombe, they slip to second in the table, after Cambridge City took top spot from a win in their fixture.
Cambridge’s current one point lead over Bedford is slightly skewed as Bedford have a game in hand.
There is hope of points – and possibly many goals – this coming Saturday, when eleventh placed Dereham travel to Chester Road.
After a successful run by the Men’s 1st XI over recent weeks, they were hit by a 4-0 loss against Cambridge University’s 1st XI. Next Saturday, they travel away to Cambridge City.
It was a win for the Ladies’ 2nd XI over bottom of the table Colchester; Bedford opening the scoring 23 minutes into the game, with Cheryll Wilson finding the back of the net from a penalty corner.
Two further goals came in the 50th and 60th minutes, both from open play, one by Harriet Potter and the other, Cali-Ann Shrives with the game finishing 3-0 to Bedford.
The Men’s 2nd XI continue to struggle to find form, falling 2-1 at Harpenden. Alex Sawyer scored the consolation goal on the 60th minute. They face a tough fixture this weekend when they take on second place, Upminster.
There was also a loss for the Ladies’ 3rd XI, 2-1 away to Stevenage.
The score had remained 0-0 at half-time, but Stevenage opened the scoring at the start of the second half. A goal by Bedford’s Georgina Turtle in the 44th minute brought the equaliser, only for Stevenage to snatch the lead again with 10 minutes to go.
It was a solid 4-1 win for the Men’s 3rd XI over Shefford and Sandy, thanks to a hat-trick from Lee Hoggett and a further goal from Alex Turner, giving Bedford some much needed points.
The Ladies’ 4th XI suffered a stinging loss. Goals by Cheryl Harding and Alice Brady-White were unable to match the seven scored by Hertford’s 1st XI. The Players’ Player award went to Bedford’s keeper, Megan Evans, for her gallant endeavours in goal.
It was a loss, too, for the Men’s Fourth Team, Bedford fighting back from 3-0 down to 3-2, with goals from Kieran Farrer and Harry Midgley, before the Broxbourne opposition bagged a fourth for the win.
The Ladies’ 5th XI were unlucky to go 1-0 down against Stevenage, a scoreline that remained through to the final whistle, whilst the men celebrated a 3-0 victory over Rickmansworth with goals from the sticks of Tony Gammon, James Pagliaro and Elliot Potter.
Charlotte Goodson opened the scoring for the Ladies’ 6th XI three minutes into their match, with Letchworth bringing the scores level 10 minutes later.
Charlotte bagged a second in the 21st minute, only for Letchworth to level the scores again in the 30th minute to rescue a 2-2 draw.
It was a 4-1 loss for the Men’s 6th XI against Harpenden, with Bedford’s only goal coming from Andrew Moore.
Both of the club’s 7th XI’s walked away with wins.
Isla Maclaren opened the scoring for the Ladies, 10 minutes into their match against Welwyn Garden City, with further goals coming from Cheri West, her first for the club in only her second match since taking up the sport, and Steph Daniels, with Welwyn failing to score.
The men enjoyed an 8-0 victory over Luton Town’s 2nd XI.
A first half hat-trick from Keith Waterhouse started the goals flowing.
Jonathan Chard opened the second half by getting his name on the scorecard, before Keith added a fourth to his tally, followed by a second for Jonathan.
Not wanting to miss out on the action, Zameer Safdar found the back of the net before Keith closed his account on the final whistle with a fifth.
Words by Jean Fitch
