International success with England for Bedford Hockey Club duo

For the two Bedford players on international duties, playing for England at the World Cup in South Africa, the journey has come to an end, but what a journey it has been.

Kate Costin aided a win against the Netherlands in the WO35s bronze-medal play-off, her goal helping to secure England the bronze.

Two goals for England from Vincent Pretorius, in the Men’s O35s, meanwhile, sees him returning home as World Champion, in a match which saw England take gold over host nation South Africa with a winning goal in the final 60 seconds of the game.

Bedford's Ladies’ 1st XI are still trying to find their rhythm this season.

Loughborough Students opened the scoring in the second quarter of their match and, despite a leveller by Bedford’s Rachel Mason shortly after, Loughborough pulled back their advantage just a minute later, before going on to dominate the rest of the game and taking the win, 4-1.

Bedford will hope to open the second half of the season with increased vigour when they head away on 2nd November to the University of Birmingham.

The Men’s first team were devastated, after pulling back from being two goals down to Pelican to lose the match in the final seconds of play, when the opposition converted a penalty corner, flicking an impossible to save ball high into the corner of the Bedford goal.

It’s a home fixture when the team regroup in November, hosting Old Southendians.

It was a win and a loss for the club’s second IX squads.

The Ladies’ seconds continued their winning run with a 2-0 victory over Bishop’s Stortford.

The Men, meanwhile, suffered their first loss of the season, falling 2-1 down away to top of the table Luton Town, who remain undefeated.

The Bedford squads are both sitting third in their respective divisions.

Whilst the Men’s third team took points, they were disappointed not to get to play, Welwyn Garden City conceding the game, and giving Bedford the walk-over.

The Ladies’ thirds did, however, get to take on their Welwyn opponents, coming away with a 3-0 victory, Bedford sitting just one point below Broxbourne at the top of the table.

The Men’s fourths were delighted to return from Potters Bar with their first win of the season. Despite a flurry of goals by Potters Bar in the second half of the game, Bedford held their own in a 6-4 thriller.

It was yet another triumph, too, for the Ladies’ fourths, who remain unbeaten this season after a dominant 5-0 win away to Bishop’s Stortford.

Unfortunately, there were losses for both the club’s fifth team squads.

Whilst the Ladies still hold third spot in their division, they struggled to find their usual form against St Albans, suffering a 3-1 defeat.

Despite Bedford opening the scoring in the Men’s fixture, with a goal from Alex Smallwood, their Harpenden opponents fought back to take the match 2-1.

The Men’s sixes were disappointed to experience their first loss of the season.

Despite the 3-2 loss to local rivals, Shefford & Sandy, however, Bedford still hold top position.

It was a goalless draw, meanwhile, for the Ladies’ sixes, away to Saffron Walden, which, after their recent high-scoring successes, was also slightly deflating, although it keeps Bedford in a healthy third position in their league.

Both seventh XI teams finished the first half of the season on highs, and each head into the second half in fourth place in their divisions.

The Men had a successful trip away to Rickmansworth, returning 4-0 victors, whilst the Ladies enjoyed a 7-2 win over Bishop’s Stortford.

In Sunday’s Junior Cup play-offs, several of the matches ended with Bedford getting walk-overs, from oppositions conceding due to player shortages.

This was the case for the U14 Boys, the U16 Girls and the U18 Boys, all of whom will now continue to the next round of the Cup.

The U14 and U18 Girls did get to play, both taking on very strong and experienced oppositions - Cambridge City for the U14s and St Albans for the U16s.

Whilst both Cambridge and St Albans dominated their matches, the Bedford squads kept fighting right to their final whistles, and can be very proud of the play they put in. Both teams will now continue in the Plate competitions.

A fantastic match to watch was the Boys' U16s game, with Bedford hosting Harleston Magpies.

It was a very fast-paced match with incredible skill demonstrated by both teams.

Mention must go to the Harleston goalkeeper, who put in a tremendous performance.

Arthur, in the Bedford goal, whilst not having the same degree of action as the Harleston keeper, also put in some excellent saves, when called-upon, and maintained a clean sheet for Bedford, who won 3-0.