Weekend of wins for Bedford Hockey Club sides

In the men’s section, the first team squad gained further points, adding to last week’s victory, by beating Dereham 4-1, including two goals from open play by Simba Chigwada, moving them up to third place in the table.

They head away this weekend to Upminster.

Across the rest of the men’s teams, the Men’s seconds had a 2-0 win away to Bishop’s Stortford II, goals from Jack Bellamy and Adam Priston seeing the Bedford team topping the table, while the Men’s third XI bounced back from last weekend’s defeat to Bedford II, with a 7-1 triumph over Bishop’s Stortford III.

Both Bedford and Bishop’s Stortford each find themselves having two teams playing in the same division.

The fourth team was the only men’s teams to suffer a loss, their opposition putting up a feisty battle, which saw Cheshunt receive two yellow and two green cards, in their endeavour to take the 2-1 victory.

It was wins for both the Fives and Sixes, the Men’s fifth team beating Letchworth, 2-1, and the sixes enjoying a 4-2 away victory over Blueharts, which has the sixes sitting in first spot.

Lastly, a goal by Luke Killen, four minutes into the Men’s sevens match, and solid defending for the remainder of the game, secured them a 1-1 draw with Blueharts.

For the ladies, it was wins for all except the fist team and the sevens, the firsts going 4-2 down away to Cannock and the sevens, after taking an early lead, finishing 3-2 down to Berkhamsted and Hemel.

The first team will be hoping for a home advantage, and good support from the crowd, this Saturday, when they host Oxford Hawks, with a 1.30pm push-back at the Chester Road ground.

The Ladies’ second XI squad finally returned to the dominant form they demonstrated last season, when they came close to promotion.

In an away fixture at Colchester, the Bedford team netted five goals to take the victory 5-1.

They, like their first team clubmates, will enjoy a home game on Saturday, when they are visited by Old Southendian.

There were dominant score-lines, too, for the Ladies’ third and fourth teams, the thirds beating St Albans 4-0 and the, so far undefeated fourths, taking Letchworth 3-0, to maintain their top of the table position.

Also undefeated this season, the fifth team got another win under their belt with a 2-1 victory over Berkhamsted and Hemel, Bedford matching points with Broxbourne at the top of the division.

There was yet another season’s goal for Charlotte Goodson in the Ladies’ sixes match, away at Rickmansworth.

The 1-0 victory takes the Bedford team’s goal tally in the past three matches to eight and has Charlotte looking to try to bag herself the top goalscorers award by the close of the season.

It was a a busy weekend for the club’s juniors, too, with a tournament away in Leighton Buzzard, Bedford taking four U12, and three U10 teams, with Luton, Olney and Shefford & Sandy also represented.

The junior tournaments, whilst competitive, are as much about providing a chance for everyone to get to play hockey and have fun.

That said, it was two Bedford U12s who topped their groups, each getting to face strong teams from Olney in the semi-finals and, having both won those matches, it came down to a Bedford v Bedford final.

One of the club’s coaches said: “The final was tight but very action-packed with both teams attacking and creating opportunities, but with both defences and their keepers being stubborn and refusing to succumb to the attacks.

“The game ended up going to shuffles, at the request of the juniors.

“The U10s, too, played fabulously in a round-robin format, avoiding an emphasis on winners and medals, though it must be said, the three Bedford teams performed brilliantly.

“Both age groups represented the club superbly, and hockey was the winner, along with the bright future of the club.”

The club’s youth players also saw action, the Boys’ U16s travelling to Blueharts for their fixture. Despite a strong line-up, however, it wasn’t to be Bedford’s day, Blueharts taking the game 6-0.

The Boys’ and the Girl’s U14s, meanwhile, stepped up to play what, for some, was their first ever experience of playing 11-a-side hockey, and on a full-size pitch.

The boys played at Bedford’s Chester Road ground, Leighton Buzzard being the visiting opposition.

It was a tough and exhausting introduction to the mainstream format, but Bedford fought hard and were unlucky to end 2-1 down.

The girls travelled to Cambridge and, after a fantastic game, seeing the side improve with each quarter of the match, great teamwork and a fighting spirit closed the match in a 1-1 draw.