SUNDAY 18TH APRIL - A QUIET DAY OUT AFTER CLUB SUPPER

On Sunday 18th April the mens First XI travel to Eastbourne for the semi-final of the England Hockey's Mens Vase - the furthest the club has been. The team could really do with as much support as possible. Can you let Warren know on warren_scott@ntlworld.com if you would be interested in coming along, if there are enough people interested we may be able to split the costs amongst them and hire a coach to travel in.

SOFTBALL PRACTICE

CLUB SUPPER

A quick reminder that this Saturday (27th) is your last weekend to buy tickets at the reduced rate of £30. After 1st April the ticket price goes up to £40.

Just ask your social rep for a ticket, they are: Warren Scott, Adam Laubser, Tony Hewston, John Finch, Andy Saunders, Annie Brothwell, Catherine Watson, Fay Rider, Sarah Wood, Mike Burge, Matt Stevenson and Zoë Scott.

Here is this weeks roll of honour:

EHA VASE QUARTER FINAL

In the quarter finals of the English Hockey Vase, Amersham and Chalfont won a fast and furious match against London visiting side Zak Hond. Despite early pressure from the visitors, A&C made a couple of surges down the right which led to an early short corner simply dispatched by Chiles at the far post. This visibly upset the organisation of the visitors, who had previously scored over 100 goals in 18 matches and not lost to date, and minutes later a through ball to Cartledge saw him brought down by the last defender for a Penalty Stroke, which he powered in for the second. At two-nil the home side kept up the attack, and with Zak Hond reduced to 10 men tried to capitalise on the advantage, but slowly Zak Hond began to settle. By half time, after some sustained pressure on the A&C half, the score was 2-2, both away goals taken through well worked short-corners.

This led to a frantic second half, with Zak Hond showing strength in a long-ball fast moving style, while A&C sought to build up either wing. With pressure mounting on the A&C goal, and new keeper Keoghan Litchfield stretched to keep the shots out, A&C got the break they needed, with Watts breaking fast down the right, bounding past the high defence. His goal, slotted at the near post gave the home side advantage again. This was then followed by a further short-corner and agony for the large crowd as a Cartledge flick from the top of the D rebounded off the bar and fell too awkwardly for any follow up. With 15 minutes to go, Zak Hond again stepped up the pressure on the A&C area, and with 6 successive short-corners had plenty of opportunities to score, but with the defence determined to keep the advantage there was no way through. Reduced again to 10 men, Zak Hond kept up the attack to the final minutes, with the whole A&C team working back to protect the goal. Final relief came as Rutherford, having worked tirelessly up front all match put Scott through to run down the clock in the far corner for a well deserved 3-2 win.

On the 18th April Amersham and Chalfont face Eastbourne away in the Semi-finals.

Team: Keoghan Litchfield, Darryl Chiles, Adam Laubser, Mark van Duyvenbode, Chris Blamey, Neil Turner, David Crossman, James Wolfenden, Warren Scott, Andy Watts, Oscar Postma, Mark Rutherford, Martin Cartledge (c)

The 4's secured the MBBO Division 4 title against mid placed Windsor with an attractive 4-2 win. Taking 10 minutes to settle into the game, A&C soon got into their passing game and some neat interplay in midfield soon created openings. A short corner after 20 minutes was reversed right to Stewart who crossed it to the penalty spot and Bagehot flicked the ball over the keepers pads into the corner. Finch seemed to be on a mission with some darting runs and chasing hard to regain possession (his gym work is obviously making a difference!).

In second half, Eaude imposed himself at centre back anticipating moves before the opposition had even thought about them. Bagehot worked tirelessly and was incisive at attacking defenders from the left. He was rewarded with a 2nd goal and Haythornthwaite added a third with the best goal of the game, flicking the ball over the keeper after taking a defence splitting ball from Whayman. Some complacency set in as defenders pushed forward for some action - they soon got it as two break away goals in the last 10 minutes made the outcome uncertain. However, a further short corner and some quick and composed passing in the D, left Bagehot in front of the keeper. He flicked the ball against the keepers pads and Stewart was there to roll the ball over the line.

Team: Collins, Bootland, Howse, Eaude, Kong, Haythornthwaite, Whayman, Quin, Richardson, Bagehot, Stewart, Finch