Thank you to the following that umpired for us last weekend:

Guy Ross (M2), Sam Machin (M3), Chris Paine (M4, L1), Paul Dunning (M5), Adam Laubser (MV), Peter Colwill (L3), Janet Carter (L4) Jenny Dunning (L5).

TESCOS VOUCHERS

Thank you to all of you that have been collecting for us. We now have an amazing current total of 2180 vouchers. Please give any vouchers you still have to me or out them in the box at the club and let's see if we can reach 2500.

CHALFONT PARK RUNNING CLUB

The Club meets in all weathers at Chalfont Park each Wednesday evening at 7pm for a 30-40 minute group run for all abilities.
New members are welcome on the night or contact Dave Smith on 07717 752503 or at djrb@dsmith89.freeserve.co.uk.

LOAN SCHEME DRAW

Following on from the last draw in September, Peter Colwill will be making the next draw during the Games Night at the club on Saturday evening. Look out for news of the winner next week.
 

LADIES 4'S PERSONALITY PROFILES

Can't think of much to write about the hockey, we weren't crap but we still lost. Thank you to Dave for sorting our plethora of subs, Janet Carter for umpiring and to our supporters, quite possibly our biggest crowd of the season so far!

Here's a review of some of the team instead.

SUE BUTLER
Not content with being 'Club Member of the Year', Sue B is now billing herself as 'Greek Goddess'. I think this consists of goose-stepping around a few Greek blokes in an office in Athens, can't argue with that, nice work if you can get it, obviously would love to give it a go myself. Still, at least, my boss is deeply supportive, he told me he was worried I have bulimia - I just keep forgetting the being sick bit! Anyone got a job going? Goddess potential (or a few Greek blokes) would be a bonus...

WOODY AND SUE C
Interchangeable in a truly bizarre way. Both former goalies who no longer wish to don the helmet and pads. Both wear their socks around their ankles, an attractive look obviously. Both mouthy (well, they play for the 4's). Both versatile as to where they appear on the pitch. Baggy shorts (hands in pockets) and even baggier sweatshirts de rigueur. Think about it, it's a bit spooky really!

JUDITH
Where do I go with this one? Her own dear husband classified her as 'never knowingly underexposed!' Noisy, fast and feisty, Judith adds glamour and fun to our team. She is a complete exhibitionist, up for anything and we love her. However, am very concerned about her potential behaviour at Rowie's forthcoming Ann Summers party. Now that will be a report!!

KITTY
Gobby springs to mind instantly. Committed, loyal and determined also hit the spot. Hel will dive across a goal-line (she's not a goalie) to make a save and we all rely on her totally. Umpires just adore her, especially the one she was dragged off last week. We need Neil back umpiring for us, we always loved those little domestics on Helen's hit outs.

OH GOD, ROWIE
Where do I start? The only hockey player I've ever met who wanted me to help her insert her spiral (?!) contact lenses, cosmetic purposes only, before a game. Sadly, Rowie suffers from Tourette's on the pitch and if she ever offers you an envelope, or invites you to dance, take my advice and run away! It's a stitch up. Ten out of ten for entertainment value!

NICKY
The terrier of the pack. Currently Morticia with dark hair after an unfortunate experience with a packet of dye. The only groomed team member with full war paint for a match. She is also the person most likely to bugger off during a season.

ANDREA
Sweet, gentle, kind, loving and giving, not to mention intelligent! Not too many friends however!

Next week: Helen Johnston. I know she's not strictly ours but there's a hell of a lot to go for there, surely deserves a report all of her own!

NATIONAL INDOOR FINALS DAY

As some of you will be aware the EH have taken the bold step of fundamentally changing the format for the traditional Indoors Finals Afternoon/Night for this season. Instead of being crammed into Crystal Palace on a Friday, this year the event will take place on Sunday 5th February over the whole day at the much larger National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Given that CP's 1200 seats have been completely sold out within days, the hope is that some 3000+ will go to Birmingham to create a great hockey day that will televise well. For us Birmingham is most probably an hour closer (those who have driven to CP know how terrible it is to get to!).

The format has also changed. In addition to the Men's and Women's semi's and final's, the day also includes the Boys and Girls U16 and U18 finals. The first junior game is at 09.15, and the first senior game is at 11.00. Last game is at 19.00, which allows time to get a good Balti in Sparkbrook before travelling back.

Tickets cost £17 for adults and there are 'family' tickets, so U18's can get in for £8.50 - parents do not seem to be required (but are of course welcome)!

So, if you are interested please let me know how many Adult and U18 tickets you want. I am assuming people will arrange their own travel rather than trying to arrange a coach/minibus, but if there is an interest in group travel then we can look at that later.

Lastly, they do have hospitality boxes at £750, which includes 14 seats. If there is anyone in the club interested in part funding one of these I will collect up the interest level/financial offers - it would make a great base if we are taking a large group, but it's a bit steep.

With the NIA seating 5000 tickets are not likely to run out, however I want to place the order mid December.

If you would like a ticket or would like more information then please drop me an email at John.Spicer@xerox.com.

LEAGUE REPORT

The A team had a strange evening on Monday. Wycombe High School weren't able to get to the school for the game!! Half the team was playing netball in Chesham, and got stuck in traffic, resulting in a walk-over.

The second game was against Slough, who had 6 players but no keeper. So the A team took the opportunity to play against a decent side under unusual conditions, and a close match ended with either a 4-4 draw (what I counted) or a 4-3 win to us (what the match scorer counted!!). So not quite sure how this will be recorded in the league table..

Thanks yet again to Chris and Mike for umpiring.

Next time out is Monday 21st November, with both teams in action.

A car accident before the game deprived A&C Fifths of 2 players leaving them with 10 men and some re-organising to do before the game even started. The last time we played on this pitch we had 8 so 10 was pretty good! Swans had 12! A&C started brightly and James Ball and Ian Hockney worked hard to get into good positions but the final ball was not being finished off and the lack of decisions in the D going our way didn't help much either.

Swans used their extra player well and created some chances but Bhavik in goal was equal to them. The protection from the back 3 of Boettcher, Byrne and Brockett was good. Swans scored shortly after the break and it looked as though A&C, who were tiring from the effort of playing with a man down, were going to have a mountain to climb to get back at them. The change of ends did give one big benefit - A&C pressure started resulting in short corners and eventually we converted one. Byrne received the ball, turned onto his favoured reverse stick and fired the ball past the keepers outstretched foot into the bottom corner.

1:1 and then it was all over. We were reduced to 9 men and shortly afterwards their umpire awarded a short! They scored and ran out 2:1 winners. Can't say any more than that.

A very nice team to play against.