Vansitarts B won the seven a side mixed tournament at Chalfont Park on Sunday beating Amersham and Chalfont A 1-0 in the final with a goal from their captain, Barry Thomas, writes Peter Colwill.

The Tarts reached the final with a comfortable 2-0 semi final win against last year's winners Old Merchant Taylors, Thomas, the tournament's leading goal scorer with 7, scoring twice.

Rachel Parker put A&C in to the final converting their tenth penalty stroke to give them a 3-2 win a.p.s. after drawing 0-0 with Windsor who had blasted their way to the semi with 3 wins and 8 goals before losing their final pool match 1-2 to Vansitarts.

Nine teams competed in what was the fifth mixed tournament on this ground. The missing team was Rickmansworth but at least we had their goalposts conveyed by Ian Ringham. David Banner had done another wonderful job with the pitches. Chris Blamey's Stragglers won the wooden spoon, or rather two bags of much coveted donuts.

There was an excellent standard of umpiring throughout the day with Simon Seabrook and David Tobin, who did the final, leading the way with splendid support from Heidi James and contributions from amongst others Mike Snell, Paul Adams and Ian Ringham.

It was not a great goal feast for the host teams. Alison Spicer (2) was the only scorer for A&C A. Andy Watts (2) and Daryl Childs scored for the B team and Sarah Watts and Suzy Whyman were on target for The Stragglers.

We are bringing back The Easter tour to Folkestone for 2003!!

Andy Watts and Zoë Scott will be organising the tour for the most part.

The discussions at the club generally have been that we will be taking / entering the following teams:

2 x Mens XI, Development - 16-24's, Ladies XI, Mixed XI, Vets XI

The Vets may only be a possibility, as the initial reaction from Trevor is that they will not be able to get a team together due to another potential tour abroad in May.

It has been suggested that if the Vets do come they may prefer to go for just two days - the organisers have said this won't be a problem but we do need to let them know early so they can organise matches as appropriate - of course if some wish to go for all four then they can join other A & C teams or have vets for all four days.

None of the teams will be elitist and should not be viewed as such - should any member of the club wish to come on tour then they are welcome and will be encouraged to get involved. The 2nd Men's team will have a different tour top - which might add to the expense, which will need to be taken into account if cost is an issue.

The youth team will ideally be comprised of 16 to 24 year old players. This will bring together younger members of the club who are currently spread throughout the teams. Ideally, this could start a trend for our younger players going on tour and increasing their skills playing against new teams

Zoë is arranging the South Cliffe Hotel in Folkestone; this will need to be booked ASAP, as we will probably need all the rooms! Of course deposit cheques are vital so no one is left out of pocket...

The focus this week is the race for the club's leading goal scorer in all competitions.

Tony Hewston's flat warming party is on Saturday 28th September from 8.30pm onwards. Address is 53b High Street, Old Amersham. The flat is on the 2nd floor above Chatterton's, about 100yds past the King's Arms, on the right hand side (coming from Tesco's).

Windsor Royalists 4: ACHC Ladies 4's 1 (A.K.A. 'Pink is soooo your colour!')

Forget '4 weddings and a funeral' - and think '3 debuts and a sacking'. Judith, Emma and Marion all had their first games for us (welcome), and Helen J has been dumped, though she claims she's off to Uni. Still, our first aid kit should last longer without her. Good luck, Helen, we'll miss you (even if the umpires won't!)

Our first problem was the lack of a goalie - apparently Moore (turned out to be Sue's version of Mo) had been nabbed by those cheeky thirds, so we were all praying the helmet wouldn't fit us, when out stepped a vision of loveliness padded in... pink. Think very, very pink. Who was this radiant redeemer? None other than old Kitbag. What a sport. The Pink Lady demanded someone 'big and bulky in defence' to protect her, and was drowned out by a chorus of 'that'll be me then!'

On to the game. We ran our little hearts out, fought hard for each other, and improved massively as time went on. Kitto was majestic, even diving on occasion, and won the praise of us all, 'you're just so full of hockeyness' (??) gushed Caroline. Caroline was taken out, several times by a very large, jolly lady who apologised profusely, and described herself as a bumper car. Emma, Marion and Judith started quietly, and then came into their own. Emma was staunch in defence, and set up our goal with a great through ball. Marion marked her tricky winger out of the game, and Judith made several fast runs down the wing, and did not look out of place on the forward line with those fast, young whippersnappers Natalie and Hannah. Said whippersnappers made umpteen fantastic breaks, ably backed up by Laura and Sam, and were eventually justly rewarded with a super goal (her first!) from Hannah.

Sue was justly pleased with our efforts, and as we tucked into a lovely outdoor picnic tea, we dreamed of the season ahead... and of changing Helen's flat tyre.

Amersham & Chalfont Veterans 2 - St Albans Centurions 3

Amersham and Chalfont Veterans managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on Saturday, after leading St Albans Centurions 2-1 with six minutes to go. The visitors took the lead half way through the first half and Tony Fermor was unlucky not to level the score shortly after when he beat the keeper only to hit the post. The Newland Park side maintained their pressure and were rewarded when Steve Richman found the net shortly before half time to make the score 1-1. Amersham and Chalfont continued to push forward in the second half and saw Tony Fermor put them in the lead with a fine goal. The Centurions fought back fiercely and were awarded a penalty flick 6 minutes before time when the keeper was adjudged to have shielded the ball unfairly. A poorly taken penalty nevertheless dribbled over the line and the visitors then retook the lead with a goal shortly before full time.

Amersham: Carter (GK), Coleman, Warren, Johnstone, Crossman, Fermor, Paul, Richman, Sergeant, Colwill, Jenkins, Wood (Capt). Umpire. Coleman / Cremin