David is leaving the area this week and will be missed by many members within the club, particularly the veterans and young ladies.

David has been the veterans regular umpire for many years now, taking over the mantle from Nigel Russell. Prior to that he was an ever present right back and occasional goalkeeper for the vets, captaining the side in the distant past and taking part in their various overseas tours.

Many younger members might remember that David was Fixture Secretary of Amersham HC for many years up to the recent merger. What they may not know is that he was also the Club Treasurer for some time prior to that and held various other positions within the club. In fact, when we held a farewell do for him, we had to turn to club stalwarts like Alan Crossman, Lionel Warren and Colin Wainwright to even find out when the distinguished Mr Dawkins joined his first and only Hockey Club. If my memory serves me well, it was finally agreed that David had served the club as a committee member, player and officer for over 30 years and joined the club in the late nineteen sixties (before most of the current members were born!). We wish David and Gill a pleasant stay in Fakenham and are pleased to hear that he will still umpire local league matches, such as Cambridge and Peterborough, for the veterans. Peterborough have already said they may contact him to umpire for them occasionally and David has already contacted Kings Lynn to see if they need a good umpire (What a daft question - all clubs need good umpires).

Mens 3rd 3-1 Staines Massive 3rds

AC thirds absolutely spanked Staines 3rds on Saturday in a late game at Beaconsfield High... and we loved it. After a nervous first 5, and missing our little captain Ian in midfield for much of the game, AC battled hard producing superb hockey all over the pitch. Both sides had chances at goal, AC were unlucky to convert after a few close attempts and our defence keeping clear the spurts of attack by the opposition. Mark Rutherford sweeping in a pass from the left hand post after a cross from the right from Nick Wilson gave AC the much needed 1-0 boost which took us to half time, and their tea cups rattled. The following half proved to be very demanding of both sides, again, with chances all over the place. Outstanding defending by Ruggy, Cash, Hugh, Craig, Daffy, with Douggie frequently having to come back as well, and Tommy contributing some 'world-class' goalkeeping, we managed to keep the ball out the goal. Excellent midfield play in Goochie, Hugh and Mark Bater led to a fine goal from Henri, which put us another goal up, followed by another later, again by Mark Rutherford. A run of attempts at goal eventually resulted in a goal by the opposition, off a follow up shot after an initially saved first shot. After several short corners were conceded, Staines could not add anything else to the score-line, with the final score 3-1 to AC. Fantastic performances from everyone who played in a superb 3rd team performance.

Played: Ian Ringham (c), Tommy Keeling, Craig Ottaway, Dornford Rugg, Nick Wilson, Henri Etchegoyen, David Dunford, Chris Blamey, Hugh Rhys-Davies, Doug Newton, Mark Bater, Mark Rutherford, Simon Gooch

Gloucester City 3-1 Mens Vets

A depleted Amersham and Chalfont Veterans side travelled to Gloucester on Sunday for the second round of the national HEL Veterans Cup. With nine first choice players missing, the vets achieved a very creditable result against a higher league side. The opening action was fast and furious but the Newlands Park side held their own for the first 10 minutes before Gloucester broke the deadlock. Amersham and Chalfont continued to create opportunities and were rewarded with a fine goal from high-scoring Tony Fermor in the twenty-second minute. With the scores level again, both sides had chances to forge ahead before the home side re-took the lead 5 minutes from half time. The second half saw renewed pressure from the visitors throughout, even though Gloucester were rolling substitutes on and off to relieve the pressure whilst A&C only fielded the bare minimum. Fifteen minutes before the end, Gloucester scored from a breakaway move, setting up a frantic finale. Amersham and Chalfont had numerous penalty corners and some very near misses but could not manage to get that vital goal. We can only speculate what would have happened had so many players not been injured or unavailable for the long trip west!

Amersham & Chalfont: Carter (GK), Coleman, Whayman, Fermor, Colwill, Eaude, Ringham, Mills, Dutton, Brooker, Wood (Capt).

Thank you to EVERYONE who came along & supported Quiz night on Saturday. A special thank you to Azee Swaleheen & Duncan Turner for working behind the bar, Bob Hance for being a fab MC, Helen Kitto for co-ordinating the super supper arrangements, Mike Burge for arranging 5 teams of people & Goochie for organising the bar/prizes etc We made £400 profit in ticket sales & took £700 behind the bar (approx £300 profit)...... TOTAL £700 .... for the club!!

Next event: Xmas party on 14th December!!! Tickets for the party will be with social reps shortly. These events can't run without help - anyone who wants to be a member of the social committee please come along on the 5th December @ 8pm or call me!!

I am also looking for people to help behind the bar for external events - 5 parties! This is a way of raising funds for the club and paying for our wonderful facilities. Please volunteer for one of these over the Xmas season to support your club. Details of the parties are listed in the club diary on the website.

Easter Tour - Folkestone, B&B cost set at £23 pppn, deposit £25 by 8th December, then the rest paid in three installments at the end of Jan, Feb and March.

Names to Watsy (andy@watsy.com) and Zoë (zoe.scott@ntlworld.com) a.s.a.p. so we can confirm numbers.

The Mens 1st are playing Cheshunt in the 2nd round of the EHA Vase. Any support would be greatly appreciated by the team. Push back is 2pm at Newlands

A&C completed the pre-Christmas league on a high note, with two friendly wins, and a walk-over in the last league game on Monday night. The final pre-Christmas record therefore reads as follows:

League: P8, W3 (one walkover), L5
Friendlies: P4, W2, D1, L1

Monday 25th November (both friendlies):
William Borlase W 3-1 (Shaw, Bullock, ?)
Wycombe High W 5-2 (Bullock 2, Tomlinson, Shaw, Nikolay-Parker)

The progress made by the A&C team can be seen by the results against Wycome High. A strong school side containing England U16 star Emma Thomas, they have a large squad with plenty of practise behind them and are the strongest team in the league. The first two encounters resulted in heavy defeats (4-1), but in both games A&C had enough chances while conceding some soft goals to suggest the gap could be narrowed. The third encounter two weeks ago ended two apiece, in the best game of indoor hockey I have seen in this league - fast, end-to-end action which could have gone either way. And finally on Monday night, a big win for A&C (albeit against a smaller school squad than usual, but still including Emma Thomas). No soft goals conceded, plenty of well taken chances, and overall a very strong performance.

I strongly believe there is more to come from this team. It looks as though we have an effective attacking short corner routine emerging despite the fact the team has never had a training session - the sight of B whistling short corners in at pace at head height in the last game portends a potent threat when the last directional problems are corrected (i.e. on Monday night the shots all missed by fractions). Goals scored and defenders scared will be an effective combination!

I thought it might be worth sharing some thoughts in which areas this team, many of whom had never been coached (and in some cases played) Indoor Hockey before have made such progress. One of the teams strengths has undoubtedly been it's ability to successfully defend opposition penalty corners. It's easier to coach (using the ubiquitous coins) than defending open play situations, with the result that unusually for Indoors most of the opposition goals have come from open play (the 4-5 defeat to Gerrards X only two weeks before having been a particular horror). But Monday night showed great progress in understanding how to deal with open play 'overloads' with Vicki now dominating the whole D and the defenders working effectively around her. Both oppositions had to work hard for their few goals - only 3 on Monday, despite playing two of the strongest teams, was low by Indoor standards.

Three other improvements should be noted in the team as a whole: basic receiving and passing skills are now noticeably stronger, helped by some consistently tough umpiring where any bobbled receipt or pass has been penalised; eleven games in two months have helped develop the understanding of how the different positions work together to build an effective team ; and building on the other two, the team has developed confidence that the ball is a friend, not a hot potato to be pushed as far away as possible!. In the first games two successful passes in a row was a rare event; now the team regularly puts 6-8 passes together, usually with a positive outcome.

If I had to pick a most improved player, I would select Lynda Bullock. Having surprised her (and everyone else) by putting the outdoor forwards at the back, and the backs at the front, she has worked hard to improve both her ball skills and running off the ball - not attributes her outdoor position has demanded to the same degree. Her defensive work rate has always been excellent, and it was great to see it all come together on Monday night with three well-taken goals.

Finally, my thanks to all the players for their support, and best wishes to Otty on her temporary retirement - we look forward to having you back with us next season.