Picket Fencing

Some of you will have noticed the picket fence being placed around the ground. A lot of hard work is going into this in order to protect the grass for the Cricket and Hockey pitches, and to add to the tranquillity and beauty of the club for all members. Thanks to all those that have helped - if you want to come down and lend a hand one Sunday then the next work will be taking place in January - speak to Matthew Stevenson or David Banner for details.

Eastcote 8 0-11 Mens 4th

An excellent performance from the Mens 4s to round off the first half of the season! A guest appearance from Huw nearly didn't happen because he out did Kern on the day, in the "Greatness to your Lateness" stakes.

This is better than the match! Having rendez-vous'd the team at our club house I realised we were a man down. At this point Ian Ringham ( my captaining mentor) kindly informed me that the player he had lent me "was known to be a bit unreliable" ( cool). As luck would have it Kern immediately redeemed himself for sleeping in himself by producing Huw's home number. One phone call later and an apologetic Huw was dragged out of bed..."No problem Huw, you've got ten minutes to get yourself together, we're on our way round to pick you up" OK. 10 minutes later, we are parked outside his house and Kern is dispatched to go and get Huw........and we wait ......we wait.

Inside the house......Huw's brother (also half asleep) answers the door. When told we've come for Huw he invites Kern in and proceeds to seek out his brother, all over the house. By this point Kern is feeling a little anxious and then Huw's mother appears "Oh hi Kern how are you?" "Fine thank you, I'm just here for Huw".... "Oh, sorry he's not in. He's got a hockey match and he's just left.....I think he was a bit late!" It transpires that Huw has left with his father to meet us at the A&C clubhouse!!!!!! 3-4 minutes more to find Huw's father's mobile number and we're on our way. Time 10:05 ...Pushback 10:30 ......with Huw meeting us at Eastcote.

By the time some of us got to Eastcote, miraculously by 10.29am, it felt like we'd driven all over Bucks. A big thanks to Huw's father for finally getting him there.

It was worth waiting for. Huw had an exceptional game in the centre of the park, controlling the game, great positional play and telling passes. The final score was slightly flattering ( 8 or 9 might have been more realistic) due to some comical goalkeeping and at times shambolic defence. In contrast Josh, Will Garrett, Jim and Peter Mills were exceptionally well organised and effective at the back. This was important because Eastcote were effective going forward. When called upon, Andy Pearce showed his class in goal. All three front men Kern, Chris and Mark clearly had exceptional games with a hatrick each. Ian McCurry and Tony Eaude worked well in support of the forwards. What was most notable was the way the team really worked for each other, off the ball movement was getting better and everyone was prepared to track back at the appropriate time.

A special thank you to Jim Newbold who now exchanges his hockey stick for a passport and sets off on a 4 month cruise. Have a great time Jim. This weeks Man of the Match goes to Peter Mills (just shading it) for an assured performance at Centre Back and completely winning a tough battle with a Phil Mitchell lookalike (with a game plan to match!) without once losing his cool.

City of Oxford 1-0 Ladies 4th

Grappling against the odds, Kitbag and Andrea fought hard, struggled valiantly and, showing great bravery, never gave up. With true grit they exhausted all possibilities, tireless on behalf of their team. Yes, finding 11 people with 2 legs, a hockey stick and a yen to travel to Oxford for a pre Christmas friendly, was a blinking difficult task. In desperation Andrea found herself phoning City of Oxford players to persuade them to play for us, while Helen managed to procure the services of a non-club member (that was the least of our worries: he wasn't even female!) Oxford took it all with great grace, and eventually we turned out with 7 of our ladies, 1 Oxford lady and.. Laura's husband Steve. By the way, we lost 1-0, but we all played well! Thanks to all who helped, especially Annie and the afore-mentioned Steve. Come back Sue, my nerves (and phone bill) can't stand it!

Happy Christmas, one and all, from the Ladies 4's!

This week we shine the spotlight on the show-offs of the club. Not content with scoring the odd goal here and there, these players have scored hat-tricks at some stage this season, or in the case of some, have done it on many occasions.

Xmas party: THIS SATURDAY from 7.30pm

£2 per ticket... be there or give us your £2 anyway!!

This is a quick note to say that training has finished for the year and that it recommences on the following nights in the new year:

* Mon 6th Jan at Beaconsfield at 7.45pm
* Tues 7th Jan at Newlands at 7.45pm

Deposits received: 32 people - if you have given us a deposit please can you find Warren to get a receipt.

We will still be collecting this weekend, anyone else wanting to give us their deposit please see Warren, Watsy or Zoë OR leave a cheque at the club with your details on it !!

This Saturday sees the Mens 3rd team face it's toughest league match of the year so far against the only other unbeaten side, High Wycombe. Going into the last match before Christmas, Wycombe are 2 points ahead of us, so a win on Saturday would put us top of the league and look good for our chances of promotion to the regional league next year. It's going to be a close game though, so we need your support.

We're playing at Handy Cross sports centre (the one you can see from the motorway at the High Wycombe junction), push-back 3.30pm. Come down, brave the cold, cheer us along and help us get something to celebrate at the Christmas party.

Mens 3rd 1-0 Gerrards Cross

This was a pretty dull match by all accounts, from where I was standing anyway, but then again, I am pretty short sighted (which I am slightly hesitant to admit, being the goalie and all..), so apologies if I missed anything. The players will appreciate this report is slightly embellished.

It was the coldest day in the history of hockey, and my fingers had ACTUALLY given in their notice... and we were missing players. Craig had decided while working in McDonald's earlier that week that he would experiment with the boiling oil - which he tells us actually BURNS you when you put your whole arm in it. Notebooks out everyone! Nick Wilson was also not playing, due to an injury if I recall, and Goochie had been dropped to the seconds. We also had a mystery player upfront who apparently shouldn't have played and according to my notes I'm not allowed to mention him... he will be referred to as " ".

AC had an utterly awesome first 5 minutes (although it might have been a really bad first 5 - I just remember Ian talking about them at half time). After that, it was all pretty even with chances here and there, although nothing particularly notable. A solid defence all around keeping the oppositions spurts of attack away from the D. Daffy, as ever, pissing off the opposition by intercepting pretty much every pass they make behind the half way line; Peter Whayman never less than about 5 miles away from the man I want him to mark but always being in the right place to clear the ball; Dorba the scarily large duracell bunny, solid in defence who just goes on and on...; and Cash who has the supreme ability to be able to mark every single one of the opposition very well.

A short corner against GX gave us the chance we needed to put ourselves ahead, from a push out from Henri, 'stopped' (botched, but well recovered) by Ian, Doug striking at goal for the keeper to make a pretty save, and followed up by Doug again into the goal, under the keeper. Have it indeed.

A tough second half followed where we comfortably matched their pressure, nearly conceding several goals had it not been for some of the 'world-class, first-team' saves by our goalie.

Excellent performances all around from the people mentioned already, as well as David Nicklin, Neil Ruthven, " " and John Finch.

Team: Ian Ringham (c), Tommy Keeling, Henri Etchegoyen, David Dunford, Chris Blamey, Doug Newton, Neil Ruthven, David Nicklin, Peter Whayman, James Sorby, John Finch and not forgetting " ".