Harlow 3rd 2-2 Ladies 5th

So, what else would you do on a dark, wet Saturday afternoon, other than play hockey of course?

Having had a break over half term, the Ladies 5thXI met at Cressex to take on Harlow. Never mind the weather (by this stage persistent rain), we were playing hockey again - yippee! And we had a full team, too (special thanks to Gabriella, who had already played a 4ths game that morning, and came back for more).

And so we got started, some brave souls in T-shirts, some others vainly attempting to keep the rain off by keeping on their jackets. Werty, umpiring, had resorted to borrowing a red ACHC fleece to stick on top of his jacket, in an attempt to be seen. We did have floodlights, but it was decidedly dim to say the least.

First blood was drawn by Harlow (I think - it all passed in a blur), when a shot from the oncoming forward was deflected towards the goal by our defence. The coup-de-grace was delivered by the ACHC keeper (Sue Champion), who lunged at the ball in a vain attempt to keep the ball out, but only succeeded in ensuring the ball hit the backboard at a slightly different angle - ah well, it happens. Not disheartened however, Amersham and Chalfont kept up the attack with a lot of good moves down the left hand side from Olivia, Keran and Gabriella, and were soon rewarded with an equaliser scored by Karen Ruthven. Not to be outdone however, Harlow responded by putting another ball in the back of the A&C net.

As the second half pushed off, the weather had deteriorated steadily, to the point where became difficult to distinguish the A&C attack from the Harlow referee (also wearing navy blue), and you could hear the pitch squelching underfoot as players ran. However, the enthusiasm for the hockey was still there, and we were back on the attack. Jacqui Toogood put in a number of strong crosses from the right wing, which were unfortunately so strong that the players on the left were unable to get a stick to them, and so we missed a few opportunities to score. However persistence paid off, when Megan Ogilivie scored the second goal for Amersham and Chalfont from a tussle in front of the Harlow keeper. Harlow were still fighting hard as well though, when along came the comedy moment of the match. Harlow were attacking strongly, and Sue went to kick the ball out of the area. Cue confusion, as the attacking forwards, the A&C defenders and the keeper tried to work out where the ball had gone. Doh! The ball had got stuck between the straps at the back of the kickers, and the keepers foot! And it was well and truly stuck, only finally being released by removal of the strap in question. The Harlow referee awarded them a penalty flick (the less said about that the decision, the better), and Sue had to take off about 30% of the goalie kit in order to be able to reattach the strap and do it up (with a little help from the umpire, and the Harlow player due to take the flick). Natural justice re-asserted itself, as the penalty flick was saved.

The final result was a well-earned, hard-fought 2-2 draw, with everyone working really hard in what were decidedly unpleasant conditions. The award for Greatest Sartorial Elegance goes to Harriet Smith, who played the entire match wearing a waxed (Barbour type) hat with brim (and very dashing she looked too!)

ACHC Team: Gabriella Bugg, Karen Ruthven, Jacqui Toogood, Keran Fordham, Megan Ogilvie, Rachel Rowell, Olivia Lacey, Helen Ferguson, Teresa Miceli, Harriet Smith, Sue Champion

This week is the last Facts and Figures that focuses on the subject of subscriptions as I am sure that all of you have now paid up...

Well done to the Ladies 1sts who pipped the Mens 6th to the winning post.

QUIZ NIGHT ON SATURDAY 23rd

Teams of 6 people (£10/head - includes Fish & Chip Supper)

Prizes .....

Call Caroline 07887 675310 if would like to captain a team ....

You may or may not be aware that the ladies participate in an indoor league on Monday nights. Here are their results so far.

If the 17th of this month is not blocked out in your diary already (it iss in mine - I've just checked - Neil) then do it now. The Ladies are at home against the National League Division 1 side Trojans. This is the biggest cup tie the club has played to date, and should prove a bit of test for our Ladies side with Trojans fielding at least one current international representative.

The word on the street is that they are a young side that tend to let their heads go down when they go behind and their play does get affected by heckling from the sidelines. A big partisan crowd up at Newlands and an early goal could produce the upset of the round. Would you want to miss that? I think not. The club will be open from 11am-ish for pre-game drinks.

Meanwhile, the Vets have been drawn away to Gloucester City in the second round of the HEL Veterans Cup on Sunday November 24th. Beanie is trying to organise a coach for players and supporters to cheer the "old boys" on. The match starts at 12.00 in Gloucester (although the players have to be there by 11.30) so the coach will probably be leaving at about 9.30 in the morning!

More news to follow in coming issues, but if you would like to travel to support the Vets please contact Beanie.

Oxford 1-4 Boys U15

The boys took on Rover Oxford in round 2 of H.E.L U15s Cup at Oxford . A&C knew that only a win would be good enough, this could be seen by their intention from the start of the match, with several attacks on the Oxford goal resulting in a good team effort being put away by David Nicklin in the 12th minute. Oxford responded quickly and pulled one back after a mistake in the otherwise solid A&C defence.

A&C piled on the pressure and managed to pull into the lead just before half time with another strike from Nicklin. Oxford were not deterred by this and came out strong for the second half, but good work at the back kept them at bay, more pressure from A&C midfield and forwards forced several short corners, one of which was converted by Danny Thomas to put the visitors well and truely in control and Oxford heads down.The fourth and final A&C goal coming from Steven Hunter after some great individual skill from Andy Carruthers. Final score 4-1 to Amersham and Chalfont

A&C Team-List: Tom Collins (GK), Chris Smith, Tom Gee, Andrew Reape, Will Garrett, Nathan Ringham, David Nicklin, Danny Thomas, Rory Twogood, Henri Etchegoyen, Andy Carruthers, Steven Hunter