The Purples version of events… by Howard 'Assassin' Steed

The combined squad of thirty made up from a mixture of L5s, M5s and Seb assembled for the final match of the day at Long Road. The Greens (aka L5s + guests) immediately formed a huddle to discuss tactics, whilst the Purples (M5s + guests) were still exchanging formal introductions. With tactics agreed and names already forgotten, the match pushed back under the watchful eyes of umpires Adam C and Louise W.

The combined objective of 'playing our best team hockey' was immediately evident, with both teams making good runs off the ball and passing freely and accurately. One such pass (I can't remember who from) found John G lurking at the post ready to add to his goal tally for the season with a trademark Greaves strike which had debutante Greens keeper, Emily, beaten.

Shortly afterwards a pin-point accurate pass out of defence from Wilco found the Purples' captain deep in the Greens' half and facing a one-on-one with the Greens' keeper. Shouts of, 'Go to the left,' were interpreted as, 'Hit it straight at the keeper,' and ended up with the ball in the right hand corner of the net, much to the surprise of the scorer!

Another pin-point pass found Jo D lurking at the the top of the D, which was coolly dispatched to give the Purples a comfortable margin at the break. After more half time introductions, everyone agreed 'more of the same' was what was needed in the second half.

Both teams continued to play with intensity and spirit. Substitutions worked well, apart from a couple of occasions where the Green team ended up with only ten on the pitch! There were plenty of scoring opportunities which unfortunately neither team were able to convert, leaving the final score at three-nil, and no reflection on how close the match actually was.

There were plenty of candidates for 'MoM' including Kat, Katy, and keepers Emily and Shahzad, but Alan 'Rock' Radford just sneaked it with an excellent debut in midfield.

Seb was clear LoM winner for single-handedly demolishing half a pizza and attempting to secure MoM without having played!

In summary, a thoroughly enjoyable match with plenty of great hockey played by both teams, and lots to take to our next league games. Let's do it all again when league commitments allow!

Purples Team

Shahzad Ali; Garth Wells, Howard 'Assassin' Steed, Pauline Musembi, Tess Skyrme, Alan Radford, Tendayi Rwambiwa, Harriet Stanley, Sammy Borcoski, Polly Lockyer, Ian Maximus Marshman, Wilco Dijkstra, Jo Dant, John Greaves, Anna Crucefix

And the Greens take, courtesy of Liz Dunsby

The newly-formed L5 squad turned up at Long Road looking forward to a mixed friendly. The combination of the L5s/M5s were split to form two mixed teams. Positions were agreed and introductions were made, though let's be honest, most names were rapidly forgotten once the starting whistle had gone.

Both teams fought hard to keep the ball in their possession, with some great passing and tackles from both teams. Despite a couple of opportunities in the D, the Green team were unable to find the net.

Half time and three-nil down, there was a motivating team talk and a slight re-shuffle of the structure. While (sadly) unable to score, the green team played a lot better and gave ourselves many more chances, and more importantly, prevented the purple team from scoring any further goals.

Despite the score, the game was a fairly evenly contested, friendly match with good intensity and skilful play through out. We all look forward to the next one!

Greens Team

Emily Boyd; Sean Gardiner, James Yu, James Piper, Laura Edge, Nick Georgiadis, Eloise Borcoski, Stuart Creed, Liz Dunsby, Bex Jackson, Stephen Browne, Stuart Skyrme, Jess Foord, Vicki Georgiadis, Katy Leonard