30th January 2006

Men's 1's suffer heavy defeat but 2's, 3's and vet's lift the gloom.

The Men's 1's lost 6-2 to 2nd placed Oxted and will be disappointed with their result. However Oxted have recruited 3 South African Internationals players since the teams last met in October and Ipswich know  that they are more than capable of getting back to winning ways. The Men's 2's beat Norwich City 1-0 to stay in a promotion spot but things are very close in the league and every game could prove to be vital. The 3's played Harleston 4's and had to score 2 in the last 10 minutes to get a  draw. It still leaves them in 3rd place within striking distance of a promotion place. The 4's will be disappointed to have their game against  Harleston 7's postponed. The Vets carried on where they left off with a 5-1 win over Harleston.

The Women's 1's had indoor training in preparation for finals day on 5th Feb.

The Women's 2's played 4th placed Norwich City and despite drawing 3-3 with 3 minutes to go lost 4-3 to a hotly disputed corner. The 3's lost 1-0 to  unbeaten leaders Colchester but they played very well and cane take a lot of positives as in the last game between the sides they lost 5-0.   The 4's game against Grasshoppers 2's was postponed.

The mixed side played Bedford in the Mixed Cup but despite a good start lost 7-2.  They now enter the plate competition.

27th January 2006

Men's 1's back in league action as history is made by mixed team

The Men's 1's get back into outdoor action this Sunday as they travel to 2nd placed Oxted. The team will be without Andy Cook who has decided to step down to the 2nd team and Christian Tanck who has a ligament injury. The Men's 2's boosted by the inclusion of Cook  face a tough game against 5th placed Norwich City , who are level on points with Ipswich. City beat leaders Bury 6-3 last week so Ipswich will need to play to their potential to get the win. Ipswich won 5-3 in the reverse fixture. The 3's face a Harleston 4's team that are 10 points behind the Suffolk team and Ipswich own 5-3 in their last meeting.. The 4's on a winning steak face bottom side Harleston 7's and will be looking to do the double over them. The Vets on a high after last weeks cup win also face Harleston.

The Women's 1's have a weekend off and will be preparing hard for their Indoor semi-final next weekend. 

The Women's 2's face 4th placed Norwich City and  will want revenge for the earlier league defeat. The 3's face a tough test against unbeaten leaders Colchester and will want to avoid another 5-0 loss.   The 4's are back in league action against Grasshoppers 2's and will want to repeat their 1-0 win form early on in the season.

Finally for the first time in the history of Ipswich Hockey Club, the club will field a mixed side in a National Competition. The team play Bedford in the mixed cup at 13.00 at Tuddenham Rd on Sunday.

27th January 2006

Come and support the Women.

Ipswich v  Chelmsford 11.10 am Book online www.englandhockey.co.uk

25th January 2006

Women's 1st Team Coach gets International role

25th January 2006

Time to go back to school!

Yes Saturday 25th February will see Ipswich Hockey Club inviting members to act as if they have returned to school as the infamous School Disco night return to Henley Road. School uniform compulsory!

Tickets are £5 and can be bought from the bar at Henley Road or talk to your captain. 

Let's pack out our first social of 2006-remember the hockey section also gets a large portion of the bar profits...so it all goes to a good cause!

25th January 2006

Vets get Huddersfield in home tie

The Vets will be pleased to get another home draw against Huddersfield in the vintage Cup Quarter finals.

Vets Vintage Cup Team

Back l to r:
Chris Wake, Peter Sampson, Nigel Steed, John Steward, Paul Whetton, Andy Hampton, Phil Sampson, Richard Yougman, John Gordon, Trevor Crane, John Hauxwell, Keith Gray, Peter Glading. Richard Wrinch was absent due to illness.

The tie will take place on 19th February.

20th January 2006

Women find faith to storm into National finals

The Women's 1's put on a display of top class hockey to power into the national finals/ Scoring 22 goals in the weekend the team romped to 4 wins out of 4 and pushed last years Champions Slough out of a play-off spot.  Ipswich will face local rivals and league winners Chelmsford in the semi-finals.

Ipswich English National Indoor Finalists 2006

Back row left to right: S Lister (coach), L King (Cpt), E lee-Smith, B Baker, C lee-Smith, D Mills (Manager)

Front row left to right : E Millar, V Sandall l Aldous, M Sharp, E Van Poortvliet, K Spencer

The finals will be held on Sunday 5th February at Birmingham indoor arena. tickets are on sale but you will need to be quick as over 2,000 have already been sold.

PLEASE come along and cheer the team on, victory at the event would see them crowned Champions of England and earn them a trip to Europe next year.

20th January 2006

Men record clean sweep.

The Men's 2's drew 3-3 with long Sutton and will be disappointed not to have got the 3 points.  The 3's will be happier with their 2-2 draw with local rivals and league leaders  IES.  The 4's beat Norfolk Nomads 8-2 and are on a great roll in 2006. The Vets beat Colchester in the league on Saturday 5-2 and then knocked Trojans out of the Vintage Cup 3-1 to make the Quarter Finals.

The Women's 2's lost 3-1 to Dereham and will be sorely disappointed to have dropped to 5th place. The 3's did well to grab a  point with a 2-2 draw  against UEA  The 4's have a friendly game against Bury 3's and even though they lost 2-1 were pleased with the performance against a team in a higher division.

20th January 2006

Women need indoor miracle

The Women's 1's know that they need a minor miracle this weekend if they want  to put any pressure on the top 4 for a Finals day place. Ipswich start the weekend with a game  v Clifton and then take on 2nd placed Bowdon Hightown. Sunday sees them face Leicester and bottom team Harleston. 

The Women's 2's will be keen to bounce back against Dereham but the Norfolk team are only 2 points behind Ipswich in 4th place and a close game is expected. The 3's get back into their first action of 06 with a tough game against UEA.  UEA are 5 points above Ipswich and wont he earlier fixture 5-1.   The 4's have a friendly game against Bury 3's.

The Men's 2's will be keen to get back in a promotion spot with a game against mid table Long Sutton. The reverse fixture saw Ipswich run out 5-3 winners. The 3's too are aiming for promotion face league leaders and local rivals IES. With IES winning the earlier game 3-0 Ipswich know they will have to step up their game. The 4's face Norfolk Nomads and will want revenge for an early season 4-3 loss. The Vets are back in cup action this time the Vintage Cup and face Southampton based Trojans at Tud Rd on Sunday at 12.30pm.

16th January 2006

Bad start to the indoor league

The Women's 1's played 4 games at the weekend and came away with only 2 points. A last second loss to Chelmsford frustrated them in the opening game then a poor performance against Canterbury saw them end Saturday with no points. Sunday was a better day, gaining a point against Sutton Coldfield and the best performance of the weekend, drawing 2-2 against Slough. With a top four place now looking out of reach Ipswich will be looking to concentrate on getting results next weekend that keep them out of any relegation issues.  

The Women's 2's gave their all against 2nd placed Wisbech but could not find the killer touch in the circle and lost 3-1. The 3's have re-arranged their game for Feb 18th.  The 4's lost 2-1 to  2nd for bottom team Felixstowe and will be very disappointed with the result.

The Men's 2's lost to Bury 1-o an dropped to 3rd place in the League. The 3's though thrashed Norwich union 2's 5-1 to keep within sight of a promotion spot.. The 4's also beat Norwich Union this time their 3rd team 7-5. The Vets almost knocked out defending EH Cup Champions East Grinsted on Sunday but lost 3-2 on strokes after drawing 4-4. A great performnce.

13th January 2006

Important rule interpretations for 2006

Some very important info for the 2006 season please read and pass onto teammates etc.

The FIH Executive Board has confirmed that in the 2006 Rules of Hockey the depth of the stick bow/rake will be limited to 25mm. For international hockey these rules come into force from 1 January 2006. The Board of England Hockey has discussed this equipment specification change and agreed that it will not introduce it as a mandatory change to the entire hockey programme (outdoor and indoor) in England in mid-season.

 However, all players participating in the OUTDOOR EHL Premier Divisions (Men & Women) shall from 1st January 2006, be required to use only sticks that comply with the new Rule in all EHL and international hockey competition. 

All other players in England shall from 1st June 2006 be required to use only sticks that comply with the new Rule.

In addition the following guidelines have just been issued:

Field players using goalkeeping helmets while defending penalty corners: in line with the spirit of the guidance issued by FIH concerning player's safety, and pending clarification from the FIH, England Hockey has taken legal advice and subsequently decided to permit field players to wear protective goalkeeper style helmets while standing on the goal-line defending penalty corners. This will apply to both outdoor and the indoor hockey games with immediate effect.
Attention is also drawn to the ‘low forehand’ hit. This note provides an interpretation of this action in relation to dangerous play (Rule 9.7). This is a relatively new technique where the ball is played with the edge of the stick (in a similar way to the ‘low backhand’) just above the hook on the forehand with the face of the stick upwards. This action is considered to be dangerous.
For the full statements please visit the homepage of www.englandhockey.co.uk 

13th January 2006

Important weekend for several teams as league restarts

The Women's 1's face 4 tough games in the opening weekend of the EHL Premier Indoor. First up they face defending league champions Chelmsford, then they take on Canterbury. Sunday sees them play Sutton Coldfield and last years Final winners Slough. Ipswich know that they will need to perform well in all the games if they want to meet their targets.

Vic Sandall in action in 05 Final v Slough

Copyright: Hockey Sport

The Men's 1's have another 3 weeks off before their outdoor league resumes and will be working hard to ensure it starts with a win. 

The Women's 2's face 2nd placed side Wisbech and after suffering an opening day loss to them of 5-0 will be looking to out things right in this home game.  The 3's have re-arranged their game for Feb 18th.  The 4's face 2nd for bottom team Felixstowe and will be looking to go one better than their previous 2-2 draw.

The Men's 2's have a vital derby game v Bury in a top 2 clash. An Ipswich win would see them move to within 1 place of the top spot.  The 3's sitting in 2nd place and a promotion spot, play 2nd from bottom Norwich union 2's and will aim to repeat their 4-0 victory that opened the season. The 4's also play Norwich Union this time their 3rd team and they also will be looking to repeat an opening season win. The Vets have an important weekend as they welcome defending EH Cup Champions East Grinsted to Tud Rd on Sunday. 

10th January 2006

The Vets face current vet's Cup holders at Home

The Vets play East Grinsted on Sunday 15th January 12.30pm start at TUDDENHAM ROAD.  Ipswich will be looking to register an upset as they face a side that could contain several famous internationals from the past. East Grinsted have won the Cup twice in the last 2 years and will be looking for a hat-trick this year but Ipswich can field a top quality side too and it should make for a cracking game.

PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR  VETS.

5th January 2006

Teams gear up for league re-start

The Women's 1's are finalizing their preparations of the upcoming English Hockey Indoor Premier League and know that they face 2 tough weekends of hockey ahead of them.  The 4's have a re-arranged league game against Grasshoppers and will be wanting to start 06 with a win.

The Men's 1's have another 3 weeks off before their outdoor league resumes and will be working hard to ensure it starts with a win. The 3's have a friendly against Colchester 2's, the 4's also have a friendly against Colchester 3's, while the Vets play Waveney.

5th January 2006

New kit 

Don't forget that you can still grab some new club Leisure wear from Henley Road. Several items are proving popular, non more so than the beanie hats, which at this time of the year are ideal.

Please ask at reception or behind the bar.