Saturday saw a social extravaganza take place at Tuddenham Road. I say social extravaganza yet I was close to saying social experiment; the reason being, well, Bingo actually. Who would have thought the simple joys of a dabber, some numbers and a caller would provide such entertainment for the intellectual elite of Ipswich Hockey Club. Surveying the clubhouse from a good vantage point at the bar made one quickly realise that Bingo can in fact be rather competitive. The Gladings seemed to be unstoppable although their proximity to master caller Foxy did make me a little suspicious. Season professionals Windy, Toby and Cooky approached the game with a gusto normally reserved for the pitch, the ladies 3s leadership attacked bingo like a team who have yet to lose this season and Ro, Storm, Claire, Jane and Jock’s clans seemed to outplay most of the room! Elsewhere in the clubhouse there was a heady mix of youth and experience and the social turned out to be a roaring success although quite why we needed a police officer on duty all night is beyond me; I do however, suspect Alice may have been needed for the 4am crew with rumours about of a rather late night for some.

Foxy, Ipswich’s premium bingo caller, did a fine job with some wholly inappropriate homemade bingo calls, but a special mention must be reserved for Stretch and Chantal. Stretch helped run the bar and event for the evening, tidying up, preparing pizzas, collecting monies and being the rather wonderful club man that he is. He was there at 9 am to help organize the juniors as well. Then of course, thank you Chantal for arranging the evening’s entertainment and getting the social organized in the first place. I don’t know the exact figures, but I do know that the club raised hundreds of pounds through bingo and through the raffle. Well done and thank you everyone who supported us! Tuddenham was packed on Saturday night, but it would be even better for our next social to have an even greater attendance from all across all our teams. A club isn’t just about results on a Saturday, it’s so much more; we’re on the right path that’s for sure – long may it continue.

Back on the pitch, there were some impressive results across the club this weekend – highlights being the Ladies 4s resurgence continued with a third consecutive win and the men’s 4s laying down a serious marker in their push for promotion.

As ever, any queries or questions or burning issues please speak to Wing or Wardy.

Men’s 1s W2-1
The 1’s were away to Cambridge University this weekend, a tough game was expected against a young and fit team. With points becoming ever more critical at the top of the table, a good result was needed.

The first half confirmed expectations, with both teams coming out hard. James Southgate showed some moments of class, making a mockery of their defensive press with his fast hands and laser balls. With Ipswich starting to build moment, Cambridge won a short corner. An initial save from Glading was tapped in, putting the men 1-0 down. This was fortunately short lived. A corner at the other end put Sensei Craig on the score sheet, reading the keepers log and flicking high into the home teams net. Some more opportunities at both ends followed, but nothing came of them.

Half Time: 1-1

With last week’s draw ever present in our minds, it was time to push for the win. Persistent drizzle made the pitch like ice for some of the team, we’re told new shoes are on the way next week for Sammy. While Ipswich had most of the possession for the second half, Cambridge still looked dangerous at times. Special mentions going to Josh Rollett and Joe Belshaw for their strong defence and speed respectively. A short corner for Ipswich gave the opportunity to take the lead… sensei from the top, saved at the right post, Belshaw reacting like lightning to hammer the ball against the back board. Ipswich 2, Cambridge 1.

With the pressure rising, both teams played some good hockey. After a while though, the cracks began to show in the Cambridge side, with two players receiving cards. Ipswich remained strong. 
With the game drawing to a close, Cambridge found themselves in our D, with many bodies around the ball, a sensational mid-air pick from Sam Lyne kept Ipswich ahead.

Full time: 2-1 win for Ipswich
Man of the match: James Southgate for the aforementioned laser balls. A special mention goes to Alex Hunnable’s father for driving to Cambridge with a spare set of keys after he locked his keys in his motor!

Men’s 2s W6-1
4th placed Dereham posed a tough challenge for the 2’s & a shaky first 15 minutes saw them go one down to a breakaway goal. A harsh yellow for foxy & less harsh green for Tom PS didn’t make things any easier as the 2’s struggled to find their rhythm. Slowly getting into the game, the equaliser came from a terrific hit by Tommy which helped steady the nerves & just before half time Tom PS slipped home after a lay-off from Windy.

Following a robust halftime team talk, Ipswich were a completely different team & tore into a tiring Dereham defence. Foxy quickly made it 3-1 after a fine move & Windy then deflected in the only penalty corner goal of the game to stretch the lead to 4-1. That didn’t stop Dereham occasionally hitting on the break & some decent covering tackles from the back four of Cian, Wrinch, Felix & Trembath kept them at bay with Stretch also called into action with some fine saves.

With Max directing operations from centre midfield, the 2’s flooded forward & man of the match Pete made it 5-1 with a terrific reverse finish after juggling the ball under pressure from defenders. However, the goal of the game completed the scoring. A flowing move involving Tommy, Windy & Foxy left Greg with a simple tap in from 2 yards into an empty goal. The win keeps the 2’s clear at the top with a tricky away trip to Felixstowe next week.

Men’s 3s L0-6

Men’s 4s W4-2
The men's 4s went to Cranes knowing the oppositions #1 keeper was back. “Play decent hockey and get something in the D” was the initial message. This became a reality with 3 goals in under 12 minutes, and a first senior hattrick by Freddie Beales! Great skill by Freddie who played to the whistle, whilst Cranes didn’t know what hit them. Freddie stole the ball twice and ran straight through slotting the ball under the keeper each time. 2-0. The third was similar and even the keeper taking Freddie out wasn’t enough to stop his goal nor the continuous pressured onslaught by Ipswich. Calm and ruthless each time. 3-0 so far.

Only after the 3rd goal went in did Cranes really wake up and their main man in midfield started to nullify Ipswich’ dominance. This resulted in a sloppy short corner from which the ball bounced round in Ipswich’ D for Cranes to get their first. 3-1

Ipswich's 4th was a lesson learned by Cranes at the end of the first half. Ant picked up the ball in the left near half way and sent a ball through to Pete Glading not near the goal line for once. He kind of mis-controlled it but the umpires said play on so he did, and whilst Cranes stopped and complained Ipswich pushed forward. Matt Lang hit the ball at the keeper, which rebounded to Pete who slammed it into the far-left corner. 4-1 and half time.

The second half wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination. Ipswich made hard work of keeping the ball, and some poor decision making at the start of the second half resulted in Ipswich defence simply giving Cranes the ball quite a lot. Most of these came to nothing except one which resulted in a penalty corner and a decent strike which went through Mikes legs on the goal line. 4-2.

Cranes tired a little as the game went on and even started turning on one of their own players who should have been removed from the pitch, after some ridiculous behaviour and poor attitude. No more goals, and no more time for Cranes, and Ipswich saw out the remaining minutes ending the game 4-2 winners. Great 3 points, great goals, especially by Freddie, but all players were a little too panicky at times unnecessarily, so something to work on there. A win is a win as they say and that's what counted.

Next week it's a local derby away to IES 4s.

Ladies 1s L0-3
Ipswich Womens 1st team welcomed newly promoted and top of the league Guildford to Tuddenham Road for the first time, with the visitors taking the 3 points. Ipswich started slowly, soon finding themselves under pressure with the defence of Emma Williamson, Ellie Scott, May Percival and Lizzy Wheelhouse keeping a run of PCs out of the goal. But it wasn’t enough for Ipswich who soon found themselves 1-0 behind with Guildford capitalising via a drag flick beyond keeper Ali Barham.

Ipswich though found their form and grew well into the game, threatening the goal with POTM Hollie Dring-Richardson, Sophie Sexton, Holly Wills and India Goodman working the ball well through the midfield. A change at the back saw Kat Blake and Williamson able to run the ball out and hand over well to Dring-Richardson and took players on with ease.

Going into the halftime break 1-0 down demonstrated a successful start for Ipswich, with them heading into the second half believing they could get on the scoresheet and challenge the league leaders. Jess Logan coming into the squad for the first time this season distributed well and laid off an excellent ball for Taylor Ball but the team couldn’t find themselves an outcome. Another drag flick from a PC consolidated the visitors’ lead and put Ipswich further on the back foot.

Not down and out, a chance for Wheelhouse forced an exceptional save by the Guildford keeper and Ipswich themselves earned a run of PCs. A Sexton shot was delivered just wide of the post with the next attempt by Scott missing Wheelhouse on the post.

A mistake at the back saw Guildford able to nick the ball and roof it into the net to take them 3-0 into the lead, a score line which flattered the opposition who had received a number of cards throughout the game, at one point down to 9 players. But Ipswich were unable to make the most of this phase of play except for a final attempt on goal via two last minute PCs. Ipswich were unable to get the ball into the net and did not deserve the final score line, with the team playing some of their best hockey and really challenging the league leaders.

The final game of the first half of the season finds Ipswich away to East London for an evening PB at Lee Valley

Ladies 4s W3-0
After a slow start to the season the Women's 4s form has improved dramatically in recent weeks. Since promotion at the end of last season the squad has finally started to find the team dynamic and mastery of the basics that previously delivered impressive results. And so the question in everyone's mind was, after two emphatic wins, could they make it three on the bounce this week against Harleston 5s?

Good availability saw a strong squad take to the hallowed green turf of Tuddenham Road. Focusing on shape from the start, the 4s embraced the many geometric opportunities playing the new systems offers. The resulting stability of the back five combined with a growing confidence all over the pitch was a recipe for success.

With short passes, diagonal runs, and hockey brains engaged the team started well. An early attack against the run of play was swiftly dispatched by the solid Ipswich defence, and the home side soon found themselves harrying at the opposition's D.

At the 13 minute mark a powerful run from Heidi won a penalty corner and gave Lorna the opportunity to show off the power of her strike, nailing it bottom right, leaving a dent in the backboard and the score 1-0 to Ipswich. Not putting a foot wrong all game, coaching and supporting the team from the back, and this opening goal saw Lorna awarded MVP this week.
Patience in attack and composure in defence were the order of the day, and at 20 minutes Nicki found the goal after a well worked move and team work all the way into the D.

The second half saw the team take it to another level: a third goal straight from the training ground followed at 41 minutes, Becki receiving a pass into the D and smashing it home with composure and her trademark reverse stick shot.

No further goals but an abundance of confident, strong, expansive hockey followed from the home side. With superlative basics and an impressive depth of trust within the squad the 4s put on an exemplary display that caught the eye of those on the sideline, spectators and umpires alike.

It finished 3-0 and a third win in a row for Foxy's 4s, an excellent way to head into the Bingo Extravaganza on Saturday night. Thanks to the awesome organisation of Chantelle it was a raging success, thanks to all who came along.

Ladies 5s L0-8
The ladies 5s went onto the pitch in high spirits but sadly were out played by Colchester 4’s. They had some excellent play up front but were unable to convert these plays into goals. Special mention as always to Helena in goal, who restricted the score to only 0-8.

Stats
• Men’s 2s, Ladies 4s and Ladies 3s have all won 3 on the bounce.
• No games for ladies 2s or 3s this year but both remain unbeaten.
• Men’s 2s are averaging 5 goals per game for and 0.63 against.
• Ladies 3s narrowly have the best defence in the ladies section 0.86 goals per game vs 0.88 for the ladies 2s.
• Sensee Craig Wiid has scored in every game – consistency, it’s a marathon not a sprint.
• Played 69, won 42, drawn 6, lost 21 (61% win rate)

Golden Stick
Men’s: Wardy 10, Will Chrystal 9, Craig Wiid 7, Fred Weller / Foxy / Windy 6
Ladies: Emily Calver / Chloe Williams 8, Min Patel 6, Eloise Ward 5, Mariette Rix 5

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