I recently travelled to one of the UK’s so called top clubs where internationals grace the turf; we ended up with cold showers, teas on our lap, no bar open (albeit were offered a warm Budweiser) and the pitch was a trek from the clubhouse. Whilst I certainly won’t decry the standard of the opposition hockey (and they were also charm personsified), the standard of facilities at the highest level continues to flabbergast me; we’ve so far to go in the UK to make top level hockey a spectator event.

With this in mind, after 3 weekends of away matches in London and East Anglia, I’ve had the pleasure of returning to TR each Sunday to be involved with our booming junior section. It brings a smile to my face to see a rather good team under Dave’s leadership that we have down there every week, along with a cohort of amazing other junior helpers. It also makes you realise that we’ve got it pretty good. Yes, I know there are things that still need work, however, we’re thriving in comparison to so many other clubs. 10 teams, 200+ members and we continue to move forwards with improvements; we're not going backwards and this does put the EHL challenges of the Men's and Women's 1s into perspective. They are competing against teams in London who are typically poor on facilities, but rich on playing talent; the playing pool is an ocean in London compared to Suffolk. Our future must involved our youngsters and last Sunday saw 3 hours of juniors, an U12’s match and then a mixed match. 10am – 6 pm at the club for some of the youngsters and they loved it! I did too and I can only see the facilities improving and us continuing to make the club a place for everyone to go to.

Talking of matches, it was a topsy turvy weekend, reports below. Men's and Women's 1s are both at home vs Spencer on Saturday!

U14 Boys
With this being only the third full pitch game for a third of the team they are really getting to grips with the big game! Winning a penalty corner within the first minute of the game and converting it with a very controlled reverse from Hugo was the best start possible - could we hold it together? Toby and Elliot were working well up front and making good runs to open the game up. This resulted in another goal towards the end of the first quarter with Toby at the far post finishing a great cross with a great touch. The second quarter was a close affair as we'd shuffled the team about and Chelmsford pressed hard and caused us trouble, but fortunately no goals. With outstanding defence all round but particularly from U12 Henry who covered amazingly, turning up at right back from left back to mark and tackle the spare attacker on one notable Chelmsford attack. The final goal came in the second half when Elias found space on the right in the D to fire the ball home. Motm this week was closely contested with Alex getting it for great work in the middle working hard and distributing well. Everyone was more comfortable on the ball than last week and it's great to see the progression. Structure up and down the pitch is slowly coming together and strong attacking runs now need to work the angles more for even more outcomes.

U14 Girls
Well done to the 13 brave girls that took on two strong BSHC U14 teams on Sunday. Our newly bolstered young U14’s squad was made up of all U13’s and U12’s. With several new players coming for their first Ipswich match it was an exciting opportunity to get see what our girls could offer. The girls had to face 2 x BSHC teams in 2 x 40mins games, so legs were going to be working hard, even more so as we sadly lost two subs last minute due to illness. However, the girls powered on with just 1 sub for the two games and several of the girls were playing their 1st full pitch game! The first games saw a brilliant performance in the first half with a 1-1 draw, the Ipswich goal created by excellent quick passing from Annabel to Maisie at the top of the D, who threaded the ball through to Millie who slotted it home with confidence. The second half change in formation did not work as we hoped, our marking slipped and their star player slotted a few more goals. The 4-1 scoreline really did not represent the game but the girls held their heads up high and went off to refuel.

The girls approached the second game with the same passion even though the opposition were twice the size of them and had fresh legs! They all tackled their hearts out throwing themselves into tackles and working back to support one another. A special mention goes to Summer who on more than one occasion sprinted back from her forward position to make crucial tackles on our dead ball line. It was that kind of team commitment across the team that was most impressive. The girls scored managed to score the best goal of the day through Lara. Her slap hit sent hard and high into the side netting passed their goalie (who is on the TA route and expected to do great things and was a key reason we only got the 1 goal). They ALL worked so hard. At the beginning we set 3 things we to work on:

• Fast free hit reactions both attacking and defending - the girls really took this on and many times it helped us get passed them before they setup many.
• Passing the ball rather than running with it - this was seen most evident as legs tired in last 20mins and the girls were passing really well cutting their defence apart.
• Marking tightly - this improved every quarter, the first game saw 2 easy goals scored due to us leaving attackers free but the girls saw and learnt from this. Their marking was

100 times better by the end of the day.

The U14G next match is a tournament early March and hopefully our missing players will be available too. Well done all and thanks to all the parents too who supported.

Women’s 1st XI
Ladies 1s travelled to their closest home game where they faced Old Loughts. After their first game meet was a draw, both teams looking to grab the 3 points.

Old Loughts came out hard with keeping the possession and building up into Ipswich defensive half. A few short corners came early on for Loughts but GK Ali Barham kept the sheet clean with also a save off the line from Captain Lucy Dunnett. Ipswich kept Loughts back with some strong defending and out-letting from POTM, Kat Blake. The first quarter remained 0-0.

Second quarter and Ipswich trying to make the right decisions - they got some forward passes and rewarded the forwards the ball from their leads. Unfortunately with the minimal circle entry opportunities Ipswich had. Access denied.
Ipswich kept up their efforts with forwards doing a lot of shuttles across the pitch to key the ball as high as possible. Score stayed level at half time 0-0.

Third quarter, Loughts started to struggle and become frustrated to get to ball out of the transfer. Crash falls were the alternative option for Loughts getting through and this time were upgraded their circle entry to put the first goal on the board. 1-0. Ipswich worked to make up for the goal by earning their first short corner of the match, a brilliant drive by forward Georgia Harrold along the baseline. Lizzy Wheelhouse with an incredibly near miss off the post. Loughts responded by gaining on the counter and leaving Ipswich on the back foot. A final corner for Loughts won and a disputed call took the score line to 2-0.
4th quarter and Ipswich had to really dig deep and find something to stay in contention for the 3 points. More opportunities arose with short corners but nothing came off of them.

Game came to a finish of 2-0.

Another frustrating loss which doesn’t reflect the efforts in which the team put out. Perhaps a highlighted weakness for the team was their lungs before the final whistle. A second week without any chaotic minute-causing-goals (I’m calling that our stat of the week!) which a huge leap in the right direction for the team; for individuals and team building.

Ipswich face Spencer next weekend at TR. Nothing to lose and every chance to take!

Women’s 2nd XI
Ipswich 2s made the long journey to Wisbech, optimistic about a big performance against the team one point below them in the league.

Captain Beth tried to take on coaching duties in Daley's absence (sad face) and spent most of the team talk discussing how we should adapt our usual game to suit the slow, sandy bobbly pitch that scuppered our performance last year - only to walk out and find that the pitch had been relayed over the summer!

However, something obviously worked, as Ipswich started the game strongly and found themselves 0-2 up within the first 5 minutes, with goals from both Chloe and Emily. The latter hitting a shot from the edge of the D to the keepers right.

Both teams then settled into the game and found their rhythm. The wide midfield players of Sophie and Erin linked with their defenders to create triangle passes down the pitch to find the forwards. The forwards enjoyed multiple chances in the D. Chloe was enjoying herself so much so, that she even attempted to lob the keeper, only for it to be hooked backwards and send the keeper pirouetting around the ball.

Proper captain wheato showed her passing prowess by also spraying balls into the forward line. This led to another run of chances and the forwards of Emily and Chloe linked seemlessly with Emelia to slot in the third goal before half time.

The second half was slightly more eventful. Wing welcomed the umpires to join her into the debating society, Soph took a 2 minute breather on the naughty step and the supporting dad's got rowdy on the sideline. We particularly enjoyed Emily's dad heckling his daughter from the side line after she took an air shot in the D. Mr Calver also showed his loyalty by providing a live stream of events to the supporters that sadly couldn't make the journey.

This allowed Wisbech to have a 10 minute spell in the game and Gigi was called into action. Even after receiving a verbal threat from an opposition forward, Gigi put on a dominant performance and guarded her goal well to deny any Wisbech chances. The solid defence of the Scott sisters with new arrival Benny (welcome back), also rallied around Gigi to ensure that the team kept a clean sheet.

Another welcome back to Laura (who tried really hard to leave for London but ultimately failed and finally realised where she really belongs), who got on the ball well in the second half and linked with Izzy who battled hard on the left. Ipswich finished the game strongly and Emelia got her brace to finish the game 0-4.

This was a performance Ipswich should be proud of, with many players putting in strong performances. In the end MOM honours were shared between Beth and Emily, whilst the team pushes on with another 3 points in the bag.

Women’s 3rd XI
There are only two words that come to mind to describe the performance of the Ladies 3s this weekend and they are “heroic defending”. For 60 energy sapping minutes, the team held strong, protecting the middle of the pitch, thwarting their skillful attackers with Claire diving left, right and centre as well as slogan on the floor multiple times as well. This solid wall of defence unfortunately did crumble in the last 10 minutes but it took nothing away from a great team performance against one of the strongest teams in our league.
Player of the match unsurprisingly went to a defender, Lizzie, for her calmness under immense pressure and goal line save.

Women’s 4th XI - no report

Women’s 5th XI
We won. This was the best news especially how hard we have trained and played this season. We were at home against Bury St Edmund’s 6s, a lovely opponent. Phoebe scored in the first half at the end of a great phase of attacking. Annie scored half way through the second half to give us a comfortable end of the match. Everyone played beautifully and the victory felt great!!

Men’s 1st XI
Excitement replaced the sadness brought by injuries, as the first team welcomed Aiden Griggs into the side to make his national league debut, along with the return of Lord Ward. It wasn’t long before Wardy let his honest feelings of the hosts setup known, with OGs clubhouse offering strictly no aesthetics, or beer… On the other hand, it took Aiden slightly longer to squeeze into his new 1st team playing kit. The Ipswich men made their way towards the pitch, where Craig found himself talking to OGs Wardy Wannabe, who tried so hard to be The Wardy that he ended up in crutches - Ipswich 1 OGs 0?

We were lucky enough to have a decent crowd, mostly my (Ricoux’s) family and friends coming to watch, who were treated to a green card within the first few minutes on the OG #20, following Craig’s instructions of ‘do not dive in, he’s good’. Following the 2 min sin bin, Mr Griggs entered the pitch alongside his mentor Wardy, and Ipswich continued to build on a strong start, despite the card. The first chance of the game came when the ball was fired towards to a diving Wardy on the P spot, where he majestically guided the ball over an oncoming keeper, but he must’ve spent too long cleaning his grooves the night before as the ball bounced on the goal line and span sideways towards the post, where a retreating defender managed to clear his lines. The score line remained at 0-0.

The second quarter saw another big chance fall the way of Ipswich. Bear in mind that Tom Cherry has probably made about 6 huge saves by now… A scruffy bit of play along the baseline saw the ball cut back to a late coming Dylan, who expertly tucked the ball past the keeper and into the corner (you wouldn’t have thought he’d be on zero goals for the season after a finish like that!). However the umpire that was a good mile away from play, decided there was ‘obstruction’ and overruled the umpire on the near side to disallow the goal. Someone check his bank account. Just before going into half time, Tom Cherry makes a strong save from an OG corner, resulting in the ball getting sent vertically up for a tap in. In which Chezza showed his inner Michael Jordan and leapt to reach the ball and slap it to safety before anyone even had time to consider doing anything.

Not sure what the score was at half time, but either way, the game was tight and all to play for in the second half! Just like our stay at the bottom of the table, I’m going to make this second half report short. Countless Cherry saves later saw OGs resort to passing the ball around him, scoring a 3 of their 4 goals through back post tap ins. BORING But there was some hope in the midst of these bang average OG goals. A beautifully executed counter attack gave Ipswich an opening, where a pass from the right hand side into the middle, opened up the pitch where a peach of a crash ball was directed towards an oncoming debutant Aiden Griggs, who slid for a few metres before meeting the ball perfectly with his reverse stick, lifting it rather nicely over the keeper and into the far top corner. This was the (Tom) Cherry on top of a marvellous first game for Aiden. Quote from Nick Fry: “my god he’s fit”.Final score: OGs 4 Ipswich 1.Match teas 1/10. Practically eating the food off our laps, a crate of beer to share as the bar wasn’t in use, the only positive was the nice new mug Dykes ‘found’! Wardy’s return meant a cheeky stop on the way back at a local pub. Highlights consisted of Cherry getting ID’d at 23 years old, as well as myself, with the bartender leading on to say I looked 15. Thanks for reading sports fans, get to the fortress for a 12:00 PB next Saturday to see the 1s face up against a 2nd in the league Spencer!

Men’s 2nd XI
The temperature has definitely started to rise as we enter February and is nicely in parallel with the progression of the men’s 2s. With absences and injury striking the 1s talisman Ward was promoted, but a strong squad was assembled by Captain Card. Notable selections included Gladding in goal, return of The Max, Elliot the man of steel and Ze Germans prior to their school match. The opponents today were the recently formed Cambridge 1s who have a number of 30-40 year old ex National League players and sit high on the pile. A 5-1 loss at Wilberforce was the score in the first meeting this year. The game started in strong fashion from Ipswich, but the discipline and distribution of the Cambridge CBs firing balls direct to their excellent striker caused Ipswich problems. Despite attempts in both Ds it was the visitors who struck twice leaving Gladding with no chance. Ipswich regrouped and with the full press in full swing, the passing style of the home side got going. A quickly worked long corner led to one of the short variety and when this broke down calm work from Baler and Elliot led to Max firing home. 1-2 at half time.

The old guard rallied the troops and the home side delivered their standard higher quality second half, but this time to winning effect. With the press now keeping Cambridge trapped, D entries increased and after a melee the elder statesman Miller calmly tapped home. The visitors rallied and after an aerial bombardment managed to win a corner. After an initial breakdown the ball was swept in, 2-3. The 2s have a come along way since the league started and the grit and Ipswich ticker that Foxy demands was fully demonstrated. After multiple efforts and chances Josh escaped the clutches of defenders again and finished through the keepers legs. Sadly the sound of the whistle was in his ears and a corner had been awarded before the ball crossed the line. The man in orange described it as an umpires worst nightmare. The forward “calmly” dealt with his disappointment and delivered a drag flick perfectly into the net to bring the home side level. Game on 3-3.The game was then won by The 2s deservedly by the man of the match Max. Another quick long corner and good work from Josh found Max on the edge of the D he calmly undercut the ball home 4-3. All that was left was for JC and Paddy to lead their defensive line and hold the visitors at bay. Oh and Baler to offer his help the umpires and accept an extra 2min rest to win the privilege of this report. A huge win against a good side and another step forward for the team.

Men’s 3rd XI
Availability was the buzz word this week - school games, injuries, family gatherings, meeting girlfriends parents, pedicures, and holidays all conspiring against us. Thankfully we pulled a team together with Andy Cutting, Ed Downie and Johnny Hughes agreeing to a day trip to Dereham. Charlie T back from January AWOL for the twos also made up the numbers with a solid and vocal left back performance. A surprise appearance from Austin meant we actually had a sub, thanks to the U16 game being cancelled on Sunday. A lacklustre start from us saw Gav called into action a few times as Dereham broke through. But a short corner gave us the lead after 18 minutes with a tasty drag flick from Ant. With Andy C taking a hit to the foot DC enjoyed a spell up front causing the Dereham defence a headache with his high loitering. A move down the right and ball into the D found Greg on the p-spot to deflect past the keeper for our second. On the stroke of half-time Sam E slotted one home from the right to begin to make things more comfortable. Shorter passing and looking after the ball the half-time messages. A frustrating second half saw a great performance from Sam B to win many penalty corners only for a disappointing conversion rate of 1 from many with Sam E getting his second from a rebound. Sam B's work rate and smart play in the D earns him the MotM award this week, well done Sam. Dod was an open affair with many nominations but Charlie clinching it for calling Johnny Charlie for most of the game!

Men’s 4th XI – No Report

Men’s 5th XI
Tough going against a very good Felixstowe team. Looks like they've had a good transfer window with some new players possibly from Cranes? Everyone put in a shift and we all battled hard against them, especially in the second half when we kept it to 3 goals after a bit of a shuffle with the formation. We thought it was 10 but they've posted 12 either way a good team effort and we all came off the pitch smiling which is the main thing. Umpires where very good and their team where good sports and served us our food after the match!!

Stats will return next week.