Over the summer I’ve had the privilege of playing mixed hockey every couple of weeks with the lovely ladies’ 4th & 5th teams, and the wonderful men’s 5th team from Salisbury hockey club. It has, as always, been a pleasure and despite breaking a bone in the top of my finger some weeks ago, I’ve had a great time playing alongside and against some wonderful people. This
Salisbury 4’s 2:1 Basingstoke Vikings On a dank, miserable and foggy evening Salisbury made hard work of this win against 10 man Basingstoke. However after the last two disappointing losses a win is a win and takes them above todays opponents into 4th place just behind Bournemouth on goal difference. Despite positional and personnel changes Salisbury started the brighter of the two sides and they achieved a number of insertions
Aldershot & Farnham 4’s 2:1 Salisbury 4’s Salisbury had to endure the long drive to Aldershot through a deluge of Biblical proportions on Saturday for this league match against the bottom side. However it all came undone with the unavailability/loss of four experienced mid-fielders from the previous game. Salisbury’s youngsters tried to fill this gap but were sometimes muscled out of possession in dangerous positions. However the defence played well
Salisbury 4’s 6:0 City of Portsmouth 4’s Portsmouth only had 10 players available for this match (school half term) and this weakness was exploited from the off by a motivated Salisbury side. Despite lending Portsmouth one of their squad for the second half the home sides dominance was shown in that Salmon in goal only touched the ball once in the entire game and that was to give the ball
I can remember playing hockey at school (see ‘Introduction’ post) and using either totally plastic sticks….horrible, or ropey old wooden sticks with the torn cloth grips hanging off the bare wood. I didn’t know any better at the time, but the sticks were rubbish. I started playing around Easter time, and for my birthday in December I asked for, and got, my own hockey stick. I can still remember it
Back to my favourite festival ever……….my home festival of Salisbury, which used to be held over the August bank holiday. I’ve already described my first one…..how wonderful it was, meeting new friends, playing in fabulous games and turning out against the team I was most proud to play for…….the ‘Haunchers’. But there seem to be so many memories of that particular festival, probably because I attended it so many times,
Last Saturday I had the pleasure of playing in a mixed friendly game (well, four lots of 20 minutes) with a whole load of great people from Salisbury hockey club. After a quick shower, I grabbed a drink and joined everyone in the function room of the fantastic, relatively new clubhouse. While everyone sat socialising and tucking into the delicious food provided, my attention turned to the scene I gazed upon out
In my last hockey post, I made reference to the fortnightly mixed hockey that I’m so privileged to take part in. Yesterday, in the sweltering heat (I hate playing hockey in the heat……give me the freezing cold and pouring rain any day. In fact the reason I love winter so much, is not because of my birthday and Christmas being in the same month….it’s because I associate it with HOCKEY!)
Weather rubbish, but so what?! I set off this morning with my two kids in tow, walking up to the Astroturf pitch at Salisbury hockey club. In the dull light of day, the wind, and the occasional shower, I felt less than enamoured, a little like my youngest daughter, who really wasn’t fussed about the fifteen minute walk. “Why aren’t we taking the car daddy?” she asked, barely seconds after
I think it was at my second August festival that I became more aware of the umpiring side of our precious game. I was only young…well, young compared with the youngsters umpiring and playing today. I would have been at most 15, but probably 14. I was representing Haunchers for the first time, but as a member of Salisbury hockey club I was also helping out behind the scenes, and acting as a