Celebrations at West Herts Hockey Club as new pavilion is opened

Having played host to a successful first round of matches and socialising on Saturday, Sunday saw a full day’s worth of hockey.

The day started with junior training sessions, where 65 boys and girls were honing their goal scoring skills.

Then, as the pavilion and especially the balcony started filling up, the fixtures started.

The men’s veterans took on City of Peterborough in the men’s over 40s National Cup and ran out 4-1 winners to qualify for a last-16 fixture away at Cambridge City.

The men’s first XI then took on Old Loughtonians in a men’s Conference East Division National Hockey League fixture. Unfortunately they were unable to hold onto their deserved lead and had to settle for a 2-2 draw.

Onto the final fixture, where the U16 boys took on a team from Wycombe HC and secured a draw against their resilient opposition in the Mercian Home Counties Colts Hockey League Challenge North.

Only timely tackling from Simeon Birch and Joe Sambidge in the back line and heroic goalkeeping from Marcello Iannucci kept the deficit to just one goal at half-time.

West Herts performed more confidently after the break and, with five minutes to go, Tom Watts made a fine run down the middle of the pitch to the edge of Wycombe’s D.

He slipped the ball to Ashley Patel, who controlled brilliantly before turning it into the net to earn the draw.