2023/24 Season - Week 11

Blueharts proved impossible to beat on a Saturday where they sent out seven mens sides – with all seven emerging undefeated.

Four of those matches came against Letchworth, including the 1s who almost took the lead when Ethan Gaunt hit the post.

The 1s were determined to atone for their 3-2 opening-day defeat at the hands of the same opposition – and eventually scored through a Ben Apperley penalty flick.

However some wayward finishing let Blueharts down and the home side levelled to secure a 1-1 draw.

An Adam Wells hat-trick was the centrepiece of another fine wins for the table-topping 2s as they beat Letchworth 2s 4-0.

Wells also weighed in with an assist for Ben Phillipson’s goal, while Nick Ross was outstanding in central midfield as was debutant Euan Graham.

Blueharts are now four points clear at the top of East Division 2 South West with two games in hand.

Meanwhile, Harry Macdonald, man-of-the-match Richard Middleditch and Gillan Ide scored two apiece as the 3s thrashed their Letchworth counterparts 6-1.

Ide’s first was a standout, with a fluid, flowing passing routine between the scorer and Ben Keegan from halfway.

Paul Graves led a resolute defence for the 4s as they held St Albans to a goalless draw – but the 5s continued their excellent recent form when goals from Henry Burbridge and Ashley Hammond gave them a 2-1 win over St Albans 5s.

The team was once more underpinned by impressive performances from some of their young players – with goalkeeper Josh Partridge making a series of important saves and man-of-the-match Jacob Pledge who kept St Albans’ quick forward quiet with intelligent marking and well-timed tackles.

Youngsters Oscar Hammond, Rory Williams, Arran Brown and George Gregory also played their part in another fine win.

Paul Krishman was in fine form for the 6s as they hit Bedford 6s for six – the perfect revenge for their 5-0 defeat at the hands of the same opponents in September.

Charlie Moore and Cam Hone added the other goals – with Hone converting a sensational move involving Jake Sudweeks and dad Martin, who fed Moore.

Moore played a 1-2 with Freddy Baxter before laying the ball off to Hone to score a contender for 6s’ goal of the season.

Goalkeeper Jack Jones was also in fine form to keep a clean sheet.

A Daniel Holder goal put the 7s 1-0 up at Letchworth 5s thanks to some good work by Andy Devey.

However, a penalty corner gave the home side the equaliser after a shot from a penalty corner beat the despairing efforts of defender Rob Trotter on the line.

Blueharts pushed for the winner after the break with David Trishkin impressive on his first start in defence – and they secured a hard-earned point thanks to some great saves from young keeper Will Faulkner.

There was also a stalemate for the Ladies 1s who drew 0-0 against bottom of the table Dereham in the East Premier Division.

The 1s were back in action after four weeks out due to bad weather and a host of chances came and went, including a gilt-edged opportunity in the final minutes.

But the 1s couldn’t find a way through despite an excellent player-of-the-match display from Harriet Marsh.

One of the highlights for the women’s sides on Saturday was a hat-trick from Talin Keoshgerian for the 5s who thrashed Hertford 5-0 – Millie Winton and Emily Bill scored the others.

A late equaliser from Emily Bryan earned the 3s a 2-2 draw against Hertford 2s – but they had to earn a point the hard way after finding themselves two goals down at half-time against a side they had thrashed 7-0 last month.

A textbook goal set up by Tamzin Wright and Kiki Arellano led to a Hertford defender scoring an own goal.

Player-of-the-match Arellano showed outstanding versatility but – after 12 short corners – it looked like the equaliser would never come.

That was until Bryan struck to give the 3s a well-deserved point.

There was also a 2-2 draw for the 6s in their match against Hertford as a short corner goal from Danielle Flood and an effort from Helen Ferguson put Blueharts 2-0 up.

They couldn’t hang on however as Hertford hit back with two second-half goals of their own to deny the 6s all three points.

Meanwhile a string of fine stops from Lara Wildon couldn’t save the 2s from a 2-0 defeat by Hertford 1s and the 4s also slipped to defeat when they went down 3-1 to Berkhamsted, despite a brilliant reverse tomahawk from Alice Winton.

Kat McLarty was player-of-the-match for her excellent never-say-die attitude.

A makeshift and youthful 7s side came together to face Potters Bar 1s – with Izzy Chapman, Hannah Ross, Lucie Cox, Ellie Cox all joining the team along with Sam Addison who padded up to ensure the game could be played.

Both teams and umpires were hugely complimentary about the standard of hockey played by the Blueharts youngsters but the Potters Bar side was too powerful and ran out 6-0 winners.