Ashford (Middlesex) Hockey Club

An excellent day yesterday when AHC hosted its mixed 7-a-side festival. The weather and day were both brilliant even though Staines HC won the main event! Well done to all and in particular chief organiser Hannah Cole and her team of helpers, including hubby Darren and to the generous sponsors including Resilient Networks plc.

The AHC end of season Newsletter has been e-mailed/posted out to paid up members, copies are also availbale at the Clubhouse and one will be posted on the website soon. It has all the latest AHC news and updates:
Presidents Chatter
Club Captains views
AA’s News
AGM
Annual Dinner award winners
Weddings
Tours
Goodbyes
And So The Season Ended Like This…
Ladies Summer League

WINNERS OF THE AHC ALLOCATED OLYMPIC HOCKEY TICKETS FOR 29/7/12,
EVENING SESSION OF THE LADIES COMPETITION ARE:

1. Mark Doggett x 2 @£35
2. Shane Smith x 2 @£20
3. Janette Knight x 2 @£20
4. Hannah Cole x 2 @£20
5. Ali Boxell x 2 @£20
6. Lucy Jennings x 2 @£20
7. Graham Doggett x 2 @£20
8. Lesley Mitchell x 2 @£20
9. Darren Cole x 2 @£20
10. Matt Emmerton x 2 @ £20
11. Andy Tunna x 2 @£35

Congratulations all!

The tickets are not for resale and we haven’t as yet received them, but payment will be required beforehand and please contact the Club Treasurer Doreen Brown on treasurer@ashfordhockeyclub.co.uk to arrange payment.

The winners for April are:

£500 Sarah Symes
£250 Bill O’Connell
£100 Mark Appleyard.

Well done all and your cheques will be with you soon. That is it now folks until the winter season draw starts again in October. Thank you for your support & tickets can still be purchased using the form enclosed on the website.

The next social at Short Lane is the Elvis night on 20/4/12 at 8 pm. Tickets, including food are £10 each (£12 on the night) and are available behind the bar or from Bobby Evans. ‘Don’t be cruel’ dust off your ‘Blue suede shoes’ ‘Rip it up’ and do some ‘Jailhouse rock’ ‘Viva Las Vegas’ style…..

Three live bands will be performing at the above event at Short Lane between 4-9 pm on Easter Saturday. There will be giant inflatables, a bungee run, magic bus, lots of hot food and of course the Clubhouse bar will be open as normal from 12 noon until 11pm, so if you are around come on down. The event is being organised by the community Police, Spelthorne Council and local schools to raise funds for a skate park in Stanwell. Help form ACC and AHC members will be needed on the day and on Sunday to help with the clearing up!

The astro draw winners for March 2012 are:

£100 Adrian (Bubbles) Hewes

£50 Peter Cottrell

£50 Bernie Peuleve

Congratulations to all the winners and your cheques should be with you soon. It is only £12 per year for a ticket and a draw is made every month throughout the season, with the extra big money prizes being drawn at the AHC Annual Dinner in April. Application forms are available on the website (see link on side bar) and on the Club Notice Board. Help support the club and give yourself a chance of winning some money at the same time.

Well done to all the acts at last nights Ash Factor/Ashford has Talent! But special congratulations to the winner Ashford Antique (AA) star Gillian Clegg for her ‘signed’ rendition of ‘Love changes everything’. Simply superb according to all the attendees. Congratulations Gillian and to all the entrants and Lady Googoo and Bellendonze (Ladies 2′s aka Hannah & Stacey) who came second. Also a big THANK YOU to Hannah Cole, Wendy Baker and their crew of helpers for organising the event and also the Judges for performing on the night. WELL DONE ALL.

It is time to start collecting Tesco (as well as Sainsbury) Vouchers again please. Last year we collected enough to get some hockey balls which was great. To avoid confusion we are having joint collecting boxes with the Cricket Club and splitting the proceeds 50-50. Both Clubs collected similar amounts last year so this year we have opted to use the same pair of boxes which are located in the Members bar. All contributions will be greatly received and you can also pass them onto myself or your Team captain. Thanks Lynne

Well its already the first of March! So happy St David’s day to those with Welsh affiliations But it does mean we have just 1 month of playing left (give or take the odd friendly/league catch up game, and of course Ladies Easter Tour to Weymouth!). And in that time we have 2 social events AND then the annual dinner dance to finalise!! So here are details.

TUESDAY 6TH MARCH – Momma Mia – 7pm-10pm in the main function room
On Sunday 18th March it is Mothers Day – an lo betide anyone that forgets that!!! spurned mothers are not a good thing….but we’re here to help as well as bring a little bit of business to the sports club! On Tuesday, there will be a few vendors in the function room offering you some choices for lovely Mother’s Day Gifts. Sarah can make bespoke jewellery and will have some pieces for sale. I’ll bring my Stella & Dot for more choices. Chocolate Explosion will be able to keep those mums with a sweet tooth happy and hopefully, there will be a beauty offering too! AND whilst that is going on, Nikki’s Cupcakes will be offering you some delicious snacks to keep you going whilst you shop. mmmm. The timing is such that you can pop in after colts training (or whilst you wait for your colt!), before and after men’s training, or whenever is convenient! But do come along and bring a friend or two as well!

SATURDAY 10th MARCH – ASHFORD HAS TALENT – 7pm onwards, £5 a ticket
Hannah is organising this years Ashford has talent. Our hugely popular and entertaining social reveals sides to Ashford members you didn’t know existed! Its always tremendous fun – lots of giggles, constructive criticism from our own Louis, Gary, Kelly & Tulisa!! each team needs to provide an act – so get your acts in and tickets from Hannah Cole!!! (or let me know and i’ll tell her!!)

SATURDAY 28th APRIL – ANNUAL DINNER DANCE – Manor Hotel, Datchet, 7pm til late, £32.50 a ticket (3 course dinner, disco & awards!)
There have been several emails floating around about this – this is our annual black tie event where awards are presented to players covering player of the teams, player of the year, club contributors, most improved players, team of the year etc etc! A great way for us to acknowledge the achievements and efforts of teams and individuals. It is open to everyone 16+ but parents of colts are most certainly welcome! Bring a guest or come solo – we can accommodate you on tables accordingly. This year, not only is the dinner cheaper, but you get to pick your menu choices! Details below. AND there is a pre-order wine offer of 10% off – ALL MONIES NEED TO BE RECEIVED BY APRIL 1st which is when i need to confirm numbers and pay the venue!

Think thats it for now! – see you all soon!

Thanks

Wendy

This Sunday (4th March) the Men’s First Team go up to sunny Wisbech Town, Cambridgeshire for the Quarter final tie of the HA trophy. Its a 2pm push back, if anyone would like a day out!!

Along with Ashford Cricket Club, we are again registered for the collection of the Sainsbury’s ‘Active Kid’s’ vouchers scheme for free sports equipment and a collection box is now in place in the Members Bar to deposit your vouchers in – so please start collecting the vouchers if you can.

The astro draw winners for February 2012 are:

£100 Robert Evans

£50 Alison & Jesse Donelan

£50 Val Hardman

Congratulations to all the winners and your cheques should be with you soon. It is only £12 per year for a ticket and a draw is made every month throughout the season, with the extra big money prizes being drawn at the AHC Annual Dinner in April. Application forms are available on the website (see link on side bar) and on the Club Notice Board. Help support the club and give yourself a chance of winning some money at the same time.

Eastcote 2′s 1 v Ashford Ladies 1′s 2
18.2.2012, Middlesex Premier League.

Ashford returned to hockey with a couple of weeks off due to snow/frozen pitches with a tough league game against Eastcote who were lying just above them in the table.

Although Ashford were missing three regular players from the 1s squad, retired GK Alison Boxell and 2s players Wendy Baker and Kath Evans all stepped in to complete the team. Wendy Baker joined the defence as Sweeper alongside Tracey Holland, Kim Fry and Elize Brown. Eastcote used to the bouncy pitch quickly moved into attacking formation and Ashford’s defence were tested within 5 mins from the start. GK Alison Boxell made the initial save only for the ball to fall to an Eastcote attacker, Kim Fry and Wendy Baker immediately forced the attacker to lose possession of the ball but unfortunately it fell only for it to fall loose and be slammed into the back of the net.

Ashford soon settled down and got into their stride with some great runs down the left hand side from Claire Emmerton feeding Maria Cavilla, Lucy Uttley and Kim Downs the chance for a couple of shots on goal which were kept at bay the Eastcote Keeper. Ashford’s first short corner saw Jacqui Bashford inject the ball for a straight strike from Cavilla, the rebound from the keeper fell to Emma Hynes who smashed the ball far left corner for Bashford to make sure it went over the goal line.

Eastcote fought back and were rewarded with a short corner just before half time. Numerous fouls by Ashford led to the corner being taken three times and the last time saw Keeper Boxell beaten by a strike to the right hand corner only for Holland to deflect the ball away to safety.

So with the second half starting off 1-1, Ashford piled on the pressure and started switching the ball down the right with Kath Evans feeding Rasna Sandhu to drive down the line and put some fantastic crosses in. Ashford defenders man marked superbly frustrating the Eastcote forwards, allowing Ashford’s midfielders Emmerton, Hynes, Bashford and Evans to intercept and lay off to Ashford’ forwards; Downs, Cavilla and Uttley to put the Eastcote Keeper under great pressure.

Ashford’s second goal came from a free hit taken quickly by Bashford who slipped the ball through to the speedy Lucy Uttley who sprinted down the left, beat two defenders and took a shot from a very narrow angle which clipped the inside of the right post and into the goal.

A great win moves Ashford up to 5th place, and with 6 more games to go, Ashford hope to pick up at least 9 points out of a possible 18 to hopefully keep them midtable.

Team: Alison Boxell, Wendy Baker, Kim Fry, Tracey Holland, Elize Brown, Cath Evans, Claire Emmerton, Emma Hynes, Jacqui Bashford, Rasna Sandhu, Lucy Uttley, Kim Downs, Maria Cavilla.