Ashford (Middlesex) Hockey Club

This years Dinner Dance will be at the Manor Hotel in Datchet on Saturday 28th April from 7pm onwards.
Slightly different this year, you get to pick your food choice from the menu below. AND if you pre-order your wine, there’s a 10% discount. What with tickets being a bargainous £32.50 and special room rates of £99 for a double bed & breakfast (quote Ashford hockey when booking), hopefully we’ll all have a grand time and have some pennies left for raffle tickets!

I NEED TO HAVE ALL NUMBERS, MONEY & MENU CHOICES BY APRIL 1ST PLEASE!

thanks

Wendy

DATE: SAT 28th APRIL
TIME: 7pm onwards
VENUE: The Manor Hotel, Datchet
TICKET PRICE: £32.50

MENU

Starter

Atlantic prawns and chorizo cocktail with buttered brown bread
Pressed game and wild mushroom terrine with sesame and spring onion dressing
Olive and sun-dried tomato bruschetta with parmesan cheese and pesto sauce (v)

Main

Baked brie and red onion parcel with Cumberland sauce (v)
Pan-fried Scottish salmon supreme with creamy leek and chive sauce
Roasted breast of free-range chicken with bacon scrolls and a thyme and red wine sauce
All main courses are served with thyme roasted potatoes or boiled new potatoes and steamed seasonal vegetables

Dessert

Dark chocolate tart with clotted cream berry pressing
Fresh tropical fruit salad with lemon sorbet
Selection of English cheeses and biscuits

WINES – see attachment

Ashford Ladies 1st XI returned to league hockey with a 2-3 away victory against Hendon and Mill Hill on Sat 21st January.

Ashford started off with great enthusiasm and it paid off within two mins as neat passing between the new partnership of Lucy Uttley and Nicky Benedict up front led Nicky into netting her first goal.

Ashford continued to hold possession with great distribution from midfielders Claire Emmerton and Emma Hynes feeding to Rasna Sandhu who had some great runs down the right.

Ashford’s second goal came from fantastic linking play between Jacqui Bashford, Kim Downs and Lucy Uttley who slipped to Nicky Benedict for her to score her second goal.

Hendon and Mill Hill had a few chances but were tharwted by outstanding saves from GK Sam Grant which led to the score remaining 2-0 at half time.

The second half saw the oppo come out strong and secure a short corner. Their well worked routine saw the ball hammered onto the black board.

Ashford hit straight back following a slick move from Kim Downs to Jacqui Bashford who fed the ball to striker Lucy who skilfully beat two defenders and reverse sticked the ball into the net.

Ashford were unfortunate to let a Hendon And Mill Hill player slip through unmarked to score another goal for the oppo.

With Kath Evans making her debut along with regular defenders Sophie Smart, Kim Fry and Tracey Holland, Ashford tightened up in defence and deservedly held onto their 3-2 win.

Team: Sam Grant, Sophie Smith, Kim Fry, Tracey Holland, Kath Evans, Claire Emmerton, Emma Hynes, Jacqui Bashford, Nicky Benedict, Rasna Sandhu, Lucy Uttley, Kim Downs,

In the rather complicated England Hockey colts Single System player selection process, which is now in place for developing hockey youngsters to the top level, numerous Ashford colts have done very well so far. Initially some Junior Development Centres (JDCs) were held at which players of under 14 from all Clubs could attend. Young female colt Bella Bogan went along and was selected for the next level up; the Junior Academy Centres (JAC) of which several sessions were held. Bella then made it to the next level the Junior Regional Performance Centres (JRPC) for the U 15,16, 17 and 18 age groups. Although Bella didn’t make it inot the England squads, she is the first female AHC colt to get to such a high level.

VERY WELL DONE BELLA, you have brought a great deal of credit to yourself, Ashford Hockey Club and in particular to Peter Cottrell and his very dedicated band of Colts coaches and helpers. If you would like to read more about the new system and see the final selected squads, link onto the England Hockey website www.englandhockey.co.uk

Come on down for a curry and quiz night! £5 ticket.

Your quizmaster is Lucy and she’s sourced a variety of rounds and question writers to test your grey matter with, so worry not, they’re not all by me or all devised by Sherpa.

Bring some friends to build yourself a team beforehand or join one on the night!

RSVP ahcsocial@hotmail.co.uk.

Happy New Year and I hope you had a good Christmas and besides hockey training if you would like to do some extra exercise, why not try the new Zumba classes being held at Short Lane:

Starting in the New Year there will be a new Zumba class down at the Sports Club every Monday from 9 January 2012 between 18.15 – 19.00, classes are £5 per per person or £40 for a 10 class pass.

Members and non-members are welcome and classes are open to anyone 16 years and over contact Sophie (facebook name SOPHIE VITAL SIGNZ) for further details.

The AAs are hosting the annual challenge trophy match v Sunbury Stars of the Past (SSOPs) this coming Saturday at Short Lane at 1.30 pm. Unfortunately snow and ice have caused the postponement of this popular fixture for the last two years, so please can you all try and arrange for some beter weather for us this year. Once again star AAs players are travelling from far and wide, including across the pond from the US of A, to play in this prestigious event. Numerous festiviites and ceremonies are held before and after the game and everyone is welcome along on the condition that they either wear a Santa hat or something festive. Hope to see you there and “COME ON U AAs”.

Forthcoming events at Short Lane:

Friday evenings – Informal quiz in the Members bar, hosted by Shane Smith – all welcome.

Monday December 12th at 7.30 pm, ‘Ideas evening’, where we hope representatives of ACC and AHC will meet to thrash out further ideas to help solve some of the current financial problems. We plan to issue some ideas in advance to promote discussion at the meeting, but we would be grateful if you could ensure that we are primed for a inspiring debate and hopefully some innovative ideas. Please could you let me 9Lynne) know if you would like to attend this meeting to represent AHC.

Thursday December 15th – Pool match between ACC and AHC. Teams of eight players – food – prizes – time etc. to be defined. Shane Smith is running the AHC team, so please let him know if you want to play or come down and support our team.

Saturday December 17th – Children’s (2-12 years old) Christmas party from 4.30 pm. Tickets £4 each (available behind the bar) and food, games, prizes and a gift for each child, with also of course a visit from Santa.

Saturday December 31st – New Year’s Eve party, 8 pm until late, there will be games/quiz and music and dancing, and food/buffet will be provided. Entry will be free to members but on a first come first served basis and numbers may be limited – tickets are available from Tracey. Non members will be charged – £10 adults, £5 children.

Go here and like the page to get updates on events & results via your facebook newsfeed!

If the link isn’t showing below, simply search for ‘Ashford Middlesex Hockey Club’ as a PAGE (NOT GROUP), on the left should be the button to click to like it!

thank you

Plans have been finalised so….

FRIDAY 9TH DECEMBER

Ashford Ladies are obvioulsy classy ladies so get you party frocks and celebrate Christmas in style at Soiree (did you like my little play on words in the title?!)

TIME: 8pm at Soiree or maybe a bit earlier for a cheeky one somewhere before? Food served at 8.30pm
PLACE: Soiree, Staines (just up from pizza express, before roshni’s)
DRESS CODE: Dress to Impress!! (think people are thinking dresses/similar to last year!)
COST: £20 to include own area with delicious buffett including hot and cold selection, disco and dancing the night away!

I know its not far away, so need to know numbers pretty quickly, and £10 deposit asap. If you definately want to come, but not going to be at club to pay deposit before the 9th Dec, just let me know!

The more the merrier and if you want to bring a friend thats great, just let me know for numbers!

Please can you give your deposits to captains on sat (or let them know you definately want to come)

Thanks
Em

Its party time at Ashford on Sat 26th November – some club members are reaching landmark birthdays, and november appears to be a generally happy birthday time! So we’re celebrating for them…and hopefully with them!

£5 a ticket to include Disco, party games and food. 7pm ish til midnight.

Bring your friends to increase the party spirit!

RSVP on our facebook page!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=283499175015895

Saturday 5th Nov: Newbury & Thatcham 3s 0 – 0 Ashford 3s

This Bonfire Night saw Ashford’s 3rd XI battle to a deserved goalless draw against Newbury & Thatcham. Given their poor results so far this season, Saturday’s match saw the team turn in a performance that was less about explosions of individual colour and brilliance and instead embodied the dogged and intense fire of team spirit and work ethic.

For much of the game both teams cancelled each other out: chances were few and far between as the battle in the middle of the pitch burned relentlessly. The game sparked inconsistently but, as the second period wore on, Ashford began to dominate in central midfield and there were some strong forays forward from these areas that heralded pleasing and fluid positional interchange from the forwards. These resulted in a number of short corners that Ashford were unfortunate not to capitalize on and special mention must go to the Newbury & Thatcham captain who gamely took a powerful Bhamra drive to the forehead via a vicious deflection off his stick!

The plaudits for only their second points of the season, however, must go to Ashford’s defensive players. Trialing a new-look back line and defensive-midfield partnership, Ashford were resilient, combative and increasingly communicative, ultimately deserving of their first clean sheet of the season. Let them feed this newfound fire with similar levels of desire and commitment as they go into November!

Saturday 5th Nov: Men’s 1s 4 (Digger, Jas, Luke & Alex) – Wycombe 0

After a draw and a defeat, the ‘Ford got back to winning ways beating Wycombe II 4-0 at the Lane on Saturday with goals from Andy Barnes, Jas Nijhar, Luke Cottrell and Alex Betts.

The win lifts them up from eighth to fourth in the table and illustrates just how close things are this year in Middx, Berks, Bucks, Oxon Regional 1.

The ‘Ford have now won more points in their six games so far this season than in their previous 44, which were admittedly at a higher level but hopefully, it does show that the tide is turning and that a revival is underway.

Saturday 5th Nov: Ladies 2s 4 – PHC Chiswick 2

Our first November game of the season brought the Ladies 2s back at home ground with a freshly swept pitch. With the absence of Captain Hannah Stokes we had our strong goalie Dyson to organise and bring ‘the master plan’. With an attacking game in mind within the first two minutes of the game we were awarded a short corner, a strong injection from Lynne Morgan to striker Gill brought a superb hit through the goalies legs to award Ashford their first goal. Throughout the rest of the first half Ashford managed to maintain control of the game with our solid defence consisting of Groomy, Hills, Alex Saunders and Sam Clarey pushing back Chiswick’s central attacking runs. More goal scoring chances during the first half saw Ashford dominating the game but failing to capitalise.

At the start of the second half Ashford had another set of attacking play and a short corner awarded in the second minute. Our occasional top goal scoring forward Jackie Parsons stepped up to receive the injection, with a rebound off the Chiswick goalie, Lynne hit home and bought the game to 2-0. Confidence was strong in the Ashford side and in the ninth minute Beth Jefferies swept in the third goal from another short corner on the left hand post. A determined oppo fought back taking advantage of a small blip in Ashford’s concentration; their quick passing down the right hand side soon beat our defence and bagged two goals. A draw looked imminent but Ashford soldiered on and with patience and resolve in the 34th minute a penetrating run from Becky Hewes saw a pass to Jackie Parsons who spotted Sam Clarey on p-spot for a final match winning goal.

Sat 29th October, Oxford 2 – Men’s 1s 2

Although the ‘Ford were disappointed not to have taken all three points, they could have returned from Oxford with nothing to show for their dominance in the opening and closing quarters of the match.

On their previous visit to the city the ‘Ford had the pleasure of playing on Oxford Hawks’ state-of -the-art water based surface. However, Oxford HC, the result of a summer merger involving the Rover and City clubs, use Oxford Poly’s rather worn and in places treacherous, leaf based pitch complete which cannot be trusted.

The ‘Ford began brightly and moving the ball well from defence, through midfield and into attack, created a number of openings. From their set pieces, though, they found a keeper in fine form and efforts from Alex Betts and Phil Lewis were well saved until Ryan Holland snapped up a rebound from close in..

Oxford responded by crowding the midfield and in doing so muscled their way into contention. A mis-hit penalty corner just before the interval squared things up and the home side took the lead early in the second half from a corner awarded only after vociferous appeals from the home bench.

The ‘Ford managed to play their way back into the game as Oxford tired but it looked like their efforts would come to nothing until Phil Lewis found a way through from a late penalty corner to earn a share of the points.