Men

Ladies

Saturday saw three games between local rivals Blueharts and Letchworth men sections. Blueharts triumphed by the odd goal in both the 1^st XI and 2^nd XI matches and Blueharts 1^st XI now top the table in the Premier B Division. The clash between the respective 5^th XI teams ended all square at 1-1 with Gary Pond scoring for Letchworth. The 3^rd XI emerged narrow 3-2 winners over Bedford 4^th XI with goals from Matt Wade (penalty stroke), Tom McIntyre Brown and the winner from a drag flick by Rogan Pond. The 4^th XI went down 7-1 to Berkhamsted 2^nd XI despite scoring the opening goal through Gordon Hewlett.

The only ladies game saw Letchworth Ladies 3^rd XI win against Royston Ladies 2^nd XI. The Ladies 1^st XI will play their last league game against Waltham Forest on Saturday 17^th Dec and should they win they will leap frog over them in the league & ease any fears about relegation.

Men

Ladies

Letchworth 1st XI emerged 4-1 winners against Wisbech. Letchworth took an early lead after a fine reverse stick strike from Scott Apps, who went on to score all of the Letchworth goals. The 2nd XI recorded their 3rd win of the season with an emphatic 7-0 drubbing of Hertford, which included a hat-trick from Matthew Spreckley. The 3rd XI drew 1-1 with Blueharts 4th XI with youngster Gabriel Beecroft converting the Letchworth goal after a fine move & an unselfish pass from James Adams. The 4th, 5th & 6th XI teams all lost in their away fixtures as did the Masters Over 40’s team at Holcombe.

The Ladies 1st XI went down 4-1 to Upminster at home.

Letchworth 2′s were away at Bishop Stortford and had a tough game.  Despite starting strongly Bishop Stortford Scored from a short corner and from open play before half time.  In the second half despite having some good passages of play Letchworth were unable to prevent a good goal from Stortford.  The team did not give up and Helen Helwett scored from a short corner with about 10 minutes to go.  They were unable to add to this and the game ended Letchworth 1 , Bishop Stortford 3.  With one more game before Christmas Letchworth are currently joint third in the league table.

The 3rd team lost 6-0 away at top of the table St. Albans, with man of the match awarded to keeper Tash Ives.

Letchworth 4th XI travelled to Watford on Saturday and were quickly into their stride against an inexperienced Berkhamsted team. Haidee Castle opened the scoring, dribbling her way through the home defence before slotting the ball home. She added another from a short corner strike & Alison Adams made it 3-0 by half time. Berkhamsted worked their way back into contention as Letchworth took their foot off the pedal in the second half. Their persistence was duly rewarded with two well taken goals. Letchworth were rattled but with newcomer & joint ‘Player of the Match’ Tara Belcher exerting more & more influence in midfield, they were able to regain the initiative. Tara herself found the net, following some excellent approach work on the left. Then Haidee Castle completed her hat-trick, after Letchworth’s other joint ‘Player of the Match’ Vivika Turner opened up the Berkahamsted defence with a pin-point pass. Letchworth now travel to fellow table-toppers Saffron Walden, hoping to consolidate their title-chasing position.

Men

Men’s 1st XI have slipped to 7th in Premier B Division after narrowly losing to Colchester. The 2nd XI recorded only their second win of the season, whilst the 3rd XI fell to 4th position after losing to Stevenage. The 4th XI are now mid-table but the 5th XI are looking at a relegation battle after a heavy loss to Shefford.

Men

The Men’s 1^st XI suffered another defeat on Saturday despite taking an early lead through a penalty corner flick by Scott Apps. They then added a second which was inexplicably ruled out by the umpire. Ramgarhia hit back and went 3-1 up by half time. Letchworth were weakened by bad injuries to skipper Tom Wharton and Matt Smith and finished 6-2 down & slip to mid-table.

The 2^nd XI’s run of bad luck continued with a late goal scored against them to clinch the game for Berko.

The Men’s 3^rd XI continued their winning form with a comfortable 6-2 win, which included a hat trick by James Adams, a brace from Tom McIntyre-Brown and a goal from Tom Payne. They are now in 2^nd place in Division 5SW.

The Men’s 4^th XI narrowly lost to Luton Vagrants in a tough encounter, whilst the 5^th XI fielding a weakened team were well beaten by MBDA with youngster Will Barnett scoring the consolation goal.

The 6^th XI won 1-0 with former goal keeper Harry Knott scoring.

Letchworth Masters Over 40

Letchworth are now through to the 3rd round of the England Hockey Masters Cup which will take place on 4th December.

Ladies

The Ladies 1^st XI beat Crostyx L1 2-1 and move up to 5^th from bottom. They now play some of the teams near them in the table and if they can pick up points should move safely up the table.

Letchworth 2′s were at home against Tring. Letchworth had a slow start against Tring and found themselves 2 – 0 down within 15 minutes this was added to and by the end of the first half they found themselves 3 – O down. After half time and an inspirational team talk they picked themselves up and started to play hockey. They won a number of short corners and Helen Hewlett converted one to start the scoring. Amy Wareing, who had an outstanding game scored a cool penalty flick. Helen Hewlett then scored another goal from a short corner and a Tring player was sent to the sin bin and Letchworth began to believe that a comeback was possible. Deborah Wren then scored to win the game 4 – 3.

The Ladies 3 scored six against Luton L2 (their first win of the season).

Unfortunately injuries deprived Letchworth of both substitutes early in the game, with Rebekah Wade and Sheila Lucas both forced off. The remaining Letchworth players managed to do far better than the opposition at compensating for Luton’s slow pitch with decent ball pace, diminishing the home team’s advantage.

Letchworth found plenty of opportunity to practise their attacking short corner routine, with good work from Leanne Gateson and Louise Balcombe winning plenty of repeat short corners when a goal wasn’t forthcoming. The first goal went to Lesley Saunders and came from a straight strike short corner routine. The second goal went to Julie Fewings with a characteristic strike in open play.

Taking a 2-0 lead into the start of the second half, Letchworth could focus on playing decent hockey rather than chasing the game. Some good attacking link-ups from the back line created opportunities on the left and right of the pitch and the reward for good possession and passing hockey was a glut of goals. There were four Letchworth goals scored in the 2nd half, including a Louise Nicholson hat-trick. The first came early in the second half and, along with her third goal, was the reward for good positioning and great shot placement to beat the Luton keeper. Louise’s second came more by virtue of being in the right place at the right time, as a hard ball into the D from Rachel Allison connected with her stick and fired off into the corner of the goal before Louise had any chance to think about it.

The only blot on the defensive performance was a goal conceded midway through the second half; Tash had the shot covered until a cruel upwards deflection off Sue Saunders foot. Julie Fewings also got her 2nd goal with another strong strike from the top of the D. Credit must go to Luton’s talented goal-keeper who prevented the goal count from being any higher with a number of brave shot-stopping efforts. Yuliya Mucha’s performance gained her the Man of the Match award, with her switch to right-back ensuring the Sheila wasn’t missed.

In control from very early on, Letchworth L4 then contrived to concede a scrappy goal, when they were left exposed at the back & unable to clear goalkeeper Charlie Warren’s initial save. Unfortunately, panic set in & Letchworth lost their composure when in possession & in front of goal. In spite of forcing a string of short corners, they struggled to convert the numerous chances that came their way. Bedford failed to win any short corners themselves & rarely tested the 4s defence. As the clock ticked down, ‘Player of the Match’ Kelley Wray began to open up the Bedford defence, with a series of penetrating runs. Her determination was finally rewarded when Haidee Castle slammed home a well-worked short corner, from Caroline Nicholson’s ‘assist’, to bring the scores level.

Mens

After the M1 5-1 defeat to City of P’boro the team has slipped to 5th place in the Premier B Division.

The 2nd XI still seek their first win of the season but earned a draw against Southgate Adelaide. They are second from bottom in Division 3SW.

The 3rd XI went up to 2nd place with a narrow win over Hertford M2 and are now level on points with leaders Stevenage M2.

The M4 continued their recent good form with an emphatic 5-1 win over Potters Bar M2.

The M5 lost to St Albans and fell back to 3rd from bottom in Division 7SW.

Ladies

England Hockey Ladies Trophy

Letchworth Ladies 1st XI set off to a strong start on Saturday against Bishop’s Stortford, taking the lead with an early goal from Charlie Humber. Despite another two goals from Olivia Hewitt, Letchworth were unable to maintain their lead and found themselves 4-3 down. A final short corner, taken by Loren Christian, allowed Letchworth to finish the game with a 4-4 draw.

Letchworth Ladies 1st XI also had their first England Hockey Investec Women’s Trophy Cup game of the season on Sunday against local Shefford & Sandy 1’s; Letchworth were the dominant team throughout and secured a solid 3-0 win, goals from Jenny Johannes, Olivia Hewitt and Loren Christian – they travel to Henley on Thames in late November for the second round.

Letchworth Ladies won their 4th consecutive game, in a friendly fixture against Stevenage 5ths, on Saturday. They were quickly in command & were 2-0 up in the first quarter. Alison Adams opened the scoring & then Lorna Alcock roofed a deflection from a short corner. Stevenage rallied & forced a couple of short corners, ably dealt with with by the Letchworth defence. By then, however, Alison Adams had scored again. With a comfortable 3 goal cushion by half time, Letchworth were able to rotate their juniors at will, with “Player of the Match” Emily Tollafield & Alana Sullivan the pick of the crop. Haidee Castle, was a constant threat but was thwarted time & again by some outstanding saves from the Stevenage ‘keeper. Alison Adams added a 3rd ‘hat-trick’ goal to her tally & Letchworth ran out comfortable 4 – 0 winners. They travel to Bedford next week in a return to league action.

Men

The Men’s 1st XI returned to winning form with a comfortable win against Harleston Magpies 2nd XI. Playing some attractive attacking hockey they led 3-0 at ½ time and then increased their lead with two well worked goals in the 2nd half. They remain 4th in the table & next week they travel to City of Peterborough who lead the Premier B Division.

The Men’s 2nd XI unluckily lost to Royston M1 and had a goal disallowed from Matt Wade. The 3rd XI beat Luton 2nd XI 4-2 and go 2nd in the table. The Men’s 4th XI travelled to Broxbourne and emerged 2-0 victors, and the 5th XI travelled to Bishops Stortford and came from 1-0 down to win 2-1 with Simon Wallduck scoring two goals from penalty corners. The Extra 5ths drew 2-2 with Ricky 3rd XI and are 2nd in Division 10SW (Mark Sheard and Chris Waynforth netting for Letchworth).

Ladies

Never has the term ‘a game of two halves’ has been more apt, as Letchworth Ladies 1st XI lost 5-4 to Broxbourne. Letchworth allowed Broxbourne to take advantage of their slow start and score 5 girls in the first half, with Letchworth only getting one back from Olivia Hewitt. The second half, however, developed into an exciting game. Letchworth fought back and dominated with some fast attacking play, winning a stream of short corners and with Loren Christian scoring three goals. Letchworth were unlucky not to score another to equalise

Letchworth 2′s were at home against Leighton Buzzard. Despite scoring first through a short corner from Helen Hewlett Letchworth quickly conceded two goals. The second half was an even match and a tough battle with Leighton Buzzard scoring again and Letchworth had no reply. Final score Letchworth 1, Leighton Buzzard 3.


The ladies 3rd team lost 3-2 away to Leighton Buzzard 2nds, after going 3-0 down in the first half. The Letchworth scorers were Yuliya Mucha and Louise Nicholson with Lorna Alcock putting in a man of the match performance in goal.

Letchworth 4th XI played a friendly fixture, against their near neighbours Stevenage 5ths, on Saturday & emerged comfortable winners. Letchworth had the best of the early exchanges but couldn’t convert their numerous chances. The deadlock was eventually broken when Rachael Broom slapped home a shot, following a goalmouth melee. Several more scoring opportunities went begging in the second half, mainly thanks to the brave resistance of the Stevenage goalkeeper. However, she was unable to prevent ‘Player of the match’ Rachael Broom add her second, after a series of penetrating runs down the right flank from Alison Adams, Kelley Wray & Alana Sullivan. Liz Small hit an array of through balls to create further chances but the Stevenage defence stood firm. With a full squad of players, Letchworth rang the changes throughout the game & were able to give an encouraging amount of pitch time to many of their younger juniors. Next week, they host Stevenage 5s for a return friendly fixture.