Saturday 12th September

Thank you to our match day sponsor, 147 Waste Clearance for being the first sponsor of the season. If you know of any brands or businesses that may want to sponsor a Saturday of their choice this season, please reach out and we will organise this. It’s a great opportunity for exposure for a brand and helps support our club.

Home Fixtures

Ladies 4s vs St Albans 6 - 0-0
Player: Talyssa
Donkey: Ivy

For the first game of the season, the 4’s had the first match at the badgers field against a recently relegated St Albans 6’s. We knew that we had a hard game ahead.

Majority of the team met in the changing rooms with some being late due to still being in PJs at 0830 and Cats urinating on clothes just before trying to leave.
So, trying not to delay further Lisa continued on with a spirited team talk, and tried to explain positions with her new white board but unfortunately she had picked up the pen with invisible ink.
Before heading out to the pitch the 4’s had to have a discussion about the toilets (its apart of the game prep at this point), they got a low rating today due to one being blocked causing a long queue. As well as a classic quote from Jazz “What is Copenhagen?”. They were now ready!

All team members made it to the warm up and with some strong drills and supporters looking on the 4’s felt in fighting form.
The first half was tightly fought with breaks and chances on both sides but the defence kept strong and with some cracking saves from Alisha the first half ended 0-0.

With a half time team talk from Lisa and Em and some sweets the 4’s felt ready to go out for the second half and try and get a win for the first game of the season.
The start of the second half St Albans came out strong and put early pressure on the defence. Short corners coming in thick and fast with some decisions clearer than others. The defensive team were able to keep them all out. This caused some breaks for the Broxbourne side, with the midfield keeping their energy high and producing some good chances for the attackers. However, it wasn’t meant to be with St Albans experienced defence proving too much.
Game finished 0-0, even though it was goalless it was a very enjoyable game and both sides were pleased with the result
First point on the board for the badgers

Special mention to Alisha's nonchalant save in the last minute where everyone thought she was just going to let the opposition win :)

Player of the match went to Talyssa. Brilliant first match for us, good stepping and being generally a badass

Mens 5s Dev vs Bishop’s Stortford 6 - 1-0 loss
Player: Danny Martin

Season Opener Shows Plenty of Promise Despite Narrow Defeat

Broxbourne 5s kicked off their season with a spirited performance against Bishop's Stortford 6s, eventually falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat in what was an encouraging first outing for a newly assembled side.
With four new players making their debuts for the team, including three appearing in their very first men's hockey match, there was understandable excitement and anticipation ahead of the game. Any concerns about cohesion quickly disappeared as Broxbourne produced some excellent passages of hockey throughout the match.

From the opening whistle, Broxbourne moved the ball confidently and worked hard across the pitch, creating several promising attacking opportunities. The team showed great energy and commitment, matching their opponents in all areas of the game and often looking the more threatening side going forward. Despite generating several chances, Broxbourne were unable to find the finishing touch their play deserved. Bishop's Stortford capitalised on one of their opportunities to score what proved to be the only goal of the match, securing a 1-0 victory.

The final scoreline did not accurately reflect the balance of play, with Broxbourne creating enough chances to take something from the game. There were plenty of positives to take from the performance, particularly considering it was the first match for a team that featured several new faces and a number of players experiencing men's hockey for the first time.
Special praise goes to Danny Martin, who was awarded Man of the Match by his teammates.
While the result may not have gone their way, Broxbourne can take great confidence from an impressive team display and will look to build on this promising start as the season progresses.

Mens 1s vs Saffron Walden 1 - 4-1 win
Goal scorers: Stan, Sam W, Sam G & Eddie
Assists: Sam W, Hoppo & Sam G
Player: Tomi & Eddie
Donkey: Sam G

Match report pending.

Ladies 1s vs Norwich Dragons 1 - 1-1 draw
Goal scorer: Becky
Assists: Ellie
Player: Hallie
Donkey: Sofia

The Badgers kicked off the new season on Saturday facing Norwich Dragons 1s. Expectations were high, temperatures were higher, and organisation was, as always, somewhere near the bottom of the priority list.

The day started innocently enough with breakfast pictures and Daphne providing her usual highly accurate weather report, alongside some very important clothing advice.
“No base layer.”
A bold call considering it was absolutely boiling, but Daphne clearly has a sixth sense for meteorology and/or an unhealthy hatred of thermal clothing.

The real pre-match drama came when roughly three quarters of the team turned up late because they were on the other pitch watching the men’s 1s. Of course, they weren't simply supporting the boys. They were conducting extremely important scouting research into which of the new players would be most eligible for Vic.

Very professional. Very tactical. Very Broxbourne.

Hallie then decided to make her own contribution to the pre-match chaos by forgetting the meet time. When confronted, she quite reasonably blamed the rest of the team for not reminding her not to leave, despite the fact that she had, in fact, been messaged the meet time multiple times.
Accountability: 0/10.
Commitment to the victim narrative: 10/10.

Meanwhile, Az arrived full of excitement and seemingly prepared for the possibility of a penalty-flick shootout before we'd even touched a ball. Clearly, he had faith in the team’s ability to create approximately 47 opportunities for penalty flicks.

Hallie also finally fulfilled her donkey duty from the end of last season by turning up with her hair in space buns. As the newbie on the team, I had simply assumed this was a bold fashion statement and not the result of an ongoing punishment system that apparently governs the Badgers.

The weather, meanwhile, had decided that hockey was not a suitable Saturday activity. It was boiling. Far too hot. The sort of temperature where putting on a hockey kit felt less like preparing for a game and more like volunteering to be slow-roasted.

The off-pitch warm-up took place on the cricket green, where we briefly considered abandoning hockey altogether and taking up cricket, mainly because standing still sounded significantly more appealing. Az then led the dynamic warm-up, which appeared to be largely improvised on the spot. Whether there was a plan remains unclear, but everyone moved their limbs in roughly the correct directions, so we called it a success.

Despite the questionable preparation, the Badgers came flying out with a full press and started the game brilliantly. The first quarter was genuinely strong, with the team creating several opportunities and putting the Dragons under serious pressure. Darcy and Hannah were particularly effective as screens, receiving and distributing the ball into our attacking quarter while Ellie, Vic and Meg caused problems up front.

Unfortunately, there was one small issue: me
Ellie produced a brilliant cross from the baseline, only for the ball to bounce directly over my stick.
A beautiful demonstration of elite finishing technique.
Having smacked the ball into the side of the goal approximately 2 minutes later, I can only assume my eyes had temporarily opted out of participating in my first game of the season.
Either way, the goalscoring department was clearly going to require some attention.

Elsewhere, the hockey was considerably more competent.
The midfield continued to work relentlessly, with Lydia, Darcy, Hannah and Al putting in the miles while the forwards kept pushing for goals. At the back, however, the Badgers had apparently constructed a literal brick wall. Bench, Hallie, Cate, Emily and Pip were absolute machines, shutting down the Dragons' attacks and giving them very little to work with. Lily, meanwhile, was enjoying the easiest shift of her career.
Four touches!
That's it.
Four.
The defence basically decided that Lily was on a paid holiday.

The Dragons, meanwhile, clearly couldn't handle the Badgers' world-class levels of harassment and picked up three green cards.
We'd like to thank them for their contributions to the entertainment.

Eventually, however, the Dragons managed to convert a short corner and took the lead at 1–0.
Annoyingly, it was actually a very good short corner, meaning we were forced to concede that they had, for once, done something clever.
The Badgers responded exactly as they should.
Another short corner.
Bench stepped up to produce a perfectly slick in-and-out routine to level the score at 1–1.
No drama. No panic. Just Bench casually reminding everyone that she does, in fact, know how to score.

The final whistle eventually went, leaving the Badgers with a 1–1 draw. Not the three points we wanted, but a very strong performance to start the season — especially considering the temperature, the pre-match chaos and the fact that half the team had spent the build-up scouting men instead of warming up.

As tradition demands, the day ended with the classic Az selfie. Except Az apparently decided a normal selfie wasn't sufficiently humiliating and turned it into an anime picture. While Vic received an impressive glow-up, Daphne, on the other hand, was transformed into something that looked like it belonged in a horror film. We're still not sure whether this was an artistic choice or a personal attack.

The team then headed for pizza to say farewell to Meg as she heads off to Birmingham for university. The team will miss her greatly and we are sad to lose her.
Then came the awards.

DONKEY OF THE DAY - Sofia
Apparently, after losing Daphne in the changing rooms, I have officially been sacked from babysitting duty. One missing two-year-old and suddenly I'm unemployed. Harsh.
Although, I have to admit, Daphne may have had a point with her vote for me as the worst player of the day. I did, after all, miss two open goals, so perhaps my eyesight really is deteriorating at an alarming rate. At this point, I was less of a forward and more of a spectator standing in the D.
That being said, I strongly suspect this was less about my hockey performance and more about Daphne's personal vendetta against me after she ran off and left me to take the fall for it. Somehow she disappeared, I got blamed, and she then had the audacity to vote me Donkey of the Day.
Not sure what is worse than being judged by a two-year old who has apparently made me her mortal enemy.

I can’t forget a few special mentions:
Vic – for being invited back to one of the opposition's houses after the game. We don't know what happened, but we're sure it was important scouting.
Al – for arriving without a towel. An interesting strategy when the weather is 30 degrees and you're about to play 70 minutes of hockey.
Skipp & Nads – for being away for the first game of the season. Excellent timing, girls.
Ellie – for nearly knocking Vic unconscious with the selfie stick. Nothing says team bonding like attempted manslaughter.
Lydia - Az still can’t get over the fact your windscreen wipers give you the ick

PLAYER OF THE DAY - Hallie.
An unexpected redemption arc after forgetting the meet time, blaming everyone else, and turning up in space buns.
From Donkey to Player of the Day in one afternoon.
Character development.

The Badgers are back.
God help everyone else.

Ladies 3s vs Hertford 2 - 3-2 loss
Goal scorers: Cerys & Hannah
Assists: Olivia & Hannah
Player: Aaliyah
Donkey: Sharon

Match report pending.

Mens 2s vs Letchworth 2 - 2-2 draw
Goal scorers: Lance & Will
Assists: Browny & Dan H
Player: Will
Donkey: Sully

With a bare 11 and a start time that was flirting with our bedtimes, we were all thrilled with starting 20 minutes late. But skipper Dan henry (flying fullback) talked us through the team and took us on a thorough warm up preping is for the first game of the year!
The match started evenly with both teams growing into the match linking up well. First goal went to letchworth with a well executed short corner. The blues started putting pressure on with the skipper stretching the pitch to its limits! With the ones encouragement he managed to fly of the side of the pitch however…. He made a beautiful run down the line with a well executed cross picking out goal machine lance who eventually buried the ball in the net to make it 1-1. The second half was tight and competitive and the blues were piling on the pressure until sully managed to deflect a bang average pass wrong footing the entire back line putting the forward through to make it 2-1. Brox were frustrated and pressed hard baller one a short, a law took charge slipping brownie in (golden duet) his attempt fell to sully whos shot was stopped on the line where a composed fradley made it 2-2 and thats how it ended a decent effort with plenty of room for improvement. Dod sully for assiting letchworth and man will for relentless work and the equaliser.

Away Fixtures

Mens 4s vs St Albans 9 - 1-1 draw
Goal scorers: Harrison M
Assists: Symon
Player: Harrison M
Donkey: Jason

Broxbourne 4’s started off the campaign with a relatively short journey to Oaklands college to take on St Albans 9’s

A much changed squad of 13 consisted of Goalkeeping legend Charlie Wootton, the Promoted Ollie’s - W and Brown from the 5’s, with Bourke and Joseph returning from midweek sickness

The squad this week was bolstered by Mr Jack Price and veteran Mark “Digger” Degaute

Reliable Luke and Kieran O also in the lineup

Asking Where he was playing, Ollie Brown found himself starting along side “Jack and Danny” ( Price and Griffiths )

Game started brightly with some good movement of the ball - gradually shaking off the cobwebs and rust accumulated over the summer months

Brox came close on a couple of occasions to open the scoring, however the sharpness upfront was still missing

St Albans gradually grew into the game, and nicked a couple of short corners which were thankfully squandered

In the 20th minute it all went pear shaped. Captain Moorhouse had to withdraw due to a dodgy back and St Albans capitalised making the sore 1 nil to the Home team

Brox reset and fought back within 3 minutes bringing the score back level
An assist from Symon P setting up Harrison for his 1st of the season
The goal was missed Father / captain Moorhouse who was gingerly trying to stretch out his gammy back in some sort of unorthodox kind of downward dog sort of position - oops !

Half time talk was short and sweet and involved the consumption of much needed oxygen and bottles of energy drinks - we knew what was was needed in the 2nd half

The game though was quite evenly balanced for the remainder of the game, Digger trying to come off for a quick breather, was told by Bourke, “if your not injured, you’re staying on”

Jack left the game 15mins from time, to head off to a wedding leaving the remaining 12 to finish the game and bring a fair point to the badgers den

Great effort from everyone as always

Ladies 2s vs Saffron Walden 2 - 3-1 win
Goal scorers: Charlotte HG x2, Gemma W
Assists: Gemma W, Baz & Amy
Player: Charlotte HG
Donkey: Isobel

It all began with the quest to ensure Sue’s lift was sorted.
Because apparently — and who knew — vegetarians can’t drive.
Then came Lisa, who was (shockingly) late.
Why?
Because she was waving enthusiastically at Izzy…
Except it wasn’t Izzy.
Just another ginger.
Turns out Lisa’s internal radar simply goes:
Ginger detected → Must be Izzy.
We opened the scoring with a banger from Charlotte, finishing off a cracking cross from Gemma.
Gemma then doubled the lead with a great deflection!
We kept the intensity high, but they managed to sneak in a messy goal.
One of those goals where everyone looks around like:
“Did that actually go in?”
Unfortunately, yes.
We came out swinging, determined to hold the lead.
Charlotte struck again to put us up 3-1.
Box, naturally, insists she got the assist.
Did she?
Did she not?
The world may never know.
VAR wasn’t available, so we’ll just let Box keep telling the story.
Her passion didn’t stop there.
At teas, she stood up — like she was delivering a TED Talk — and gave us a full speech.
Will she ever get over it?
Will we ever hear the end of it?
Probably not.
Prepare yourselves.
A glorious 3–1 win.
A performance full of grit, goals, and questionable ginger identification skills.

Mens 3s vs Hertford 3 - 3-1 loss
Goal scorer: Harrison L
Assists: Noah
Player: Harrison L

Broxbourne 3s kicked off the new season with a new-look side featuring a few new — and old — faces. Stapes was between the posts, Henry Stapes stepped in at right back, Bobby Dyer was up front, and Geezer returned in defence.

Brox started the game strongly, dominating possession for the opening 15 minutes and creating some great chances. Harrison was a constant threat, making a number of penetrating runs up the pitch and causing problems for the Hertford defence.

Unfortunately, our bright start was disrupted after around 15 minutes when Bobby Dyer was forced off through injury, meaning an early reshuffle for Brox.

Hertford gradually worked their way back into the contest and eventually found the breakthrough, taking a 1–0 lead into half-time.

The second half started as a fairly even contest and Brox deservedly found a way back into the game. Some great work from Noah released Harrison, who made another penetrating run, burst through on goal and produced a clinical finish to make it 1–1.

On balance though, Hertford were the better side in the second half. They began to control more of the possession and created a number of chances. Their pressure eventually paid off as they found the goal to move 2–1 ahead.

Brox kept battling and pushed players forward in the closing stages in search of a late equaliser. That left spaces at the back and Hertford caught us on the break to add a third, with the game finishing 3–1.

Plenty of positives for Brox despite the result, particularly an excellent opening 15 minutes and the response to going behind. Hertford ultimately deserved the win based on their second-half performance, but there was plenty for this new-look Brox side to build on.

Notable performances from Stapes in goal, Henry Stapes at right back, Geezer in defence, and Harrison, whose penetrating runs caused problems throughout and were rewarded with a clinical goal.

Hopefully nothing too serious for Bobby and a speedy recovery.

Ladies 5s vs Saffron Walden 4 - 8-0 loss
Player: Alisha
Donkey: Tess

So the 5’s headed off for the graveyard shift vs Saffron Walden 4, it will not be the only trip this year as we also have to play Saffon Walden 5’s also the graveyard shift.

Knowing that Saffron Walden 4’s got relegated last season we knew it wasn’t gonna be an easy game, and a late dropout on Friday night left us with a squad of 12 but not everyone was fully fit.

The 5’s started off a little rusty with some of us thinking we should’ve played summer Hockey to keep our fitness up.

After holding Saffon Walden for the first 20 minutes of the game, the flood gates opened, even with Alisha making some great saves we found ourselves 3 -0 at halftime. Their squad of 16 was made up of an under 14 team with a few experienced players helping them out and it showed at halftime how well they were playing together.

After halftime team talk and a change in positions on the pitch, the plan was to drop a forward back to helping defence as unfortunately the ball is not going past the halfway line, the tactics worked for a while, but the goals kept coming. An unfortunate save on the line from Fiona with her knees, a penalty flick was awarded, but up stepped Alisha to distract the player who missed the target and hit the post to the 5’s relief.

Full-time whistle went, scoreboard said 7v0 loss but Saffon Walden recorded a 9v0 win and final score now confirmed as 8-0.

It wasn’t the start the 5’s wanted after last season, but everyone gave 100% and that’s all we could ask for so we will go again next week and hope to improve on the score.

Coming up next weekend…

Saturday 19th September

Home Fixtures
10am - Ladies 5s vs Potters Bar 1
11.30am - Ladies 4s vs Hertford 4
1.30pm - Ladies 1s vs Harleston Magpies 2
3pm - Mens 4s vs Stevenage 4
4.30pm - Mens 3s vs Mens 2s

Away Fixtures
12pm - Ladies 3s vs Blueharts 4
1pm - Mens 1s vs Old Loughtonians 2
2.30pm - Ladies 2s vs Harpenden 1
4pm - Mens 5s Dev vs Shefford & Sandy 4 Dev

Join us in the clubhouse for our first club social of the season - Back to Hockey! 7pm onwards.

Sunday 20th September
First junior tournaments of the season!
U8s - 9am at Broxbourne
U10 boys - Time TBC at Southgate
U12 boys & girls - 12pm at Southgate