Saturday got off to a brilliant start as we heard the news from down under that our Masters World Cup attendees would all be coming home with a medal!

A massive congratulations to Kim Hellery and her WO55s team that won gold, and to Panners' MO60s team that he was coaching taking the gold too. Annie Thomas, playing for the WO70s, narrowly missed out on gold in a 4-3 penalty shoot-out, but still an incredible result to be proud of winning the sliver.

Home fixtures

Mens 4s vs Stevenage 4 - 1-0 loss

Another early start for Broxbourne 4s against Stevenage on Saturday but at least this was at home. Another loss of the toss meant Broxbourne had push-back but in contrast to last week we started confidently, moving the ball around well and putting pressure on their defence. For around 25 minutes of the first half there was only one team in it, with sometimes desperate defending keeping Broxbourne out. Unfortunately, the many chances that came our way were not converted and the reality is that their keeper didn't really have many shots to save; too often a shot was wide, or just didn't materialise, or a cross or pass didn't find anyone. Despite all of the pressure only one short corner was won in the first half which was successfully defended.
For some reason Brox then switched off for 10 minutes and Stevenage mounted some attacks themselves. All the good work we had done earlier unravelled as we temporarily lost concentration and team shape, and the inevitable happened when Stevenage scored from a short corner in what turned out to be their only real threat to our goal in the whole game! To be fair it was a good shot to the corner that Ryan couldn't do anything about. Fortunately half-time came shortly after and gave us a chance to regroup.
The second half progressed largely as most of the first half, with Broxbourne dominating possession and again creating a number of good chances. James had a good strike from a short corner well saved, and another lifted effort went over the bar, but still we couldn't find the finishing touch. The game ended with a 1-0 loss but it should have been a comfortable win, as has been the case on several occasions this season. The (entirely adult) Stevenage guys were rightly very complimentary about the skills and effort of our younger players, who every week are really performing very well. The only thing missing is a bit of ruthlessness and accuracy in front of goal - once that comes this team will have the ability to beat most if not all in our division.
Special mention to Wayne making his debut for the 4s and who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, and to Dani for helping coordinate the substitution schedule - not easy with 5 subs!

Ladies 5s vs Bishop's Stortford 8 - 2-0 win

Goal scorers: Milly Shand x2
Assists: Imogen & Rachel E
Player: Rachel E
Donkey: Maisie

We returned to the Badgers Den, after a disappointing loss last week to top of the league .
With only 1 point between us and Bishops Stortford, we knew it would be a tight game, so we thought, however Milly’s head injury last week didn’t stop her from scoring twice in the game.

Broxbourne having most of the possession within the 1st 15 mins, found themselves moving up the pitch at full speed. Broxbourne found themselves in Stortford D , after some amazing passing between Maisie and her sister Imogen (senior debut), Imogen passed the ball to Milly on the left post who struck the ball at the keeper, the rebound found it’s way back to Milly, who sent it in again by the left post 1 v 0 to Brox. We continued to press high and finish the 1st half strong.

After another Team talk from Coach Em, Broxbourne approached the 2nd half with the same intensity of the 1st half. A strong pass from Rachel Ellis on the half way line, straight to Milly unmarked in the centre of the D, (1 touch hockey) Milly slapped it into the back of net to make it 2 v 0. 2 mins minutes from the restart.

We had a few short corners, a few more shots and decisive defencing when needed but it ended with only the 2 goals.

Great team performance again this week. Donkey went to Maisie this week for a dramatic fall. Player was tight again and nearly a 3 way tie again! Imogen, Aaliyah and Rachel Ellis got the share of most of the votes, but Rachel Ellis got 1 extra to win player this week xx

Would also like to give a massive thank you to Tors who helped out in Goal this week, much appreciated.

Next week we are away to Shefford and Sandy @ 1pm.

Mens 1s vs Old Southendian 1 - 3-1 loss

Goal scorers: Matt
Player: Phil, George & Hoppo
Donkey: Stan, Toby, Mitch, Ryan & Reggie
Cards: Toby & Charlie (green), Matt & Mitch (yellow)

The weather was overcast and the pitch was damp as Broxbourne welcomed Old Southendians to their home ground on a grey Saturday afternoon. Despite the dreary conditions, the home side started brightly, creating early chances and looking the more dangerous team in the opening exchanges. Broxbourne’s energy and fast-paced play suggested that they were prepared to fight hard for the three points.

However, in true Broxbourne fashion, the game took an unfortunate turn as they conceded first. A well-worked short corner from Old Southendians caught the home side’s defence off guard. The ball was calmly slotted into the bottom corner, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead against the run of play.

Broxbourne continued to press forward, but their defensive frailties were exposed again just before halftime. A contentious decision saw a Broxbourne player receive a yellow card for a challenge outside the D, which left the home side a man down. From the subsequent free-hit, Old Southendians capitalized, with a powerful shot that found the back of the net. The visitors now held a 2-0 lead at the break, leaving Broxbourne with a mountain to climb in the second half.

Despite the setbacks, Broxbourne came out for the second half with renewed determination. They quickly found a way back into the game when a drag flick from a short corner was expertly dispatched into the top corner, leaving the Old Southendians keeper with no chance. The goal seemed to spark a resurgence in Broxbourne’s play, with the home side pushing for an equalizer.

But as the game wore on, Broxbourne couldn’t quite find the breakthrough they needed. In the dying minutes, disaster struck again. Another short corner for Old Southendians was expertly executed, and despite Broxbourne's best efforts to block the shot, the ball found the net, securing a 3-1 win for the visitors.

In the end, Broxbourne could take some positives from their second-half performance but will be disappointed with their defensive lapses and missed opportunities. Old Southendians were clinical when it mattered and ultimately deserved the victory. Broxbourne will now turn their attention to their next match, hoping to build on the fight they showed in the second half.

Final Score: Broxbourne 1 – 3 Old Southendians.

Ladies 1s vs Cambridge City 2 - 3-2 loss

Goal scorers: Ellie & Charlotte
Assists: Kay & Em
Player: Charlotte
Donkey: Nads

*Badger Coat Chaos vs Cambridge City 2s*

On Saturday, the ladies 1s arrived at Badgerfield with a full squad, and the return of Becky Scarrott, ready to take on Cambridge City 2s. Captain Ellie Welsh pushed the meet time forward to give herself time to discuss the plan of action, plus all eventual outcomes and contingency of contingency plans should they come to fruition (none of which did but A+ for effort). Alice Brown pounced on the early meet time to take the opportunity as a new found Swiftie to collect everyone’s karaoke song requests after feeling extremely inspired by her recent performance of ‘Love Story’ with boyfriend Mitch at the karaoke social. Ironically, after being extremely keen to take on the role of ‘Keeper of the Speaker’ claiming her music was way cooler, Lara Luka had given up on her duties after a one match stint. It had been rumoured that Em’s old school playlist was the final nail in the coffin, forcing Lara to enrol into DJ school so she could return with renewed vigour and tunes for her new (and important) role.

Head warm up coach Esme took the badgers out for an intense warm up which left the team feeling energised for the match ahead. Just before the match started, the Badgers held a one minute’s silence to commemorate Shrimpy for her contribution to the hockey club which had been widely felt across the team and the club.

The match started positively for the badgers with some excellent play down both sides of the pitch, even though it was the away team who managed to score the first goal. A long ball from Finch in the middle of the pitch found Charlotte at the top of the D who managed to control the ball and smack it into the left side netting to equalise the match at 1-1. However, the away team were pressing the badgers defence and eventually managed to take the lead on the match again. The badgers were not disheartened and continued to link some great passes together especially down the right hand side between Tor Stacey, Martha Ker and Em Wilkins who made an amazing run towards the baseline to slot the ball back to Ellie Welsh on the P spot who slapped it in into the bottom left corner to put the badgers back into the game at 2-2 for half-time.

After an inspiring team talk by Coach Matt, the badgers came out fighting with a strong press by the forward and mid-lines which managed to force the errors from Cambridge City. The badgers found themselves attacking the defensive line of Cambridge City and managed to win a number of short corners. The return of Becky Scarrott to the team to perform her one and only skill ‘the slider’ unfortunately didn’t pay off this time as the Cambridge keeper made some great saves and the badgers found themselves unable to convert the short corner opportunities. In the last few minutes of the match, the away team counter attacked and managed to slip the ball into the back of the net resulting in a 3-2 loss for the badgers.

Nevertheless, the match was exceptionally close and there were many positives which the badgers can take into their next match against Ipswich away on 23rd November.

Player of the match was awarded to Charlotte for her amazing goal and great tenacity up front. Donkey of the day went to Nads for organising a search party to find her missing ladies badger coat only to find out the real donkey was Charlie from the mens 1s for accidentally taking it.

Ladies 3s vs Saffron Walden 3 - 6-1 loss

Goal scorer: Hannah
Player: Sharon
Donkey: Rachel

The ladies 3s played a very late game against Saffron Walden at home.

Prior to the game, donkey had already been awarded to Rachel for her clumsy trip over a goalie bag which momentarily stopped the Ladies 1s game, (that's the last time she helps retrieve a game ball, but she would like to thank Laura and Al for getting her back up on her feet!).

The first half wasn't the best, before we knew it we were 5-0 down! But a great interception by Hannah Fixter and her great composure led to Broxbourne's first and only goal.

After a stern talking to by coach Matt and no sweets, Broxbourne went out into the 2nd half with a commitment to not let the game descend any further. Everyone got stuck in, with much better passing play and winning 50/50 balls, we all had to give it some extra grit. Only one goal was scored by Saffron Walden in the 2nd half. So although it was a loss for the 3s, we take heed from the positive turnaround in the 2nd half.

Big thank you to Lilly for being GK. Player goes to Sharon for her great play and tackles, and no need to mention donkey again.

Away fixtures

Ladies 4s vs Chiltern 1 - 3-3 draw

Goal scorers: Evie x2, Freya
Assists: Jess BA, Alice & Ella
Player: Grace
Donkey: Jess

An early start saw the L4 head to chiltern for this weekends game. With donkey being award straight away before the game to Jess who was in the wrong kit and didn’t have her other kit with her already started the day as she had to then go home to get her other kit so with that 4 players were running late but made it to the game with 10 minutes to spare.
The L4 had some help this week as some players could not make their own game so kindly agreed to help us out so thanks to Grace, Lauren and Freya.
The whistle went and the L4 started off strong with some great runs into the D an early corner saw Freya nicely put the ball in the net making it 1-0 to Broxbourne. Broxbourne continued to keep going and again was awarded another short corner where Evie also managed to find the net and it was 2-0 to Broxbourne. Chiltern were determined not to let the score remain like this and put the pressure on to the L4 and managed to score 2 with it being a draw both teams were putting the pressure on to get that winning goal. Broxbourne managed to squeeze another goal from Evie but so did Chiltern so the final score ended 3-3. This weeks player went to Grace for some great team play and some great runs.

Ladies 2s vs Shefford & Sandy 1 - 1-1 draw

Goal scorer: Darcy
Assists: Gemma
Player: Darcy
Donkey: Lisa
Cards: Kelly & Ella (green)

The remarkable unbeaten run of the Broxbourne Ladies 2s rumbles on as Millie Leonard's side travelled to Shefford and Sandy on Saturday. The odds were stacked against the away side, who had yet to gain a point in the predigous East division 2 South West league despite a number of close run ties in the early season. The Badgers were without the services of the Boxall sisters Emily and Beth as they attended a charity breakdancing event dressed as Ray-Gunn (that's actually true by the way). Lydia House had received the call up to the Ladies 1s in their home tie, in spite of a disappointing karaoke performance by the midfielder the previous week.

Controversy surrounding the suspension of forward Jessica Iszange has dominated the headlines this week, following the leak of the notorious "Ick List" document allegedly compiled by the Ladies 2s over the past 2 seasons. The document first appeared on Iszange's notorious website "JizzyLeaks" late Wednesday night, explaining Iszange's last minute unavailability for training. The document poses a huge security risk for the Broxbourne Sports Club, including detailed information on the players' least favourite icecream flavour, how they dislike people using the word "rizz" and how annoying it is when you stamp and a pigeon doesn't immediately fly away. Complaints from angry bird lovers to the RSPCA regarding the conduct of the ladies 2s have resulted in the club organising for the team to visit a local aviary to help rebuild their image. Lydia House has been rumoured as a major contributor to the so-called "Ick List", as documents linking her with multiple window-wiper related entries appeared on the website later in the week. House refused to comment on having any prior knowledge that window-wipers had multiple speed settings and flatly denied knowledge of the existence of the list. When asked for a comment on whether he would wear a jumper around his waist following its inclusion on the Ick List, Father of Fantasy Jack Price surprisingly said he had no interest in stretching the arms of a woolen jumper for convenience purposes anyway. Jessica Iszange's location is currently unknown and allegations that next week's podcast will be recorded from the Equadorian embassy have been quashed in a statement by the club this morning.

Broxbourne took to the field on Saturday bolstered by the addition of midfielder Lara Luka, who's knowledge of trigonometry and its' application to hockey is renowned in East Anglia. Darcy and Charlie Mills also returned to the starting line-up and the management team had seen a last minute change of personnel due to Kevin Jennings choosing the South Africa Rugby team over the Ladies 2s (poor choice Kev you've let yourself down). Serena Diol was Jennings' last minute replacement, joining two time player of the season and local legend Lisa Banahan as part of the strategy team. Diol admitting she was scared of hockey balls but was really good at jumping settled the side in the warm-up and they were confident they could execute their plan away from home.

Alas, the game itself was a scrappy affair with the home team setting up a tight press in front of the ball. The badgers had success transferring the ball around the press leading to Fox in the Box Gemma Wilkinson winning multiple corners in the opening half. Some excellent saves on the line by a dogged defence kept the score at 0-0 at half time. In the second half, keeper Hannah gray made multiple saves to keep the away side in the game, but a well worked move from the home side resulted in a strike from the top of the D sailing into the bottom left corner. 1-0 Shefford and Sandy.

Broxbourne weren't going to sacrifice their unbeaten run of 8 games lightly, and fought back to win a last minute short corner. Lara Luka's excellent injection was followed by a textbook stick stop by Wilkinson and Darcy's relatively mediocre but bobbly straight strike hopped over the post woman's stick to earn the badgers a crucial away point.

Banahan's well chosen post game remarks "I hate losing even more than I like winning" somehow earned her donkey while Player of the Match went to Darcy for saving the day with her dodgy strike. The Ladies 2s play St Albans at home next week at 10am.

Mens 2s vs St Albans 4 - 3-1 win

Goal scorers: Jack x2, Bobby
Assists: Phil W, Baller & Will
Player: Satwick
Donkey: Lance

Broxbourne extended their unbeaten run to 5 games with a hard fought 3-1 win at St Albans 4’s.

Skipper Jack Price was forced to shuffle his pack with in-form forward Mark Rigby ruled out with an injured pinkie and newly qualified Police Constable Matthew Rudd away on his first shift on the beat. The local community will hope Rudd has more luck chasing down criminals than he has had with division 2SW left wingers. Coming into the side was new loan signing Phil Wistow, making his first appearance for the Badgers for 6 years.

The Badgers had started sluggishly in their previous two games and made it a point of emphasis to get a stranglehold on the game from the first whistle. Some early possession was nearly rewarded with a goal in the first 5 minutes but Price missed from point blank range with the goal at his mercy.

Broxbourne didn’t have to wait long to open the scoring. Good work down the left flank from man of the match Alex Satwick and Dan Ball set up Bobby Dyer for a simple tap in at the far post.

The lead was soon doubled from a short corner. Price made amends for his earlier miss with a trade mark slap into the bottom corner to give the visitors a deserved 2-0 lead at half time.

Seemingly coasting to another routine win, a combination of some sloppy play from the Badgers and a more aggressive press from the home team threatened to turn the match into a contest. The usually calm and composed centre back duo Will Fradley and Stuart Kopsis presented a St Albans forward with the ball at the top of the D following a bungled 16 yard hit. Thankfully keeper Joe Wilkinson was on hand to save their blushes.

The chaos spread to the rest of the team with possession continually turned over and St Albans duly halved the deficit mid way through the second half. With their tails up St Albans continued to pile on the pressure in search of an equaliser. Veteran defender Dan Ellis sensibly realised the momentum needed to be stopped and launched an aerial over the fence into the next field which gave Broxbourne a valuable breather.

Gradually the Badgers wrestled back control of the game and started to dominate the midfield battle. After winning another short corner Alex Brown decided to take matters into his own hands giving Fradley the nod to put the injection open side and he would do the rest. Brown’s shot was saved but poacher Price was on hand to tap in the rebound restoring the 2 goal lead.

Despite some frantic moments in the final 10 minutes the Badgers held on for the 3-1 win, indebted to some last ditch tackling from Satwick in particular, to keep St Albans at bay. Next week they return home for a showdown with Letchworth 2’s at Badger Field.

Mens 3s vs Blueharts 5 - 5-3 win

Goal scorers: Wyatt x2, KP x2, Elliot
Assists: KP, Wyatt, Harrison, Elliot & Trev
Player: Elliot
Donkey: Fresh
Cards: Fresh (2x green, 1x yellow)

After a short rest week brox 3 were back and ready for a fight. With a strong start. The passion for hockey was quickly shown, pushing blue hearts into there own half with non stop pressure. To counter brox’s attack blue hearts pulled out all the tricks and left the pitch in darkness.

The trick clearly worked in confusing brox’s 3s, as when the lights came back on the composure shown by the 3s quickly shattered resulting in a goal for blue hearts. This didn’t last long as brox quickly turned over and reapplied pressure. After a few strenuous runs the ball finally hit the back of the net with a goal from the dazzling captain KP.

After taking a short break from the bench Fresh decided that it was his time to shine taking the spotlight for the rest of the game with the first of his three cards. This concluded the first half with a score of 1-1

Starting clean for a second half, brox gains the advantage with a penalty flick given by the so generous umpires. KP missing the spotlight takes a shocking flick straight to the keepers chest. Following the disappointment left by KP, Wyatt steps up scoring the second goal for the team. Elliot F feeling left out comes in scoring the third goal for brox. KP restoring his pride scores another goal assisted by Trev.

Brox feeling like the game is a done deal decides to ease off the attack. This proved to be a major mistake as blue hearts showed brox what they could do scoring there second goal of the game. Fresh getting a bit frustrated his lack of acknowledgment on the pitch decided to make the statement of the game by taking out a blue hearts player, taking his second of many cards and giving blue hearts the opportunity they needed to score their third and final goal from a short.

After this tragic setback Elliot scores his second goal of the game putting brox back on the right track to victory.

Fresh deciding that he had had enough of the rain and wanted to warm the bench for the rest of the team with 10mins to go gets his third and final card. The game ended with a favourable result of a 5-3 win.

Sunday 17th November

Ladies O35s vs St Albans - 4-0 loss

Player: Emma
Donkey: Tara

This weekend saw the Ladies O35 Team take on their second match in the cup.

Having previously been successful against the second of the St Albans O35 teams, as luck would have it they were drawn against the higher of the two!

With the draw being at home, this meant that the team could meet slightly earlier to talk through tactics with the ever enthusiastic coach Lisa ‘left lung’ Bannahan. Again the team were provided with a variety of sweet treats from Tors (who was temporarily replacing Tor in the role of manager as she had a mixed fixture at the same time.)

The team were aware of the challenge that would face them from St Albans, but what eager to get stuck in and play well together.

From the start, St Albans came out strong but Broxbourne showed a great resilience and were able to challenge the opposition and show some great passages of play. Whilst the team is made up from players across the women’s section, the communication, supportiveness and teamwork was evident and showed a connection in build up play and tracking back.

As expected, St Albans soon found their feet and attacked with quite a ferocity. Despite the increased intensity, Brox worked hard to clear the danger and Emma put in an incredible shift displaying an array of fantastic blocks (even those at head height!). St Albans did find their first goal from a well struck ball and went on to find 3 more.

With the final score being 4-0 to St Albans, there was definitely a lot of positives to take away from the match and more importantly it ended with pizza and cocktails.

Player of the match went to Emma for the shot stopping.

Donkey went to Tara for a very unsubtle chat with the umpire.

A big thank you to all those who supported and the umpires, for coming out for a second day of hockey.

Mixed vs Hertford - 5-0 win

Goal scorers: Hoppo x2, Sam, Bench & Ellie

No match report.

Coming up next weekend...

Saturday 23rd November

Home fixtures
10am - Ladies 2s vs St Albans 4
11.30am - Mens 2s vs Letchworth 2
1pm - Ladies 4s vs Letchworth 3
2.30pm - Mens 3s vs Shefford & Sandy 2

Away fixtures
11.30am - Ladies 3s vs Shefford & Sandy 2
12pm - Ladies 1s vs Ipswich 1
1pm - Ladies 5s vs Shefford & Sandy 3
1.30pm - Mens 4s vs Hertford 6
2pm - Mens 1s vs Ipswich 1