Broxbourne twice came from behind to edge a five goal thriller 3-2 against local rivals Potters Bar at Badger Field. The old saying that defense wins championships was proved to be correct with all the Badgers goals coming from their centre backs.

Skipper Phil Bryans sprung a surprise when he dropped himself from the starting XI following a breach of team discipline. Bryans was pictured out late last Saturday night in London following the 3-3 draw with Waltham Forest. Nursing a 4 day hangover the Scot then failed to show up for training on Wednesday leaving the midfielder no choice but to start on the bench.

The visitors started strongly, looking like a different side to the one on the wrong end of a five goal thrashing in the first meeting between the sides earlier this season. They were aided by some sloppy play from their hosts and took a deserved lead in the 15th minute from a short corner.

The lead didn’t last long, the Badgers equalised from a short corner of their own with Matt Menear finding the bottom corner with a trademark drag flick.

Early in the second half Broxbourne fell behind again from another short corner, keeper Joe Wilkinson was beaten at his near post from an acute angle to restore Potters Bar’s lead.

It nearly went from bad to worse when moments later Bar were awarded a penalty flick after Menear fouled in the D. Following a brief discussion the umpires it was downgraded to a short corner which the Badgers repelled to keep the score at 1-2.

With 10 minutes remaining the home side levelled for a second time. Centre back Josh Chapman found himself unmarked at the far post and tapped home Henry House’s cross to restore parity to the scoreboard once more.

With time ticking away, Broxbourne took their first lead of the game and it proved to be the decisive goal. Chris Hopson won a short corner and Menear did the rest, the defenders flick rocketing into the roof of the net to seal a 3-2 come from behind victory.

Mens 2s - Away vs Blueharts - 1-3 loss

The 2s had the joyous trip up to Letchworth this week. Once again feeling very prepared with a bare 11 and no balls to warm up with, we went into the match confident. We set up playing a half court press hoping to invite the pressure and hit them on the counter attack. This worked well until a well struck ball from the top of the D found the net just inside the post flying past the unsighted Ryan. Still feeling confident in the game plan, we carried on. We had a few chances Kav even resorted to violence when he decided to hit the ball at a letchworth defender, aiming for his stomach. This was somehow deemed as on target, even though it would have made it back to Brox before landing had the defender managed to successfully jump out of the way. The ball fell back to Kav where his shot was watched by ruddy as it went past the back post. This wouldn’t be the worst miss though.

It wasn’t long before it was 2-0. Another great strike. This time Ryan came rushing out to the attacker who, on the baseline, managed to score from the tightest of angles. The 2s started to attack a bit more now. With their first and only short corner of the game Jack came up with a new routine on the spot that not even he knew was going to happen. Rather than injecting it to the top of the D as discussed, he played it to Lance at left slip. Lance struck the ball well forcing a save, Jack followed it in, saying thank you very much when the keeper saved it on to his own head and into Jack’s path. He flicked it over the keeper making it 2-1. If only that was the end of his story.

The second half started well. But once again, we conceded from a powerful strike into the corner of the goal. With Brox eager to get back into the game they started to press a bit more. Jack managed to intercept a pass between the two central defenders to create a two on one with the keeper. Drawing the keeper in, he passed the ball to Kav who managed to hit the post. Jack did the right thing and followed the ball in, but did the wrong thing by miss hitting the ball and missing the open goal.

That wasn’t the last of the action though. Later, Brownie played a lovely aerial over the defence to Kav creating a two on one, with Jack being the one to pass to. However, with his back to goal, Kav decided to not keep it simple and went for the flick over his head, trying to lob the keeper. Obviously it didn’t work. Overall a game of missed opportunities for the 2s. No points for who the joint DODs were.

Mens 3s - Home vs Vauxhall - 1-1 draw

A truly fascinating game however it took until the second half for Broxbourne to break the deadlock with a well worked manoeuvre ending up with an inch perfect pass onto the Vauxhall centre backs shin pad that rebounded to Scott Weedon who sent the ball flying into the bottom corner, really well done Scott Weedon.

However after this Vauxhall scored so well done Vauxhall, my personal highlight of the game (and this may come as a surprise considering it was Broxbourne vs Vauxhall) there was a ruckus which ended up with Sue House on the pitch, I couldn’t quite tell but apparently Sue threatened the players with her years of karate experience.

I’m not completely sure if this is at all relevant but I found it strange playing alongside Scott Weedon and ”young doppelgänger” it felt as though I was playing next to a before and after photo.

Overall it was a relatively good game of hockey and fun was had by all.

Mens 4s - Away vs Shefford & Sandy - 2-4 loss

Another valiant effort by the young Broxbourne Mens 4s, against very strong opposition in the form of the Shefford and Sandy Mens 3s.

It was evident in the early stages that the much greater age and experience of the opposition was going to give them an edge over the extremely youthful development team of the Mens 4s. While opportunities arose from short-corners and some quality play, it wasn't long before the home side took the lead through a well-worked short-corner.

With Broxbourne unable to get much of a foothold in the game, the opposition maintained sustained pressure on the Broxbourne goal. Though the defending was mostly solid, little could be done about the emphatic finish from one of the Shefford strikers to double their lead.

At half-time the Broxbourne heads were up, with the focus being on the aspects of the game that were within their control. Quality passing, positioning, structure and so on. As the second half progressed, the Broxbourne youngsters gained more influence in the game and created some clever opportunities. Alas, the ongoing struggles in front of goal continued. The mild disappointment was compounded by the third Shefford goal, another blistering strike from an improbable position.

Nonetheless, Broxbourne had something to celebrate when leading scorer Max Hartwig-Green finished off a lovely run through the struggling defence. Sadly the moment was short-lived when the Shefford attackers pulled off a routine not too dissimilar to that which they managed in the reverse fixture. An aerial through to the striker was taken down and swiftly buried. A hat-trick in style, albeit not one to be expected in this division.

Still, Max impressively doubled his tally late on in the game to ensure that the respectable scoreline reflected a similarly dignified outing for the away side.

The man of the match goes to James Devonald-Smith for another extremely impressive performance. One that is to be appreciated in any circumstance, but especially so when age and experience are considered.

The donkey of the day is a very tough one to assign on this occasion, but is perhaps to go to Kieron Purver for his dramatic air-shot followed by a wayward sliced strike combo.

Ladies 1s - Home vs Cambridge City - 3-3 draw

Match report pending.

Ladies 2s - Home vs Blueharts - 2-0 win

I could probably just copy and paste the match report from our first meeting with Blueharts 3s from earlier in the season as it was pretty much identical, but I'll take the time to write something anyway...

A lineup including a few friendly faces from the L3s this week took to the badger field for a game against 11th in the league. Brox had 70% of the possession in the first half, with a flurry of excellent attacking play winning us multiple short corners. Routines that are well-rehearsed between Vic and Charlie were unfortunately saved by Blueharts defence and GK, who had a brilliant game. A ball from Charlie did finally make its way into the back of the goal from a short corner to bring the score to 1-0.

The second half saw Blueharts make some changes and pile the pressure on, securing a number of short corners. These were all spectacularly defended by our trusty dream defending team Charlie, Meg, Poppy & Kim and Kirsty stepping up to help out. A great run down the pitch from midfielders Lydia, Kirsty & Hannah found the ball making its way to Laura in the D who lifted the ball over the keeper and into the top of the net to bring the scoreline to 2-0.

In the dying moments of the game, Beth, Kelly and Vic all tried their best to score another goal but sadly none were to be added to their tallies this game.

Player of the match was voted to Beth for her great movement and hustle throughout the game, and donkey to Poppy for passing the ball into her own body (wrong sport).

A great game to maintain our 2nd place in the league - a shame we couldn't score a few more goals (deja vu) - and we continue our hopes of promotion with a very early start next week as we head to play 3rd in the league Bedford, sitting just 1 point behind. All to play for as we head into what will be our most important games of the season.

Ladies 3s - Away vs Letchworth - 1-2 loss

The Ladies 3XI travelled to Letchworth this weekend for a mid table clash.

Upon arriving at the changing room, the team gathered for a catch up of the week and the teachers recalled their most enjoyable encounters in a some-what team therapy session.

Following that…the actual game of hockey was in order.

With a bit of movement between the squads this week, the team although looking slightly different, all rallied together and were positive for the match from the start. The teamwork and one voice was unanimous in the approach to berating Tara, who for the second time this season (once for a vets match and now today) turned up in the wrong colour. Luckily, ‘Emergency Tors’ was on hand with a spare pink shirt.

The game started well and despite a rather raucous crowd and a few unlucky decisions, the team drove forward positively. The game began to take shape and with great support from the back with Tara up at the attacking D (this was included as requested by Emma).

Broxbourne defence weren’t necessarily challenged, but Letchworth showed considerable speed on the break. In the midst of a Letchworth attacking spell, Broxbourne managed to take the lead with a cracking ball into the D and a deflection from a defenders stick.

In the last moments of the first half, Letchworth found the equaliser from a goal that replicated their own.

An honest half time talk saw Brox regroup and prepare for the second half.

Broxbourne came out again strong and had a number of chances but just couldn’t find the finish. Unfortunately, in the later stages Letchworth managed to find the winner. This was disappointing but the Badgers continued to fight until the end.

Player of the match this week goes to Fixy (Jane Fixter) for her goal and the amazing runs down the right and getting that ball in the D every time.

Donkey of the match this week goes to Isabel. Isabel decided this week I'm going to dress up as St Albans.

Ladies 4s - Home vs Blueharts - 4-1 loss

Ladies 4s were looking forward to a home fixture and were riding high from their win last week.

Shortage of players higher up meant we had a different line again this week. Also, the dreaded COVID has affected a couple of the Broxbourne ladies, meaning Frankie was unable to play so vice captain Lorraine had to manage the team. No pressure!

Despite a good warm up by Broxbourne, Blueharts scored in the first 5 minutes. Broxbourne heads dropped a little, however, good play continued by both teams.

Some lovely play by Broxbourne, with Ines running down the left, a good transfer to Daniela, who passed it onto Jo, resulted in Broxbourne's first goal in the first quarter, score was 1-1. We were heading towards half-time and Blueharts were awarded a corner. Despite good goal keeping by Alisha, Lorraine wasn't quite able to stop it going over the line. Score remained 2-1 to Blueharts going into the half time break.

After a good team talk, plenty of sweets and guidance from Coach Matt, we started the second half full of determination. Not long into the second half, one of the Blueharts players took a hit but made contact with Daniela's ankle instead of the ball. Daniela limped off and super sub Hannah was back on. Both teams were awarded a number of corners during the second half, but good defending and missed opportunities by the forwards sadly kept the score at 2-1.

Open play continued for most of the game. Unfortunately for Broxbourne, Blueharts managed to get a couple of runs down their strong right side, and with the Broxbourne defence under pressure, it resulted in two more goals. Final score a disappointing 4-1 to Blueharts.

Thank you to Ivy, Hannah and Daniela for helping us out this week. Player of the match goes to Tara for a strong defensive performance once again.
Next week we face Royston away, hopefully with a COVID and injury free squad. But first, a much needed regroup and debrief at training on Tuesday.

Ladies 5s - Away vs Bishop's Stortford - 0-5 loss

We set off to Stortford this week knowing that we would have a challenge on our hands. But, nonetheless, we went out positively knowing what we wanted to achieve.

As expected Stortford started strongly and we were tested from the outset. However, we maintained our shape well and put together some nice play. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the back of the net. We managed to hold together well in midfield and in the defensive line and, with some fabulous saves from Lily, we ended the first half at 2-0 down
Having refocused ourselves at half time we played a much better game in the second half. The front line dropped a little deeper and we managed to get some great balls down the pitch. We weren’t able to find the back of the net in the second half either though, despite a couple of short corners. This was a real shame as the work rate of the team definitely meant that we deserved at least one!

Despite our best efforts, Stortford managed to score another 3, again, despite some more excellent saves by Lily.

Player of the match went to Lily for keeping the scoreline to 5-0 – thanks Lily! Donkey of the match went to Katie H for forgetting her Astros – even though she tried to convince us otherwise (we knew that sliders were not going to suffice for a game of hockey!)

Coming up next weekend...

Saturday 11th March
Ladies 1s - Away vs Cambridge Uni
Ladies 2s - Away vs Bedford
Ladies 3s - Home vs Blueharts
Ladies 4s - Away vs Royston
Ladies 5s - Home vs Berkhamsted & Hemel
Mens 1s - Away vs Chelmsford
Mens 2s - Home vs Luton Town
Mens 3s - Away vs Bedford
Mens 4s - Home vs Blueharts

Sunday 12th March
Mens 3s - Away vs Blueharts