COUNTY MEN’S SQUADS

 

Match Secretary Report activities 2005/06

Veterans and Seniors

The traditional Boxing Day fixtures against Lancashire were held this season at Bowdon Hockey Club. The Cheshire Veterans narrowly lost their match 2-3. Great thanks to Ric Stewart for organising this squad.

The Cheshire senior team, captained by Steve Smith from Bowdon, had an easier ride on Boxing Day and emerged comfortable winners  6-1.

Russel Hornby from Bowdon was awarded the trophy as ‘Player of 2005’.

The senior squad, having won promotion from the ‘B’ division of the County Championships achieved a clean sweep at the preliminary round of this season’s competition played at Moreton Hall in Shropshire over the weekend of the 6^th/7^th of May.

The results from this competition were as follows:-

• Against Shropshire won 4-2
• Against Lincolnshire won 4-1
• Against Worcestershire won 2-0
• Against Cambridgeshire won 9-3

 They thus go to the National Finals on the 28^th of May which are being held at Trojans HC in Southampton. The squad has been managed, with customary skill by Robbie Smith, without whom, none of their considerable achievements would have been possible.

 

The following players have been awarded Cheshire Caps so far this season:-

James Fair and Andrew Brogdon (Cannock), Mike Hughes(Old Loughts), Andrew Lee(Brooklands), Steve Smith, Russel Hornby, James McKenna, Ian Wilson, Domenic Macguire, David Egerton, Simon Egerton, Stephen Brogdon, Alasdair Brogdon, Jason Tomlinson, Matt Freeman, Rob Turner, Jack Cropper and Dave Given - (all of Bowdon), Domenic Graham(Belper), Sanjeev Singh and Ned Francis ( Hampstead) , Will Mumme-Young (Deeside Ramblers), Sam Cooke(Oxton)

 

Colin Mumme-Young, Match Sec

Under 21s 

Boxing Day 2005 saw Cheshire U21's convincingly  beat Lancashire at Bowdon (can'r remember score!). This gave the team an extra  incentive to look forward to the end of the 2005/6 season tournament games. The  last couple of seasons, the manager laments, the team has played good hockey but  has not been able to turn pressure into goals. Happily, as players have matured,  hockey experience-wise, goal-scoring has finally found its way into the  team's skill set. The recent Regional U21 Championship held at Southport was won  emphatically by the Cheshire team although only 2 matches were played, against  Yorkshire and Lancashire. We were able to field a strong team including Bowdon's  England U21 player and our Captain, Simon Egerton, who played extremely well, as  did all the team including some new faces from around the county. I was very  pleased with the team's effort and attitude.We now go to Trojans at the end of  May for the Nationals keen to make a good impression. The only downside of the U21's exploits so far was the poor Northern tournament communication beforehand  and the rather important fact that we were not presented with the trophy on the  day - nor since for that matter, which is a pretty poor show.

Jeff Gazzard, U21 Manager