MEN’S ENGLAND HOCKEY SUPERSTAR ED HORLER OPENS BLOCKLEY JUNIOR HOCKEY SATELLITE CLUB

The 21st September saw England Hockey’s newest superstar joining Blockley at Chipping Campden School to launch the Club’s new junior club.  Open boys and girls ages 8-16 the Club aims to provide opportunities for North Cotswold children the chance to try hockey, have some fun and maybe go on to compete in county and club fixtures. Over 40 children turned up to see Ed show off some of his incredible skills and inspire the audience that one day it could be them wearing an England shirt.  As top goal scorer at last year’s Under 21 Europeans and now a full time athlete on the England Hockey Centralised Programme, Ed shared his background with Team Bath, Loughborough Uni and now with Premier club Wimbledon HC, who have just started their European Club campaign.  Playing games with all the age groups whilst passing on tips, Ed commented on how friendly the club were and keen the children were to pick up a stick and get involved with the sport, which has seen an 80% increase in national participation since the Great Britain women’s team won the gold medal at the Rio Olympics.  Blockley’s Junior Club is on a mission to bring this fast-paced sport to as many children as possible in the area.

If your children would be keen to get involved training takes place at Chipping Campden School in term time on Thursday’s 3.45-5.15pm.  Check out more details on the website www.blockleysports.club

      

A MIXED BAG OF RESULTS TO THE START OF THE HOCKEY AND FOOTBALL SEASON FOR BLOCKLEY SPORTS CLUB

FOOTBALL

There has been a tough start to the season for Blockley FC in the Stratford Alliance Division 3 league.

7-1 loss v Painswick FC. Blockley started well in the first 20 minutes as they pressured Painswick and pinned them into their own area but to no avail as shortly after Painswick took the lead through a poor goal kick that was pounced on. Blockley immediately equalised through J.Vick via a corner. From then a series of mistakes led to all the goals and an injury late on meant Blockley were effectively playing with 10 players. 

0-8 Loss to Inkberrow. Determined to right the wrongs of last week’s game, Blockley with a new player, E.Hill, playing at right back started well again compacting the middle with four centre midfielders, which nullified Inkberrow’s flow of passing through the middle of the park. But Inkberrow capitalised on space on the flanks and over ran Blockley’s full back. HT: 0-3. Second half saw a switch to 4-4-2 to ease the pressure on the full backs but it allowed Inkberrow the space to pass and as a result they got a few more.

Tysoe away 7-1. Blockley put on a good show in the first half but to no avail; 3-0 down. The substitution of J.Keyte brought much needed strength and enthusiasm to play and the introduction of A.Wigley led to a chance on goal straight away. New signing Sam Lake played well too. The second half started slower as Blockley conceded another. Shortly afterwards S.Lake won a penalty, which A.Wigley easily dispatched. Unfortunately it was of no match to Tysoe who put on the pressure and eventually won out.

Currently lying 6th in the table the boys are keen to get some scores on the sheet this coming weekend.

HOCKEY

Women’s 1st XI.  The opening game of the season saw the 1st XI hosting Bristol Uni 2s at the home ground of Chipping Campden school. Blockley set out to start the season off with a good show of dominance and dictated to Bristol Uni how Blockley like to play. Great passing play and working hard for each other resulted in a 3-2 win with goals scored by M.Geddes (2) and D.Whitehouse (1).

On the back of an opening win Blockley travelled to Cirencester, one of the league’s top teams last season. Blockley travelled without a coach and 2 key players and struggled initially to find their flow. With a wobbly start Cirencester pounced and, using their talented youngsters, capitalised with scoring 3 goals to Blockley’s 1 before half time. A constructive team talk at half time to help support team mates resulted in gaining some control back over the game. Final score resulted in a 3-1 loss.

With lots of positives to take away from a loss, “Winners assemble as a team and find ways to win” Blockley knew that they had to regroup and focus for the weekend ahead. Blockley hosted newly promoted North Wilts for the third game of the season. Blockley knew that they needed to show North Wilts who they were within the first ten minutes and they did just that coming away with a 2-0 lead at half time. With team development always at the forefront Blockley aimed to use the 2nd half to sharpen up passing and linking play, creating some great moves showing off developing skills. The Game finished 3-1 to Blockley. Goal scorers D Whitehouse (2) F.Haydon (1)

Women’s 2nd XI. The second game of the season away to Stroud 3 brought a resounding 7-1 win with Blockley dominating play goals from R.Denyer-White, A.Ottoway, C.Charlton, J.Badeira and Captain Peach (2) Player was A.Ottoway was voted Player of the Match after making some excellent runs down the wing followed by many shots on goal.

The following week’s game was a complete contrast against: a close encounter with Bretforton 2s.  A very close fought game with the score being 2-2 until the last closing minutes when Bret managed to pop a third in. Goals from K.Jackson (2) and player of match was shared between K.Jackson, P.Peach, C.Charlton and T.Luker.

Bouncing back was the name of the game as the 2s faced Newent 3 away. Blockley conceded a goal early on and then lost A.Ottoway to injury. Another goal was scored by Newent in the first half leaving the score 2-0 at half time. After a team chat the team found their form and pulled together. Despite many attempts and a green card for Blockley, taking them down to 10 players, a goal from Captain Peach on the reverse managed to curve round past the keeper. Kerry then managed a clear cracking shot from the top of the D straight past the keeper to make it 2-2. A great show of strength to level the match. Player of the match was Captain Peach.

Training: Women’s hockey training takes place at Chipping Campden School on Tuesday’s 7-8.30pm.  All ages and standards most welcome.  For more details please check out the website on www.blockleysports.club

Follow our teams on:

www.blockleysports.club 

Facebook: @blockleyssc

Twitter: @Blockleyhockey @Blockleyfootball

Instagram: @blockley_hockey