Summer League 2023
The Men
The final of the men’s summer league was a Stainash derby. The name Stainash is taken from a parade of shops on Kingston Road close to the Staines-Ashford boundary. Staines had dominated the league only losing one game which was against Ashford on the day travellers broke through the temporary fence erected by the Southampton-to-Heathrow pipeline contractors.
In the rest of the league results were fairly well distributed. If Osterley, who finished bottom, had their 26 goal deficit against Staines discounted, their goal difference would have been -12 which would have be the same as Sunbury & Walton Hawks’.
In the final, Staines turned out an experienced team with a couple of juniors as they had done all season. The Ashford A-L team only had 2 players over the age of 22. Staines had the cunning and Ashford had the legs. Staines opened the scoring with a goal similar to many others they had scored in the league. A short pass to a man waiting in front of goal unmarked for a neat finish. Alex Graham pulled the scores level after latching onto a difficult pass, turning and sweeping the ball home. In the second half, Staines pulled ahead again with a well-worked short corner. Time was running out for Ashford when a 14-year-old Jake Glew drag flicked the sides level. With 5 minutes to go, Jake made a solo run and slipped the ball into the corner of the net with a well-placed backhand. Staines mounted a strong come-back with a series of short corners but the Ashford defence held firm. The final score was 3-2 to Ashford! It was an excellent game which was superbly umpired by two National League Umpires in Dave Howell of Staines and Neil Smith of Ashford. This summer league has been running on and off for 24 years and until last season Ashford had never won it. Now it’s two years on the trot!
Many thanks to Chertsey Thames Valley for giving me a game as there was no chance of me getting on the pitch for my own club. I picked up two goals in that game and CTV drew. Later in the season Luke, my eldest son who is Ashford 1s captain, guested for CTV. He didn’t score and CTV lost which definitely made my summer!
Many thanks to Neil Smith for organising the umpires for Ashford, finding extra umpires when teams were short and helping to get umpires from other clubs through their Level 1 umpiring assessments. Many thanks to all the team captains who managed to get the teams out so we didn’t have the worry of cancellations. A very enjoyable summer!
Peter Cottrell
The Ladies
A glorious summer of hockey was once again hosted by Ashford, welcoming back Sunbury, Chertsey and Staines (with two teams), plus the new addition of NPL. The growing league was now running over two evenings a week, so plenty of great hockey for the teams. Ashford had excellent availability for every game, with over 40 players in the pool. This included a keen bunch of juniors who having turned 13, made their debuts with the ladies. Well done to Niamh, Madeleine and Lily and we look forward to seeing you playing in the senior league next season.
The league final was a replay of last year’s final, with reigning cup holders Sunbury playing Chertsey, but it was Chertsey who were the worthy winners this year.
The league was really enjoyed by all and each week it was great to see the happy faces of players, whatever the score turned out to be. Highlights were seeing the new juniors play, welcoming new goalkeeper Rachael and celebrating Lesley's special birthday.
Thanks to the many umpires who gave their time – Neil's team were awesome. Also, a massive thanks to Wendy and Lucie for sharing the organisation of the league this year – we made a great team!
Good luck to everyone in the coming season.
Claire Brant
Summer Tour
We took a mixed-gender team of past and present AHC players on tour this summer to Bournemouth 7s and came away with as champions! Congratulations to the tour team on their fantastic success.
Then on 22 July, the victorious touring team played a friendly match against a team drawn from the rest of AHC. The game was playing in a downpour in stark contrast to the beautiful tour weather, but that didn’t dampen spirits or enthusiasm and the match finished 3-3!
