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Back 2 Hockey Internal Match:
‘Dark team’ match report

26th October 2020

By Roger Hitch

'Team Dark' enjoy first internal B2H game of the year...

As an irregular contributor to the newsletter I felt it was time to put 'quill to parchment' and give my account of our B2H internal match.

Played with the threat, and occasionally the presence, of drizzle, 28 players, teams 'Light' and 'Dark,' congregated on pitch 2 at 09:00 on a Saturday morning and with those of us without children at home, seemed like the middle of the night, especially for me. After a brief, "You are playing this position and being subbed after 7.5 minutes by so and so," we (team Dark) went through a team talk which was basically – ‘we are here to have fun and learn as we go’.

We have to thank Wendy Beaney and Giles Reynolds (late after a bicycle tyre puncture on route) for umpiring, a difficult task considering the style of play erupting before them. We could not have played without them.

The match would also not have taken place if it wasn't for Tracey House (B2H Manager) organising the event in her usual "Yes Miss" way. Thanks to Tracey for the match and keeping the WhatsApp group chat / psychological 'team v team' pressure going. All great fun to read. Here is a selection...

  • “Team Light better plan on an early night and no drinking. But looking at the team sheet, I don’t think that’s likely to happen...”
  • Psychological game is played on the pitch as well, so happy for Darks to win it off the pitch
  • The pre-match build up for this is like the Super Bowl
  • I think the psychological warfare just got taken up a notch...
  • I was just about born when you started to be a captain so I’m not sharing my hockey career as that would take the Darks a step down on the psychological game ladder for sure.

For this match, the match teas were renamed the "After match breakfast", consisting of fried bread, bacon, beans, fried egg, mushrooms and a big sausage brought waitress style to our table. A big thank you goes out from all who sampled this great match 'tea' to Ann and her happy band of helpers both in the kitchen and behind the masks on delivery.

The play was end to end all the time with many missed chances in front of goal, especially by yours truly who should have done better – sorry guys. Maybe my 67 years is taking its toll on me nowadays!

The half time oranges were substituted by an individual pack of Haribos supplied by "Yes Miss". The idea of four quarters was a good one, enabling three quick team talks and position changes so everyone had a good go on the pitch (all arranged by "Yes Miss").

Everyone played their heart out and really did try their best with some good passes and tackles popping up now and then, and interceptions taking place all the time. With five minutes to go the score was still 0-0 when team Light managed to get that all-elusive final push into the net. The score remained like this until the last whistle sounded.

For those B2H team Light and Dark players reading this, take these five tips away for your next game:

  1. It is better to attack down the wings, especially the right (on their reverse side) than to go down the middle.
  2. Before receiving the ball (as it come to you) look up for your next pass.
  3. Short passes are better than long ones (which get cut out more easily).
  4. The player off the ball is more important (position wise) than the player on the ball.
  5. When marking, stand in front of your mark so you get the ball first (but keep your eye on them if they move).

Well done to all who took part and I did hear a comment that, "I hope we can have one of these each month". I second that.