HOCKEY season is upon us, and there were a pair of games over the weekend to raise the curtain on the 2024/25 campaign.
They may not have been in action themselves, but defending champions Old Victorians Convicts will have been delighted with the opening result from the Rathbones Men’s Division 1 season.
Last year’s runners-up, Crusaders, and Men’s Senior Cup winners JHC Leopards had to settle for a point each after an entertaining 1-1 draw at Les Quennevais on Saturday – a result which neither side will be content with as they aim to reclaim the title.
Crusaders began brightly and took the lead from the first penalty corner of the match, as Tom Millar’s goal-bound strike ricocheted off a defender’s stick and clattered into the backboard.
The Island captain found the target again a few moments later, but an early whistle from one of the officials ruled the goal out.
Leopards’ best effort of the first period was a Nick Pearce drag-flick, which was expertly hooked off the line by defender Richard White.
At the other end, Finlay Griffin was denied by the right toe of goalkeeper Tyler McGlinchey.
After changing ends, Leopards dominated large periods of the second half, but they could not break through a resolute defensive line, with debutant goalkeeper Will Wilson making some excellent saves.
A series of penalty corners came and went without JHC troubling the scorers, and at the other end McGlinchey was called into action on only a couple of occasions.
With five minutes to play, JHC deservedly levelled the scores as Sam Dunstan’s reverse stick strike was too powerful for Wilson.
Crusaders are back in action again on Saturday, against Victoria College, while OVs Convicts begin the defence of their crown against Hautlieu.
Elsewhere, in Rathbones Ladies Division 2, Nomads 2s and Quackers 2s started their own campaigns but also had to settle for shared points as the final score finished 2-2.
Thanks to the Walkers Puffin Development programme, Nomads had many young talented new faces in their squad, including players Isabella Frost, Morgan Benander, Hannah Follain and Lottie Fox.
Equally, Quackers debutants included Khloe Kingham, Esme Williams, Libby Casey and Elina Durbano-Yard.
The game was tightly contested from the start, with Quackers’ experience putting early pressure on the Nomads novices but Follain kept Quackers from scoring early on. Nomads defence managed to clear and link up with Frost on the left wing, who made some great attacking runs throughout the game.
The midfield was a hard-fought battle, with Nomads newcomer Lizzie Tucker and Helen Maletroit working hard to enable their teammate Hannah Rigby to open the scoring.
Quackers continued to test the Nomads defence with Nomads goalkeeper Amy Guthrie showing amazing agility in front of the goal.
Finally, Quackers’ Anais McDermott managed to break the defensive line to equalise.
But Nomads came straight back, undeterred and led by a great run from their captain, Scarlett Kinnaird, who ran the ball from the halfway line into the goal to lead at the half.
The second half continued to be a hard-fought contest, Nomads’ Lynette Ferguson linking up well with fellow forwards Kinnaird and Isabella Le Rossignol but Quackers defence kept Nomads from increasing their lead.
Quackers piled on the pressure in the latter part of the second period, as Nomads kept them at bay until the dying embers, before the experience of McDermott won through to score the final goal and level the affair at 2-2.
