Anyone else enjoy the weekend break? It certainly felt needed as it has been hectic getting 11 adult teams and an equal number of junior teams out each weekend along with teas, umpires, DBS, coaches and plenty of facilities challenges. The good news is that we’ve had a good start. We’ve a few teams in the hunt for promotion and especially pleasing has been the start for the Men’s 6th XI and the Women’s 5th XI who are now more than established. The Women’s 1s are top of Prem and are ready to bounce back up and elsewhere we can see title challenges starting to shape up for some of the Men’s XIs.
Tuddenham is busy each week and bar and Ipswich Town are bringing joy (and sadness) to many every Saturday.

Can I take this opportunity to remind you that all members will now receive a member discount on the till so when you are ordering drinks you just need to give your name and a discount will be applied – the till is now linked to the database. You will also notice a wealth of new pictures on our website, if you see Chris our photographer please say hello, he is doing an amazing job across all the teams. Finally, we’re also looking into a social for Christmas, dates to be arranged.

Below we’ve reports from the Boys U18s, Men’s 1s, Men’s 2s, Women’s 5s and Women’s 1s. Enjoy and best of blue this weekend whether you’re on the road or at home.

Men’s 1s
Ipswich were eager to bounce back after their recent defeat, facing Dereham in what promised to be a challenging match. They started strong, but impatience set in as they struggled to convert their chances in Dereham's circle. This frustration allowed Dereham to gain confidence, and their sustained possession eventually resulted in a well-executed short corner that put them ahead. Ipswich had to dig deep, knowing their ability would eventually lead to chances. It wasn't long before they earned their first short corner, which Craig Wiid nearly converted. A few minutes later Josh Taylor Grout broke down the left and released Josh Cutting who crossed to Wardy to slot home on his belly.

Frustrated with the 1:1 scoreline, the Ipswich manager pushed for a more dominant second half. Ipswich came out strong, with a beautiful link-up between Wardy and Ed Youngman resulting in Youngman slotting the ball past the outstretched keeper for a 2-1 lead. However, just after taking the lead, Ipswich momentarily lost focus. Dereham capitalized on this lapse, with a striker weaving through the defence to earn a short corner, which they converted to level the score at 2-2.Wounded by this setback, Ipswich ramped up their efforts, creating numerous opportunities but struggling to find the finishing touch. Finally, their persistence paid off when Alex Hunnable lashed home a cross, making it 3-2. It was a hard-fought match, highlighting areas for improvement, but ultimately Ipswich secured a well-deserved and crucial three points.

Men’s 2s
The “Griggs Era” kicked off with a tough away trip to high flying Colchester for the Men’s 2’s. Strengthened by an appearance from Southy (for a half!) Ipswich set about their task with some crisp passing, invariably started by the new centre back partnership of Wrinch & Austen. After a decent spell, Ipswich felt they had a strong shout for a short corner as the Colchester defender chested the ball in the D. Neither umpire blew & within 10 seconds the ball was in the Ipswich goal after a swift break from the home side. Good leads upfront from Miller Snr & Jnr together with Ben B led to a spell of pressure for Ipswich but they were hit by a sucker punch on the break. 2-0 Colchester. The “sprint” back to recover, rendered Wrinch lame & unable to participate further. Aiden D ably filled in at the back to help deserved MOTM Austen. A couple of half chances for Elliot & a glaring miss from Windy closed off the half. With depleted numbers, Ipswich’s passing started to slow & despite robust reminders to pass from Battman on a rare cameo, the visitors struggled to create chances although Will in midfield worked tirelessly to create something. Losing possession hurt Ipswich & Colchester doubled their lead from open play and a short. Trembath & Coops kept prompting from the back. Close efforts from Elliot & Finlay went begging but Ipswich eventually scored a consolation goal when Windy deflected a great pass from Austen. 4-1 final score & the 2’s are still searching for that first win of the season.

Boys U18
The U18 boys travelled all the way around the corner to Ipswich School Sports Centre at Rushmere to face Ipswich East Suffolk in the first round of the England Hockey Junior U18 Tier 2 KO on Sunday. Ipswich moved the ball well, denying IES much possession in the first 10 minutes of the game and going a goal up from a Ben Bastow PC. Between endless attacks by Ipswich with Jake Shelley narrowly missing the goal on 15 minutes, IES made the most of any time they had with the ball earning a number of PC's. These were efficiently handled by GK Callum Warnes until around the 27th minute where a controversial PC strike ricochet in off the top of the inside right post - sold to the players, benches and crowd as a second shot on goal by the umpires - the score now equal at 1-1.This was short lived, 2 minutes later and another Ipswich PC resulted in IES literally putting their bodies on the line. The resulting stroke confidently put bottom left by Captain for the day Austin Edwards. 2-1 Ipswich at half time.

Coming out of the break with the aim of going strong to widen the gap, 5 mins in and the crowd were shown a full suite of Ipswich PC routines. The pressure relentless on IES, PC - PC - reward - reward - all credit to their GK and solid defence for keeping the ball out of the goal and the score line tight at 2-1. Some back and forth play saw IES have opportunities of their own including a PC. Ipswich not enjoying playing anymore in their own half of the pitch and seeing some frustration in the IES formation upped the pressure, took control of the game and moved camp into the IES half maintaining the majority of possession. This eventually lead on 20 mins to the first of a hat trick of field goals for Farran Kirkham. 3-1.IES did not give up, a break and a couple of PC opportunities were relatively easily dealt with by the Ipswich GK and defence with the resultant counters piling the pressure back up in the IES D and further PC's for Ipswich who continued to be frustrated by the IES GK. However a 2nd goal for Farran eventually followed and then his 3rd with the unfortunate loss of position for the IES GK who watched alongside everyone else the ball roll slowly past his left foot and the wrong side of his post magnetised by the back of the goal as opposed to the back line making it 5-1, an otherwise excellent performance from a young IES Goalkeeper with a great future ahead of him and who along with Defender 59 Ben were Ipswich's combined players of the match for IES.A final whistle PC for IES gave them one last chance to score but a save and clearance saw the whistle blow on a game where hockey was the winner, a great local derby game amongst a good number of friends off the pitch.

Thank you to IES for the great game, hospitality and good luck in your next round. Final score 5:1 Ipswich

Women’s 1s
The Ladies 1s hosted Norwich Dragons in their third home game at TR this season. Ipswich win the early possession and some speedy forward pace from midfielder Poppy D-R allowed the forwards to push higher. The transfers controlled well by full backs Ellie Scott and Kat Wrinch with patience and pace. Also some great feeds up the lines from Keisha H-B and Emma Logan. Some early close calls and narrow misses but Ipswich kept the ball in Dragons’ half. Dragons outlet formation took Ipswich a while to figure out, with the forwards busting a gut to get across the pitch but missing the ball by a stick length. Some on pitch player organisation and sideline chats helped them to resolve and press differently.

Half time and still deadlock. Ipswich really pressed hard, as the forward line started to read Dragon’ outletting. All the hard work from the forwards was paying off as they troubleshoot on the pitch. Big running and solid reverse defending from joint PTOM Kate Wingar. Intensifying their attack, breaking down Dragons further. Finally the reward followed, with a sneaky tap in from forward Chloe Williams off of Jasmine Vincent’s strike. A well deserved goal and big boost for Ipswich. With energy still high and Dragons on the back foot, Ipswich attack strongly again. A lovely aerial from the left made by Sophie Sexton, finds joint POTM, Taylor Ball who drives into the circle and wins Ipswich a penalty stroke. The reliable Lizzy Wheelhouse steps up to the plate for the second stroke of the season and slots it past the keeper for a 2 goal buffer. Both goals coming from some sound combination play through the lines. Ipswich kept possession and Dragons really started to struggle. The game continued with more attacking pressure and short corner chances. An almost perfect execution from Captain Lucy Dunnett off a corner but stopped on the line from the post player. The game ended 2-0. A mature performance from Ipswich and a combined squad effort puts them 3 points ahead of second place. Another shout out has to go to GK, Ali Barham who has just taken the bronze medal in the O35 World Cup in South Africa. We welcome her home next week with her new bronze hardware! Please bring your medal along to training! Their next meeting is not unfamiliar territory. Bishops Stortford and Ipswich meet again 2 years on. Can they add another win to their streak and remain unbeaten this season. But first, a well-earned week off.

Women’s 5s
On Saturday we welcomed a few 12 yr old juniors to the team :) we started off well up to first half winning 3-0... team talk from our coach reminding us to play down right side... throughout second half everyone was getting tired our heads dipped making it difficult to do simple tasks and opposition scoring 4 goals in 2nd half.. thank to the Wrinch's for cheering 5s on with all the encouragement from the sideline :) goals from Chantelle and Jock x2... our MOM went to Kvassia...