Kettering Over 50's gathered at the Bish on Sunday morning for what we think was the 10th meeting with the England LX Over 60s Masters Hockey team. Thankfully, there was a break in the wet weather and both sets of players looked enthusiastic and eager as we approached the push back.

These games are played over 4 quarters and the first quarter followed the typical cat and mouse pattern of England LX enjoying some good possession and retaining the ball with comparative ease. Both teams probed and tried to figure out how to get the upper hand without much success and Q1 finished as a goalless stalemate. A slight change to the Kettering tactics was agreed between quarters and we switched to man-marking the principal England playmaker. The dividend was greater control and the creation of more goalmouth opportunities. Two or three such chances were spurned before Nick Cusk bludgeoned a short corner into the bottom left angle of the goal. 1-0 to Kettering at the change of ends.

Quarter three saw a change that has been variously described as a stroke of tactical genius or a complete fluke when the Captain benched himself for a rest. Kettering gained the upper hand and scored three goals in quick succession to effectively end the competition. Firstly, Simon Chambers slotted home after a flowing move, then Nick Cusk scored a second from another short corner (arrowed into the top right corner after giving the goalie "the eyes" to the bottom left) and finally Stuart Mitchell scored his first after another flowing move.

The final quarter was all Kettering as the age gap between the 2 teams really started to tell and further goals for Simon and Stuart followed (from memory, the later was scored by Stuart on all fours!) England L had a couple of short corners towards the end of the game but couldn't convert so 6-0 was the final score.

Food and beer were served at the clubhouse, and we all took the chance for a good natter. As far as I could tell, Cornwall was the furthest one of the LX team had travelled for the game, followed by a player from Crewe, so respect to them for that effort. Several people commented on the fact that three people scored two goals each, but subsequently went very goal-shy to avoid getting a jug in!

I need to note a few thanks:
1. To all players for playing the game in the right spirit
2. To the old friends I had to rope in from Northampton at relatively short notice - we have learned the hard way that Masters hockey is a number game and you really need a full bench.
3. To Ben and Sam for umpiring
4. To Nate for foregoing some revision time to be in goal.
5. To Scarfey for volunteering to run the bar at short notice.
6. To Jo for helping with the food/washing up and for dashing to the nearest Co-Op so that the 2 vegetarians could have something to eat.
7. To Lucie, my eldest, for loaning me the hockey magnetic whiteboard so that I looked vaguely like a Captain, for managing the old men on the bench when it came to substitutions, for helping serve the food, for helping with the washing up, and for driving me home after I'd had a beer.