It was a soggy old Saturday when Newcastle 2s headed down the A1 to take on a tough Huddersfield Dragons side. One member of the team however was still lounging angrily in bed when everybody else set off, having been rudely informed at 0630 that she wasn't in fact playing and half the club had been involved in an elaborate deception that involved whisking her away to her surprise hen party....

The rest of the team somehow managed to find their way to the well hidden pitch, maps and carrier pigeons appeared to be involved. Whether or not there were dugouts to keep people's kit dry was a moot point as even the vault of the Bank of England wouldn't have done the job in such horrendous weather.

Today marked the memorial for our friend and teammate Lina, both teams and umpires joined in a minute's applause in the pouring rain to stand together and remember Lina, a moment shared by all teams across the cub this weekend.

The match started with both teams battling through the conditions, sexy hockey tried to break out at various points. The defenders defended, the attackers attacked...occasionally...and the midfield probably just ran around in circles. Newcastle won at least one penalty corner from which somebody put the ball into the goal, however the umpire, with the windscreen wipers on his varifocals going like the clappers, unjustly (probably) ruled it out, leaving the end result as a 0-0 draw.
Somebody likely thought we lost, in the absence of Lisa, Zoe is the next best bet. It's also likely that somebody forgot their spare knickers and ended up travelling home either soggy or with a nice breeze, I can only assume if this happened it would have been Nikki.

Newcastle returned up the A1 river happy with another hard-earned away point, leaving them undefeated in their first 2 matches and looking forward to a rare home game next week.

This weekend demonstrated what Newcastle Hockey Club is all about and why we all play this sport. The results on the pitch really don't matter, we come back every week for the love and friendship that bonds us all together. Whether that's conspiring in each others happiness or standing together to remember those departed, our club is about so much more than sport which is what makes it such a special thing to be part of.