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1^st XI: Meaks reports: When you've only got one trick it pays to be good at it. Against the run of play we found ourselves 2 goals down from two drag flicks from Rob Hill. Continued pressure through the first half meant we spent a lot of time in their 25 only to lack the final pass or composure in the D. Pricey, having taken lessons in debating skills from Mason, received a green then a yellow for asking a calm, well structured question. A post-game discussion yielded no further clues as to the reasons for this. We kept the pressure on in the second half a flowing move leading to Shads picking out Frosty on the far post with an open goal in front. He did slot it but only after stopping for a cup of tea and a slice of cake first. Frost also scored an equaliser from a well-worked short corner. Yes you did read that right and we were right on top of the game.Then a match turning decision. A penalty stroke given and Rob Hill fired it away into the netting. We continued to create chances but our discipline got away from us and chippy comments to the umpires meant we finished the game with 8 men. Our midfield having a private meeting of their own in the corner of the pitch. A break away goal sealed a 4-2 win for Yeovil. Frustration and disappointment all round, but we move on to Taunton at home next Saturday.

2^nd XI: A second win on the trot for the seconds. Slider says:

3^rd XI: Another victory for the all-conquering thirds as Firebrands thirds were beaten 3-1. Griff writes: A fiercely fought game where the 3rds were only 2-1 up at half time due to a superb performance from Ron Wheeler. This was the strongest opposition which the 3rds have faced to date with only 3 players remaining from the brands side who played the Wanderers in the opening league game of the season. The opening goal was scored by Chris Bell after some good play down the right. A second goal was scored by Andy Griffin from a short corner just before half time. The second half saw a much improved performance with Alex Taylor adding a third with ten minutes to go. Men of the match were Ron Wheeler and Dave Wornell who ensured that Jerry Boardman had a very quiet game.

Wanderers: The Wanderers staged a remarkable comeback having trailed Bristol University 3-1. A lot of pressure was rewarded when JJ scored to make it 3-2. A number of chances were created but not quite taken. A student foot on the line then prevented a goal. The Wanderers went into a huddle to decide who would take the stroke, up stepped Steve 'Thunderbolt' Puetz. Steve's shot had all the power of an octogenarian with two wooden legs, and trickled towards the goal. The goalkeeper's despairing dive was to the wrong side and the ball after an eternity crossed the line! There was still time for the ball to go in the students nets again everyone thinking the decisive touch was from Rich Hobson's stick, however the umpire ruled that both touches were defender's sticks. The game end 3-3, well done to the Wanderers for getting a result.

Wizards: The Wizards were not at full strength, but Will Lee and Graeme Brown came into the side and gave 110%. W Glos controlled most of the first half and were sharper to the ball and more decisive in their use of it. They took the lead. Just on half time Alan Christopher was bundled off the ball and Martin Palmer converted the penalty stoke. In the second half the Wizards nearly went behind, but Smurf pulled off a first class save at the near post. Both teams pressed hard without ever making clear cut chances. Fazza sent in a number of crosses but we weren't good enough to get on the end of them. W Glos earned a penalty stroke and went 2-1 up. The Wizards pushed for an equaliser but sadly it did not come.

Warriors: Thomas's tome: The Warriors traveled to Yate with three of the youth players, Will Glynn, Will Holmes & Jon Fox. To ensure that the average age was increased Dave Money returned from his first retirement some 9 years ago. We started well and the pressure resulted in a goal for Will Holmes to take the lead. An equaliser from a poor defensive clearance and a deflected shot gifted Yate a 2-1 lead. Just before half-time we won a couple of short corners, the second of which was turned in by Will Holmes. In the second half Will & Jon Fox linked well down the right to cause the home side problems. A Will Bolem goal from a short made it 3-2 and a final goal from Westbury’s “goal machine” Dave Money sealed the win. The second half was better controlled with the defence of Andy Davies, Will Glynn, Brian Nichols & M’lud focused on the job in hand, Sam Banting making some important saves. A well deserved 3 points keeping us out of the relegation places & worth the effort of introducing the team to each other at the start!!

Widgets: A first league win for the Widgets at O Bristolians. Two goals from James Pope and one from Duncan Ogilvie secured the flirst 3 points of the season.

1^st XI: Meaks reports: Crossing the bridge is like stepping back in time. To a land where mullets are still fashionable (they never went out) and kids ambitions stretch to joyriding a souped up 206 and growing the best mullet in town. The Alger family watch out. Playing hockey also seems to involve constant verbal abuse of umpires and appealing for every decision, football style. Westbury got a flying start with 2 open play goals from Shads and Nellor in the first 10 minutes. Then the heavens opened and we took our foot off the gas allowing Swansea back into the game. Fortunately we were up against a team whose short corners were worse than ours and several were squandered. Kinger did make a great save low to his right for one of them. Still 2 up at half time but a disappointing second half performance saw possession regularly given away after 3 passes. After a general warning to both teams, us for continued stick tackling and Swansea for swearing, Terry saw yellow for the former but the latter was left unpunished. Deaks and (finally) a Swansea player both had a 5 minute break . Swansea played well in the second half and eventually pulled both goals back. On reflection this is a difficult place to travel to so to come away with a battling point is a reasonable result. Yeov il away next week (I think their short corner routine might be slightly better).

2^nd XI: Slider says: At last the 2nd XI have won a fixture, albeit against students who spat out far too many dummies during their drubbing. One nil up via a Webster PF we were coasting until a lapse in concentration cost us a goal, so we went in at HT 1-1. Then the heavens opened and we dealt with the conditions admirably and scored 5 goals. Whereas the oppo moaned, swore constantly at the umpires and body checked Ben Tucker at every opportunity, who played well considering. We had to dig deep in the second, but the drive and strength showed by Tim "the engine" Hancock was a joy to see. A couple of notable saves by Clint were not marred by them scoring another undeserved goal. It could have been a bigger margin, we still need to keep improving, never-the-less well played lads. Lets have more of the same next week at home to Cwmbran....2nd XI 6 UWIC !st XI 2.

3^rd XI: The thirds are in phenomenal form. In the league the score stands 28-0, today it was N Somerset who were blasted away, even with Belly in South Africa. Nathan Walkey added two more to his total. Alex Taylor, Worney, Gary Catchpole and Chris Cutts knocked in one each. The pitch was not at its best after the showers during the afternoon, but that did not stop the thirds from cementing their place at the top of the table.

Wanderers: The Wanderers were disappointed to lose to Yate having taken the lead with JJ's 4th goal of the season. The three points were well within the Wanderers reach but somehow Yate found the two goals that made it a third league defeat.

Wizards: When you don't play well it is still important to grind out a result, and this is what the thirds did against Yate. Mark Crofts who had an outstanding game (and 1 1/2 teas) was unlucky not to scour early on, but a few minutes he finished up on the deck, but his shot was well directed into the back of the net. Yate managed to stifle to fluent Wizards play, but Smurf was able to deal with their best scoring chances. The second half was hardly started when Doug Scott, who also had a dynamic game banged in number two. Alan Christopher was in dominant form down the right. At last a sweeping move starting deep in the Westbury half finished with Alan guiding the ball wide of the keeper for number three. Doug Scott got his second and a clean sheet looked on the cards until Yate broke away and scored a late consolation goal. This 4-1 win puts the Wizards second in the table.

Warriors: The Warriors were unable to make the break through to score a goal. That's 4 games and 280 minutes without scoring. O Bristolians found the net 3 times.

Widgets: Will Glynn impressed with his confidence on the ball. The Widgets worked hard, and a word of praise for Andy Fox playing his first game in goal. He made some good stops and looked the part. N Bristol had too much skill and experience and scored 5. Joel Chase cracked a good consolation goal.

1^st XI: The first team came very close in their game against Robinsons, but lost 2-1.

2^nd XI: The 2nds came up against a full strength Team Bath 4th team that unfortunately consisted of the majority of last year's Bath Uni 1st team and we valiantly lost 3-0. This was mainly due to a shocking 1st 20mins of pants hockey against an excellent, quick, skilful side. Following that, we regained our shape and skills, and we battled hard to get back into the game. Our 2nd half performance was excellent and we dominated much of the 2nd half with an encouraging display of attacking hockey... sadly all we could manage was one hit of the post by Webster.A clean sheet is essential in the weeks to come and the points will start building up.

3^rd XI v Wanderers: This was a robustly fought match that was never pretty, always tense but fascinating to watch. Both sides pressed at various stages on the match. It was the Wanderers that nearly drew first blood from the penalty spot, but the stroke was grubbed along the ground and easily saved by Ron Wheeler. At the other end Smurf was in regular action throughout the game pulling of some excellent saves. The opening goal was scored by Alex Taylor. The Wanderers stepped up their pressure in the second half and had their best spell of the game, but it was the thirds that broke away and Nathan Walkey banging in the second. Alex Taylor scored a third. John Ludley suffered a bad injury and was whisked away to A&E, hopefully he will have a comfortable night and a quick recovery. The Wanderers pressed very hard but were unable to get the elusive goal their pressure deserved. The thirds were clearly given their biggest test so far this season, but their winning run now stands at 6 games (4 in the league) and they sit at the top of their division.

Wizards: The Wizards opened the scoring against O Bristolians third team after just 45 seconds. Fazza received the ball, passed inside to Alan Christopher who slipped it to Mike Harvey. Mike hit his shot well and the Wizards were well on their way. Mike scored a second when Mark Colton's short corner shot came off the pads and Mike tucked it home (he could have had 4 by half time with a bit of luck). John Sainsbury playing his first game was close to scoring himself. O Bs clawed their way back with two goals. The Wizards re-established their control. Doug Scott said he was unmarked at shorts, so the ball was slipped to him and he coolly swept it home. In the second half it was the Westbury defence that excelled. Paxo made some great saves, Mssrs Colton, Cocks, Denner and Poker were resolute and O Bs could not find a way through. That makes it 4 wins out of 4, three of them in the league.

Warriors: The Warriors had some smart shots at home to N Bristol and were unlucky not to get a goal. Jon Bower put in a good performance at sweeper. N Bristol were able to break away and score a couple of goals. Jamie Cranfield, Graeme Brown and Harry Newington worked hard in midfield, but a third N Bristol goal sealed the game.

Widgets: The Widgets visited Clevedon and lost 4-1 with Joel Chase getting the goal in his first game back.

2^nd XI: Slider says: What a game, what a shame. We were awesome for most of the match. Meeting a top of the table group of students playing at the peak of their game was always going to be a tough ask but we responded from the first whistle by playing strong, clever and skillful hockey. We deserved to be 1-0 up at half-time from a Psycho drag flick, having played our best hockey for years in that first half. Everything clicked - Clint made several excellent saves, Nick was awesome at sweeper, the Hancock-Tucker-Straun-Psycho midfield worked their socks off and the forwards ran cleverly and tirelessly all game. Our continued knack of giving the ball away, meant that we were under the cosh for a lot of the second half. UWE, lucky to keep a full compliment of players (their relentless and obscene abuse of the umpires going unpunished) drew level but were stunned by a Limbo break and a Webster finish as we took the lead. Sadly, two errors gave two goals in the last 2 minutes and robbed us of victory, stealing a deserved point at least from us at the death . A mixture of pride in our performance and anger at the outcome still clouds my thoughts today. We'll bounce back next week.

3^rd XI: The Thirds established an early lead. The first goal was carved out by a great run by Cuttsy, who pulled the ball back for Belly to sweep home. The second goal was even better. Alex Taylor received the ball on the top of the D, feinting he would go to his right and shoot, he unselfishly played a reverse stick pass to Belly who flicked it high into the net. Alex then had a blistering roof of the net strike disallowed because of something in the build up move. He did score twice himself, the first he got a light touch to a pass that bobbled in. Then a trade mark Bees pass into the D saw Alex sweep it in high into the net. A job well done to stay top of the table after 3 games, 19 goals for with none against. There were strong performances from all the side . This team is going to take some stopping!

Wanderers: JJ's personal count down to retirement now leaves him with seven to score to reach his ton. Robinsons were on the receiving end of his double strike. John Ludley completed the scoring in a 3-1 win

Wizards: With no Wizards game a group of hardy players fought out a 4-4 draw. Many thanks to the players who doubled up to make this game happen. The positives are that Greg Slater showed with his skill and running, that he is ready for a run in the Warriors at least. Matt Farrell showed all the skill and guile that his dad displays in an excellent game on the right wing. Peter Ratcliffe played a solid game and shows that he is getting stronger at playing the game. Slater, Paxo (having forsaken his pads), Dave Ratcliffe and Cuttsy scored for the whites. A mystery aging centre forward turned in 3 very good crosses (one from Matt Farrell) and one dreadful defensive square pass by an un-named (fellow veteran defender) for the red and greens.

Warriors: The Warriors came unstuck at Robinsons giving a little too much room to the lone threat in the Robs attack. Their centre forward plundered a short corner and penalty stroke (from Jurgen's foot on the line), set up the second goal, and caused the main threat to the Warrior's defence. The Warriors had enough in midfield to contest the game, but it wasn't until late in the second half that they mustered a dangerous shot at goal. several more followed, but the goal did not come.

Widgets: Jon Fox and Duncan Ogilvie scored for the Widgets, but S Glos managed to get four of their own. The fourth coming from a shot from the bye line. The two previous home league matches v S Glos have been home wins, but a third win in a row eluded the Widgets.