The first team saw action against Stokers and found the home side full of pace causing them no end of problems. Sam Banting made one amazing save with his helmet when a certain goal looked on. Much of the game looked like a 'stick tackling' contest which was won quite convincingly by the home side, although Village's late lunge took the honours for worst tackle. The first could never get into gear despite good individual touches by Sam, Village, Deaks and Tim Dawson. The answer was no doubt that many of the team took part in pre-season training the night before with sluggish legs and tired passes preventing the side from reaching the levels they achieved in beating Bath Buccs and giving Robs a close game in previous weeks. The oddest moment was when a hospital pass gave an unmarked home forward a free shot, but somehow he didn't shoot, the ball ran wide only for a penalty stroke to be give for stick tackle. From the sideline we could see that the ball was high and wide. The Stoker's right back yelled (he was so far away he had to yell) that the ball had gone in and out through a hole mid way up the net. The home umpire had not taken up the correct position on the side line to judge what happened (he was back beyond the 25), so a goal was awarded until the Westbury defence reaffirmed what everyone (except the right back) knew, that the ball had missed the goal. The game ended in a farce as the umpires had said that the game would end at 8.00pm or when they were kicked off. The second half was extended to 40 minutes (the first half had been 30 minutes). The home side were at last under some late pressure and wanted the game finished. Stokers were the better prepared team on the day and deserved their win, but were lucky to get most of the breaks going their way!

Coatesy's corner: The final league game of the season for the 2nds saw us come up against a strong Firebrands side. Westbury started well with some controlled play and soon took the lead through Tony "Goal of the season" Webster or was it Tony "Goal mouth scramble and was there to poke it over the line (just)" Webster - anyway the 2nds went 1-0 up which was the important thing. Brands only real chance came through a short corner which was flicked and cleared off the line by Ger. Sam Banting was having another good display in goal and made a couple of good clearances. The seconds played out the rest of the half well with only trying to force the pass on occasions letting them down.The second half saw a competitive game with Brands counter attacking on numerous occasions, Sam made another couple of double saves in the half keeping Westbury in the lead. Brands finally got an equaliser through a short corner that was slipped to the right and the skipper was too slow to get out to the player (1-1). Westbury continued to pass the ball and control the game and were rewarded with another goal thanks to Tim "not sure what he was doing so high up the pitch - but I'm glad he was" Dawson being on hand at the far post (2-1). Later in the half another Brand's short corner and another flick.This time it was the skipper who cleared it off the line. Westbury (and Tony) then had a goal disallowed (for foot earlier in the build up). But anyway a good win to end the season. Thanks to all those that have played for the 2nds over the summer and to all those who have umpired. Stats: P11 W8 L2 D1 F42 A22. This currently leaves the A's at the top of the table with other teams still having outstanding games to play.

2006 Division 2	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
Westbury 'A'	11	8	1	2	42	22	20	25
Warlocks	9	7	0	2	55	9	46	21
Chippenham	9	6	2	1	31	18	13	20
Bath Cobwebs	6	6	1	0	37	16	16	16
Blazers	10	5	1	4	33	25	8	16

Warlocks and Bath Cobwebs still have to play each other. Chippenham have games v Robinsons and Blazers.

Palmer's prattle: The first half went well for the Cs as they stayed composed and well organised in containing the Ds. The Ds did the majority of attacking but Dave Money was kept in check and it was Harry Newington who caused the most damage with his play down the right. Harry has a good eye, pace and a long reach. Now he is putting it all together he is beginning to make his mark. Despite their play, the Ds found themselves 2-0 down. Poker stepped up to strike a short corner which found a defensive foot and went in. A second short was dragged flicked in by Martin Palmer, who nearly scored a third after great work by James Pope down the right. Somehow Kirsty made an outstanding save. The second half saw Sparky, Rob Hughes, Stig and Dom Harris press forward from midfield. George Banting worked tirelessly to stem the tide but the Cs sorely missed John Ludley and Will Enderby who have been key players this summer. Sam Banting made a great save from one short corner and Feymous swept another one off the line, but the Ds constant pressure created a goal from a short when Rob Hughes guided the ball home. Not long later Dave Money touched in another short to equalise. The winner came from a free hit and it was skipper Mike Harvey who slammed the ball to give the Ds a deserved 3-2 win. Last summer Westbury put one team out in division 4 achieving one win and 15 goals. This summer two teams amassed nine wins and 56 goals between them a testament to the strength in depth of the club.

The 'A' Team were awarded a walk-over as Long Ashton Frys have stated that they will be unable to fulfil their unplayed fixtures. They did have a fiercly contested game with Warlocks, whic saw Tony Webster score twice. Warlocks contested vehemently the validity of the second goal, but their umpire let it stand. Soon after Chris Butt worked his magic down the right and his cross to Tony would normally have been despatched with ease, but it caught the top of Tony's stick and the chance was lost. Warlocks then raised their game and scored twice in quick succession to lead 2-1. Westbury seemed to have got a good equaliser, but the umpire found reason to disallow it even though the ball had squirted into the air off of a defender's stick! That was the last chance and Warlocks won 3-2.

2006 Division 2	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
Westbury 'A'	10	7	1	2	40	21	19	22
Warlocks	9	7	0	2	55	9	46	21
Bath Cobwebs	6	5	1	0	32	16	16	16
Blazers	8	4	1	3	29	21	8	13
Bristol & UWE	9	3	1	5	24	27	-3	10

The 'D' team were the come back kings after falling behind by 2 goals to nil at half time. N Bristol looked well organised, whilst the Ds did a lot of pressing of their own they couldn't find their way past some determined home defending. Jez Longden and Alan Sparks were looking a strong combination in midfield. Jez is planning a gentle return to lower eleven hockey now that his son Max is playing. Max had a testing time against two quick running N Bristol forwards, but was to have a big say in the final result. Duncan Ogilvie swept in a simple goal after Harry Newington decided to hold the stick with both hands and delivered a pin point cross. Next up it was Shep who struck from a short corner to equalise. Kirsty in goal had to make some good saves and won a one on one with a home forward. The ball from her pads was quickly worked up field and Dave Money scored to put the Ds 3-2 ahead. Then it was Max's turn to shine in his first senior game. He picked up the ball just outside the N Bristol D, passed to his dad, who delivered the ball to the D for Dave Money to get his second of the game and complete a superb come back for the team. Spare a thought for a former Wizard on the home team who exchanged handbags with Dom Harris, for which they both got green cards, then gave a string of abuse to his own captain and was asked to retire to the bench for the remainder of the game!

Si's summary: The Bs went out against North Somerset with last week's good result in mind and started the game in the same way, by dominating the match. Solid work in the midfield produced good early balls forward, and the forwards were unlucky not to score on a number of occasions. The scoring for westbury opened with a short. 1-0 at half time. The second half was more even, with both sides creating chances. With 5 minutes to go the N Somerset scored, but we sneaked a winner off a short right before the final whistle. 2-1.

2006 Division 3	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
Westbury 'B'	10	5	2	3	24	15	9	17
Shepton Mallet	7	4	2	1	21	10	11	14
South Glouc	8	4	1	3	19	24	-5	13
Bath Buccs 'B'	7	4	1	2	31	15	16	13
Rascals	7	3	2	2	27	18	9	11

The Bs are currently top of the table having completed their matches, although they can be overhauled by the teams below them. This is an improvement on last season's 5 wins and 5 defeats (4th place finish), so well done to Nathan Walkey in his first season as captain, guiding his team to a very respectable position in the division.

Meanwhile the As are in a very strong position with a key game against Warlocks to come. Although Bath Cobwebs can still gain more points if they play their matches. However, in the summer some teams are very poor at completing all their fixtures and have points deducted. Cobwebs have so far not fulfilled three of their fixtures and have a game against Warlocks in July!

2006 Division 2	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
Westbury 'A'	8	6	1	1	33	18	15	19
Warlocks	8	6	0	2	52	7	45	18
Bath Cobwebs	6	5	1	0	32	16	16	16
Blazers	8	4	1	3	29	21	8	13
Bristol & UWE	9	3	1	5	24	27	-3	10

The Cs have had a much improved season after winning only once last summer. Shepton Mallet are the in form team and Warlocks, Pokers, N Bristol and Vinyards can still pass them in the table. A good result in the Westbury derby is needed for the Cs to earn a top 3 or 4 position. The Ds in their first season have done incredibly well and are equally capable of getting a result against the Cs. The Cs have had outstanding defensive qualities this summer, whilst the Ds have found scoring easy, mainly due to the form of Dave Money who has scored in every game he has played.

2006 Division 4	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	P
Shepton Mallet 'A'	6	6	0	0	37	7	30	18
Westbury 'C'	9	5	2	2	23	12	11	17
Pokers	9	5	1	3	22	17	5	16
Warlocks 'A'	6	5	1	0	20	5	15	16
North Bristol 'B'	7	4	0	3	18	16	2	12
Vinyards	8	4	0	4	22	12	10	12
Westbury 'D'	9	3	1	5	28	30	-2	10
Robinsons 'C'	7	3	0	4	15	15	0	9
Bath Banzi's	5	1	1	3	11	24	-13	4
Grapes	7	0	0	7	5	39	-34	0
Long Ashton Frys ‘A’	5	0	0	5	3	27	-24	0

The 1st team entertained unbeaten Bath Buccaneers at Coombe Dingle. The opening was fairly even, and played at a brisk pace with both sides showing determination and skill. Westbury opened the scoring when Nellor received a return pass and knocked home, this came after a series of well put together moves by the firsts. It was Nellor who also got the second. Buccs then went up the other end and scored themselves. Andy Catchpole, a new face at the club, showed his sharp skills on the right hand side of the D in what was literally the next attack and his precision pass found Straun Wilkins who bravely dived at the far post and slid the ball home. In so doing he had a nasty knock on the hip and took a couple of minutes to get up, before limping off. A fourth goal came soon before the break. Pricey's shot hit the post as he celebrated what he thought was his goal and Shads dived in amongst the bodies to slap in the rebound. There was a lot of good movement and control by Westbury which enabled them to establish an good lead at the break. Buccs did manage to press more and Pricey, Deaks, JP and Village had to be at their best and consequently kept the shots to a minimum. Chances came and went at the other end with several good crosses being turned just the wrong side of the post. Nellor had a jinking run from the 25 and as he reached the D he wound up for a thumping shot. Whether he topped it or a defender's stick took some of the pace off, I'm not sure. The ball spun and bounced past everyone including Shads, who said he flinched as it came past him and the keeper and in at the near post. A hat-trick for Nellor! Buccs then took greater control of the game and did manage one goal which nearly took an attacker and Kinger's heads off! Straun was able to return to the fray and looked sharp on the right, while Pyscho was full of composure prompting attacks down the left. This was a good result against a side who were maybe lacking their first team players, but never-the-less a team that are hard to beat.

Palmer's prattle. The 'C' team took the field with a squad of 16 players and this proved to be a decisive factor in making Warlocks drop their first points of the summer. John Ludley was influential in building up a number of first half attacks. It was his pass in the D that enabled Martin Palmer to pounce with a 'topped' ball that bounced past the keeper and into the far corner. There was lot of good running from the constantly changing (and refreshed midfield) but too often the final ball was not quite decisive enough. However, the Westbury defence were playing well and it was 30 minutes before Sam Banting had to make a serious save! One Pete Thomas cross nearly paved the way for a goal, but there were not many scares for the visiting keeper. Warlocks were unbeaten coming into this game and looked a very sharp and skillful side. They put on most of the pressure in the second half. In fact they started the half with a goal after 30 seconds. This could have been their incentive to go on and win the match. The Cs were not going to have any of that. With Feymous and Alex Payne outstanding and Tim Palmer, Poker and Andy Cameron all playing resolute games, the Cs held out for a very creditable draw. The substitutions worked well and all credit goes to the intelligence of the team, who made the changes seem pretty seamless for most of the game. It still took Andy 'Mr Calm' Cameron to ghost across the goal to take the ball off the Warlocks forward at the far post just as he was about to tap in a winner from a yard out. I'm not sure if we've ever had 16 players turn out before so for the record the team was: S Banting, M Fey, T Palmer, A Payne, P Croker, A Cameron, S Parker, M Taylor, J Ludley, S Puetz, J Cranfield, J Bladon, S Andrews, M Palmer, P Thomas, J Pope.

Mike's mutterings: We won 6 - 1, even with Dom making his first appearance in goal. Although they did have Jim Shine 'keeping for them.3 - 0 half-time, 4 just after, nothing for 25 mins then 4 -1, then Dave's 2 in the last 8 mins.Newington, Harvey, Hughes, Sparks, Money 2 (1st off a defender's stick) in that order. 4 or 5 were really good goals involving sweeping moves. Dave should had a hat-trick, but did set up at least three.

The 1st XI recorded their first win, Torpids is never an easy game, so 6-2 sounds a fine result. Gareth Nichols scored his first goal at this level.

Coatesy's corner: The seconds came out 3-0 winners in their latest summer league fixture. Controlling much of the first half with some good passing moves. The final ball let Westbury down on a few occasions and the half time lead was thanks to goals from Struan and Webster. The second half Westbury wanted to build on the passing moves but at times we seemed to lose our shape and make the game hard for ourselves. Ron in goal never looked threatened and Westbury grabbed a late goal with the final touch of the game from Will Jones.

Si's summary: The 3rds went away to Chippenham this week and started the game well, dominating for the first half hour. We were alas unlucky not to convert any of our shorts. Stig provided an excellent anchor in the centre of midfield, and the distribution to the wings worked excellently. Unfortunately Chippenham scored a short just before the break and we ended the half disappointingly 1-0 down. No changes for the second half, and we continued to dominate as the game began to string out. Chewie dribbled and struck from the top of the D to equalise, and after that the game went end to end grass hockey style. Big thanks to Mike Harvey for stepping in at short notice and playing in goal, (remind me to bring the defibrillator next week!), and Mr Matt 'wheres my servant' Taylor, both having stirling games. The end of the game saw us with more shorts, Jimmer unlucky not to lift over the keeper on a couple of occasions. In true captain style Nathan ended the game with a one on one, the keeper making an excellent save with his helmet. 1-1.

Coatesy's corner: It was summer league and the opposition were going through a full warm up drill....let's just say that Chippenham started the game a little more spritely than Westbury. The first 10 mins saw Westbury pinned back in our own 25, struggling to clear the ball - inevitably Chippenham got the opener. That seemed to wake Westbury up and with a good move down the left ended in Webster controlling the ball and slotting home the equaliser (1-1).Chippenham then restored the lead after an initial save by Sam Banting only for another Chippenham forward to be on hand to slot in the goal (2-1). Despite the goal Westbury were starting to control the game with Struan and Tucker bossing the center of the pitch. The equaliser (can't remember how this one was scored) came again from Webster (2-2).Westbury grabbed a third through a short corner - Tucker tactically struck the ball down the middle of the goal for the outstretched goalie to save the shot - Limbo was then on hand to drag the ball from out under the goalie and flick it over - now it would have been nice if the flick was roofed as intended by Limbo but instead the ball only just cleared the lying down goalie and was stopped on the line only for the defender to hit the ball in as he tried to clear it - nether the less Westbury were 3-2 up . Despite controlling all the second half putting a half court press on Chippenham, Chippenham got an equaliser through a short corner that should not have been a short corner (3-3). And that is how the game ended.

Si's shocker: The B team came up against a superior Rascals side this week. The first half started with some spirited play, but we never really got going, and again went down to an early goal. We managed to hold on for the rest of the half, but suffered some breakaways. At this point I make no apologies for a howler of a miss by yours truly, Chewie breaking down the left channel and squaring to me for an open goal tap in. Which I missed! And how the opposition laughed (in fact many of them had turned round and walked towards the centre spot). Taxi for one please. We then created 2 more good chances, Mr Watkins wishing to be sociable, missed a 1st time strike, and joined me in the taxi. Shortly afterwards, Nathan also missed an open net from 2 yards, banging it over the fence!, However it is widely regarded that he was put off by the sirens from the s##t hockey police, on their way to apprehend our vice. 1-0 at half time. We then found ourselves 2-0 down to an odd goal by the Rascals, 1st shot off a short going possibly high and wide, deflecting off Andy's knee and in. The second half yielded some better play by Westbury, dominating for about 20 minutes. Chewie decided he wasn't interested in the taxi for 3, and scored a (dubious 5 yards guv) cracker off a pass from a Wornell free hit, 2 touches, top left corner. The Westbury pressure continued, but we couldn't find that illusive equaliser. 2-1 it ended, a fair result, but praise to all the boys for the excellent spirit and drive in the second half. We will be sharper next week.

Palmer's prattle: The 'C' team visited O Bristolians again and had a ding dong of a match against Grapes. The first half was more in the favour of the home team, although the Westbury short passing game looked very good. Throughout the game John Ludley was in phenomenal form. Always available, he received countless passes and despite being tightly marked he engineered some very good Westbury attacks. Will Enderby was unlucky when his shot came back off the post. Not long later a Ludley short corner shot rebounded to Sam Parker, his shot came to James Pope off the pads and James expertly flicked it into the net. Mike Harvey was called up as goalkeeper and put in a first class performance, especially the two one on ones he saved. Feymous also had to steer a Grape's short corner off the line and round the post. The second half saw spells of continuous Westbury pressure. Shots were fired in, at least ten short corners were earned, but some how the home defence with their keeper leading the way managed to keep everything out. The Cs really deserved a second goal. Grapes had three late short corners to square the game but came up blank. Mike Harvey was very pleased to keep a clean sheet. Martin Rees, George Banting, Will Enderby, John Ludley, Dom Harris and Feymous were at the top of their game. Jamie Cranfield, Sam Parker and James Pope were busy all over the park. A with our previous visit to Failand we finished with two injuries, with Reesy being ruled out for 6 weeks at least with ligament damage. This was an outstanding team performance, well done once again to the Cs.

Feymous' thoughts: A strong Westbury ‘D’ side enjoyed an entertaining match with a very decent Bath Banzi’s team this week. The teams traded goals at regular intervals in the first half – Banzi’s scored three, the first came from a well struck short corner, the second was an unstoppable roofer from a narrow angle and third was a brilliant solo goal when their substitute (a National League player who notched four against Westbury ‘A’ earlier in the summer) walked the ball into the net from the 25. To be fair he did not attempt to use his full powers to dominate the game, but obviously on this occasion he could not resist. Westbury though had plenty of attacks in the first half themselves, with some good moves down the right featuring the likes of Rob Hughes, Ian Evans, Alan Sparks and Harry Newington. There was never more than a goal in it as David Money showed that he had lost none of his predatory instincts while notching a first half hat-trick. Westbury led 4-3 at the interval thanks to Rob Hughes, who rather apologetically put the ball in the net after the ball had come up off the goalkeeper’s stick into his knee. Umpire Ian Small though judged that Rob had committed no offence (which indeed he hadn’t) and the goal stood.It’s always a game of two halves and the second half followed a different pattern. Westbury struggled to make serious incisions going forward and Bath had the best of it. Kirsty Andrews made some good saves put was unable to prevent Bath taking a 5-4 lead and it looked likely that they would hold on to win. However Westbury did not give up and with only a couple of minutes to go David Money ran on to a through ball, pulled it to the side of the advancing keeper and slipped it into the goal for the equaliser. There was still time for Bath to threaten once or twice, but the final result was a 5-5 draw, which was a reasonable result given the endeavours of both sides.

Shads says: Thanks to everyone that made themselves available to play yesterday. We ended up losing the game 5-4. A good performance from all, and on another day maybe we could have got something out of it. Unfortunatley Ron was shot in the calf by a mystery sniper after 3 minutes of the game, the police are still looking for the shooter! This meant he spent the rest of the game shuffling around his goal line, still managing to pull off numerous good saves. (Hope your the damage aint to bad Ron?) A good perfomance against a good side, thanks lads.

Ogilvie's overwiew: On Saturday we took a team over to Cardiff, hoping to avenge the narrow 4-2 defeat in April. This time the game was a far more open affair; party due to the blazing
hot day, partly because some of the opposition had just returned from the European Championships in Prague and partly from having to play at leastsome of the game under the new 11 outfield players rule due to a lack ofkeeper. Against quality opposition, Westbury gave a good account of themselves but eventually succumbed 8-6.

Small talk: The second team headed to Thornbury to play a mostly young Wotton side on a hot Friday evening. The game started slowly with both teams unable to make any clear cut chances. As the half progressed Westbury began to show a bit more skill at keeping hold of the ball and moving it around. The first goal came from the captain as Nick C fired a free hit into the D perfectly onto Limbos run to deflect into the goal via the keepers standing foot. The score at half time was 1-0 to Westbury.The second half was dominated by Westbury as Wooton resorted to long ball tactics as they we camped in their 25. Webster and Neller scored before Wotton pulled one back after some 'interesting' decisions by the defence. The game was put beyond doubt when Terry rounded the keeper with a 'skillful' first touch and Struan smashed a shot home after the umpire played a good advantage.Thanks to Barney for showing up to play at short notice and for Nick Morton umpiring.

Si's synopsis: After a few parking and directional dilemmas, the thirds assembled with about 10 mins to go before a tough rubber against what we knew would be a well organised Bath side. Tactically, we decided to stifle them with a 4 man midfield, with some pace down the wings provided by Hugh 'composure for the first goal' Woodward and Geoff 'my god I'm not fit enough for this lark' Rickard. Anchor roles in the middle of the park were provided by Reston 'how the heck do you spell my name, but I don't care cus I'm wearing pink shorts' and Si 'so rusty I'm using the stick upside down' Andrews.On to the match.... The game started well for Westbury, pink shorts winning lots of ball ( I wonder why), and the wingers working well. As last week, we went down to an early short corner: Smurf saved the first shot, only for the rebound to be slotted home. In true Westbury spirit, we picked up the play, and or tactics started to pay off, with many good runs down the right. Eventually 'composure' picked up on a through ball, and casually took it round the keeper to equalise. For the remainder of the half, we remained on top, with stirling defensive running by 'not fit enough' and Mr Hop along Puetz to control the attacks coming down our left side. We then went ahead after a move down the right, finishing with a stunning strike by 'excessive celebrations' (Nathan), going in off the inside of the post. Insert nickname here. The half time talk was short and sweet, involving some dodgy maths and something to do with only 40% of the work done. This proved to be right as within a couple of minutes of the start of the second half, Bath scored a bizarre goal. After a short corner, a flick was directed at Andy 'no, the shorts came this colour' Cameron, who deflected onto the bar, off and onto his head, and down to the floor. A flick said the umpire, 2-2. The rest of the half was spent chasing the ball, with some excellent defending and marking by Dave, Tommy and Andy. We did have a couple of shorts, and Geoff almost deflected one in, but decided he'd rather strike the opposition keeper in the balls. Unfortunately, Bath managed to capitalise on their good run of play, and scored a short late in the game. Overall, a great team performance from the boys, everyone working their nuts off, and unfortunate to leave with nothing. Well done boys, bring on the rascals.

Palmer's prattle: The 'C' team went 1-0 down to an early N Bristol goal. Simon Lloyd, who turns out for the home team in the summer, ran the midfield and they had some sharp (and vocal) players in their side. Westbury were never able to take much control in the first half, but Sam Parker did have one reverse stick shot well saved, went round the keeper on another attack, but ran out of space to score. In between the best move of the half for the Ds saw him set Pete Thomas up, but Pete wasn't able to get his shot in the right spot and the chance was lost. However, despite the impressive display of the home team they were only able to add one more goal. Then to their surprise a good sustained spell of pressure saw John Ludley find the net with a well struck shot. The second half saw much the same pattern of play with Lloydy and co basically running the show, and the hard working Westbury midfield and defence doing a good job of keeping things tight. Mike Harvey was guesting in goal and and didn't really have to throw himself around despite make several good saves. N Bristol did find the net once more to win 3-1. This was an honest, hard working performance on a hot evening, with the team learning a lot from playing a team whose players play their winter hockey in higher devisions that the majority of the Westbury side.

Coatesy's corner: A nice travel down to Wells for this Bristol and District league fixture - it was just a well it was half-term as the traffic was somewhat lighter than normal. Anyway the game started without Westbury having too much of a knock around pre-game, and were soon under pressure from M.S and after a prolonged period of pressure Mid Somerset grabbed a goal (through a bit of poor marking) 1-0 down. Westbury gradually got back into the game and started to improve the passing and were soon level after a short corner was turned in at the left post by Limbo (1-1). Sam Banting then kept Westbury in the game with a series of fine blocks and saves. Westbury grabbed another from a short - the ball was slipped left and Webster was there to fire the ball into the far corner (2-1). Another goal quickly came after a fine passing move down the left and Webster was on hand again to grab his second of the game (3-1). M.S pulled one back before half-time with a short corner of their own (3-2).It was Westbury who scored first in the second half with Webster grabbing his hat-trick (4-2), but no sooner had that happened than M.S were up the other end and scored again (4-3) this was then repeated, Webster scored another goal (again from a short) to make it (5-3) only for M.S to grab a goal back straight away (5-4). It looked like it was going to be a tense final 5 mins but then Webster grabbed his fifth of the game after a good passing move and a hammer of a cross from Cuttsy (6-4). M.S were finished, but Westbury had one last goal in them - a quick break down the left saw Webster into the D before unselfishly passing to Catchpole at the far post to slot in the goal (7-4).Going forward this was the 2nds best performance of the summer league with some good short sharp passing and controlled build up - well done lads. Thanks to Andy Cooper for umpiring - much appreciated.

Si’s spiel: The thirds started off yesterdays game reliving the glory of the week before, but came thudding unpleasantly back down to earth after less than five minutes to a South Glos break away, the striker tucking the ball away neatly. What then followed can only be described as a scrappy first half, neither side having much of a chance, and Westbury struggling to find the flowing passing game of previous weeks. Halftime brought some stern words from the captain, reminding the team to please pass to the green and red shirts, and a cunning plan from Tommy (formerly of the school of cunning), and these seemed to do the trick. Other than the odd one-on-one save from smurf (round of applause), Westbury had the better of the second half, and were unlucky not to score on at least two occasions. The first of which was a good maneuver up the middle culminating with a reverse-wookie-undercut, which struck half way up the post and wouldn’t sit down for the waiting strikers. The second was a Wornell break, the shot whistling past the left post. Our prestigious captain then gave the call to put it in for the last 5 minutes, and a deflected cross from the left allowed Jeff Rickard to net after a brief game of ping pong with the goalkeepers right shin pad. As the master Yoda himself would say: 1-1 we finished, disappointed we were. Big thanks to Poker for umpiring at short notice. Plus Nathan's natter: 'On Tuesday night we hosted South Glouc at the Dingle on a dry water based pitch ! Within the first 5 mins we conceded an easy goal and then spent the next 30 mins being out played. The second half was a vast improvement, although we struggled with controlling the ball our effort and resilience was excellent. Geoff Rickard scored the equalising goal with a couple of minutes of play remaining. Thanks guys for all the effort so far. Nathan.'
1-1 !

The 'D' scored their maiden win with an energetic 'Clash of the Tightans' (well strictly speaking the two teams without a win - Westbury 'D' and Frys 'B'). Both sides did themselves a lot of credit with some good counter attacking hockey played by both sides. The Ds opened the scoring but Frys equalised. The same sequence made it 2-2 with the light beginning to fade and no hope of the floodlights at Wellsway School being turned on. Both sides were keen to play out time and Westbury triumphed with two late goals. Pete Thomas could easily have scored 6 or 7, but it was Cheewie who scored a hat-trick, his first being a clever lob over the advancing keeper. Dom Harris buried his shot as the home defence gave him an unhindered run into the D. There was a virtuoso performance from Sparky in midfield, who sprayed the ball to all corners of the pitch very effectively. Chewie and Dom were full of running from midfield and Jamie Cranfield and Adam Hine-Haycock looked sharp going forward. The home goalkeeper kept the score down, whilst Mike Harvey did a good job wearing the pads at the other end.

Coatesy's corner: A summer league game and the sun actually shone for once - who would have believed it!!!Westbury dominated this game from the start and at times looked very strong and composed going forward. Some good early pressure and good short passing let to a couple of chances which unfortunately were not taken or their goalie being forced into a save.The breakthrough came through a short corner, scored by JPS after the push out went slightly wide to the right, JPS picked up the ball (not literally) and struck in the opener (1-0 to Westbury). Pressure continued to build and the defence and midfield were limiting UWE to limited chances at the other end, eventually a second short corner was won and after a well worked move saw Cuttsy on hand to slot the ball home (2-0). After the half Westbury seemed to sit back a bit and invite UWE to attack us and after sustained pressure UWE eventually pulled a goal back after Westbury failed to clear their lines (2-1). UWE continued to press and attack but a quick break (??!!??) from Webster saw a one-two with JPS, for then Tony to slot the ball under the advancing keeper (3-1). UWE still attacked and after some poor marking at a free hit pulled another goal back (3-2). A chance of positioning released Catchpole's pace and he late on broke free after a fine pass from Webster to only have his shot saved by the advancing keeper but there was the Watts to slot home the goal at the far post (4-2). All in all a good performance by the boys and at times some blistering hockey was played. Thanks to Nick M for umpiring - much appreciated.

Nathan's natter: Tuesday's result was Westbury 'B' 5 North Bristol 1 Goal scorers were Chris Cutts (playing in place of G Catchpole). Nathan Walkey 4. (Editor) Clearly Nathan played a captain's innings grabbing 4 goals against good opposition. Well done Nathan and the Bs.

Palmer's prattle: John Ludley said afterwards that he thought Vinyards would go on to score 6 goals. They were fast, sharp and decisive, whilst Westbury with a bare 11 men didn't threaten the home goal very often in the first half. The 'C' team found themselves a goal and two men down. A cracking shot was deflected by an attacking stick as O Bs scored and looked to have taken charge of the game. Alex Payne pulled a muscle and had to move up to centre forward where he hobbled around. Chewie had a bang on the foot that aggravated an injury that kept him out last week! With no subs the outlook was not very bright. The Westbury spirit shone through and there was a great deal of determination from the Cs, and as the game wore on, despite the injury handicaps the Cs took the game to Vinyards. With 18 minute left Chewie went on a twisting turning run (injured ankle and all) and unleashed a thumping equaliser. Sam Banting then made a brilliant edge of the pad save to deny O Bs a goal from a screamer that looked destined to beat him! Sam was superb on the night as was his defence of Feymous, Rees, Poker and Enderby. James Pope was unlucky with a shot that injured the home keeper in saving it! A smart move down the left then saw a cross that eluded the keeper and there was one legged Alex Payne to knock in a go-ahead goal. Alex revealed later that his only other goal was scored when he was injured and moved to centre forward for Yatton! With 5 minutes left Chewie engineered a third goal, his stunning pass into the D was expertly steered in by Sam Parker. O Bs pulled a goal back in the final minute, but Westbury were victors on the night. This was another outstanding team performance and great credit should be given to all 11 players against quality opposition (with 13 men) who played very well. That's 3 out of 3.

Mike's mutterings: Great start with a flowing move giving the skipper an easy tap-in from a Harry Newington cross inside 2 minutes. The lead lasted a few minutes before a partially cleared short corner was put away for an equaliser. The rest of the half was mostly in our favour with the defence having time to get a good view of well-taken goals from Dave Money and Rob Hughes. Dave narrowly avoided being flattened by the keeper when rounding him to slot in from the left and Rob struck powerfully from the top of the circle. On a rare-ish Robs attack a cross from the right bye-line got put in at the near post to bring it back to 3 -2 at the break.Robs re-organised at half-time and made it much harder to get out of our half, giving the back four of Dave Holliday, Alistair Jacklin, Andy Cooper & Tim Denner a lot more work. Kirsty Andrews in goal made several saves before a right slip at a short was smacked into the right corner. The pressure continued and eventually Robs grabbed a fourth. After this we got back into the game, and had several good attacks that broke down when the decisive pass went astray. We finished pushing for the equaliser, but didn't quite get there. Overall, a decent performance.

Palmer's prattle: The 'C' team faced a tough task against a Robs side that were easy 6-0 winners last summer. Robs open brightly and their skillful, bustling centre forward looked a major threat. However, it was Westbury who opened the scoring when James Bladon glanced in a free hit with their first attack of the game. Robs pushed forward and Sam Banting made a number of good stops, then in the Cs second attack Sam Parker picked up the ball and drove for the D. The defence parted like the Red Sea with Moses allowing Sam an unmolested run to the D, where he unleashed an unstoppable shot. The home defence of Feymous, Martin Rees, Alex Payne and Poker were able to soak up most of the Robs pressure. It would be fair to say they had greater possession. When they did get through Sam, was always well positioned to deal with Rob's shots at goal and keep a second successive clean sheet. Will Enderby, Sam Parker, Jamie Cranfield and Graeme Brown worked hard in midfield, whilst George Banting was a key figure in the centre of the park spraying the ball around the pitch. This was an excellent team performance and with a little better passing in the final third a few more goals might have come Westbury's way. The best second half chance came from a short corner shot from Pete Tomas that was well saved. That's two wins out of two.

Coatesy's corner: You could tell summer league had arrived, it was nice and warm and the sun was shining.....Hang on let me start that again. You could tell summer league had arrived, it was absolutely chucking it down all game, making it the wettest game most people have played in all year. Anyway not to be put off by the weather both teams played a good game. A strong Bath team turned up, with 6 guys from Prem 2, two of which had played national league recently and one even a Scottish international......after 10 mins of play the possession stats read Westbury 10%, Bath 90%, not letting that put us off Westbury finally get the ball in the attacking third and get a goal through Moondog (1-0)....that seemed to make Bath play that little better and combined with a little wayward marking meant Bath took a 3-1 lead. With 10 mins of the first half still to play it was not looking good for Westbury but then we get our first short corner, and after a well worked move ended with Chris Butt slotting home (2-3) and then a few minutes later Moondog grabs his second, making it 3-3 going into half-time. The second half then went a little more evenly matched.......Bath however still re-took the lead through a short corner - after Ger stepped off his post (as he was scared of the ball hitting his foot) :whistle: (3-4). Westbury then pull one back through a short corner of their own - a simple push out, stop and strike into the corner from Webster (4-4). Bath again re-take the lead (5-4) only for TC to put us back level from an undercut from the right of the D (5-5). With not long to play Westbury would have been happy with the result but Bath had other ideas and after a Westbury attack broke down, Bath countered with their International striking the winner into the side netting. The gamed 6-5 to Bath, but the team can feel proud of the fight we gave especially considering the opposition. Thanks also to Martin Fey for volunteering to umpire and stand there in the downpour - it was much appreciated.

Nathan's natter: The thirds won 2-0 against the Gryphons on a dull and damp night in Clevedon. This was a team performance and we were rewarded by two quality finishes from Rickards and Woodward. Thanks go to Alan Sparks for umpiring.'

The new 'D' team played their first ever summer league match against Warlocks 'A', a young, fast breaking side who looked as if they would run up a cricket score. Sam Banting was in marvelous form and with Stig looking very solid at sweeper the Ds managed to hold Warlocks at bay on all but two occasions in the first half. The Ds solid defensive work inspired them to get forward more often and Sparky with the goal at his mercy after a pass was slipped to him, only managed to guide his shot onto the post. However, the next attack produced a Dave Money goal, Dave showed all his old composure to pull the ball around the prone keeper and push it into the goal. In the second half Rob Hughes moved to right back and the main threat from Warlocks was stifled by his good work. Worlocks did get a third goal, but Tufty was on hand at the other end to flick in a pass from Dave Money. This was an excellent team performance against a side that looks likely to challenge for the leadership of this division.

Palmer's prattle: Alan Christopher was in dynamic form in from of goal getting a personal best 5 goals. The opposition were very inexperienced but the 'C' team exploited this ruthlessly with some excellent hockey led by John Ludley at centre midfield. Graeme Brown set up Alan's first goal with a great run down the left, Graeme also set up Martin Palmer who scored off the pads, and Graeme deservedly got a goal himself in the second half. Alan scored from the spot after James Bladon had his shot stopped by a foot. John Ludley hammered in a short corner and James Pope scored after the skipper was knocked over (it felt like hitting a brick wall) from a collision from a Frys defender which forced him to leave the game early through injury. James Pope linked up well with Alan Christopher with his speed down the wing. His through ball to Alan for his 5th goal was superb. The Cs played a great passing game, but there are much tougher sides to meet this summer. Never-the-less it was good to start with a win, it took nine games to do it last summer! Thanks to Stig for umpiring and the Poker, Feymous and George Banting for umpiring a quarter each with me after Frys were let down by their umpire.

Ron's report: We were all over them but their keeper had a blinder. This was the view of the Devon County goalkeeper as he watched his team-mates open up with a 3-1 win at home to Robinsons 'B'. Tony Webster added to his enormous tally of summer goals and Moonie chipped in with one of his own.

Nathan's natter: Last night a well organised Shepton Mallet team beat us 3-1. Jimmer scored our goal from a well worked short corner. For our first summer league fixture we worked well as a team and there was no shortage of commitment from each player. The Westbury 'man of the match' was Smurf, he was alert throughout and carried off several good saves.