Bridgend Hockey Club were very proud of their men’s !st X1 squad last Saturday when they overcame strong opposition from Swansea University to win the Welsh Shield Knock-out Cup competition held at Welsh Institute of Sport, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, and in so doing, retain the trophy.

After successfully negotiating the earlier rounds, with a notable victory in the semi-final over Cardiff Medics, Bridgend reached the final for the fifth time in five years – a great achievement in itself.

It was always known that the students would put pressure on Bridgend due to their youth, but Bridgend’s experience, desire and commitment pulled through in the end. After a mix up in defence in front of goal, Swansea went ahead after ten minutes, but Bridgend fought back strongly, with Paul Davies, Neall Hollis and Rhys Owen combining well at the back to work the ball up the flanks with some firm hits to centre forward Nick Anthony, via Jon Rubery and Andy Schofield.

It was from one such movement that Rubery cut a narrow angle in to the circle, and after interpassing from David Knight and Andrew Jones, he made the final touch to score an equaliser midway through the first half.

Swansea came back strongly, but the midfield of Steve Murphy, Andrew Jones and captain Rhydian Cole worked tirelessly to keep Swansea at bay. Adrian Hibbert in goal was always alert, and kept Bridgend in touch with a splendid save.

Bridgend started the second half strongly, and went ahead after two minutes when Anthony scored after a good combined move by the team. Swansea came back strongly, forcing a number of short corners which Hibbert did extremely well to save – he certainly was keeping Bridgend in the game. The defence of Davies, Hollis and Owen made good clearances away from the danger area, to frustrate Swansea, and it was unfortunate for Bridgend to concede a goal towards the end of the half.

Youngsters Tom Hopkins, Richard Knight and Lewis Hearne were brought on and gave fresh legs to support the cause, as did Jon Catton and Paul Jones. A good squad and team commitment.
At 2-2 at the end of normal time, two periods of ten minutes of extra time was played, and midway through the first half, Swansea went ahead. However, Bridgend’s pride and desire to be successful was evident in the second period of extra time, with the experience of Murphy, Davies, Rubery and Jones coming through. Chances were created, and from one of these a penalty flick was awarded to Bridgend that was successfully converted by David Knight. At 3-3, Bridgend’s tails were up, and were encouraged by strong verbal support from their men and ladies club members.

Midway through this final period, Anthony latched on to a defensive slip by Swansea, and headed towards goal, with just the goalkeeper to beat. With careful control, he did just that and put the ball in to the goal to give Bridgend the lead with 5 minutes to go.

Leading 4-3, the final minutes were nailbiting, but all players worked hard to keep Swansea out, not least Hibbert who brought off a magnificent save in the dying seconds.

Celebrations were well founded at the final whistle, giving Bridgend a well deserved victory, for which their Club and Town can be proud.

_

Jack Steer

For all those looking to attend (and hopefully that’s a high number of you!), please download the Menu Choice Selection Form and return to Adrian Hibbert ASAP, along with, of course correct payment.

Starters
Spring Vegetable Soup
Prawn Cocktail

Main Course
Beef
Chicken
Vegetarian

Dessert
Profiteroles
Cheesecake

Cost: £20 (includes Disco and Raffle)

Return your Menu Choice Selection Form to:

Adrian Hibbert
31 Esgair y Maes
Broadlands
Bridgend
CF31 5BL

After beating UW Aberystwyth in the Welsh Shield Final last season, Bridgend will be looking for another final appearance, against a side who always gives us a very tough game and who beat a weakened 1st XI in a pre-season friendly only a few weeks ago. Let’s ensure all availability is good. It’s a local game, so no excuses!

Full Welsh Shield 1/4 Final Fixtures are as follows:
Llan & Caerphilly v Bridgend
UW Aberystwyth v Cardiff Medics
Gwent v Penarth

Bridgend Mens 2nd XI, having gone down last weekend to UW Swansea, made the trip to the capital to face Cardiff & UWIC and it was veteran striker Ian Davies who got Bridgend a share of the spoils with a neatly taken goal. It was Davies himself who had a chance to win the game in the second half, but he missed a golden chance of securing maximum points.

Bridgend Mens 3rd XI also travelled to Cardiff, and after coming up against a strong home side, fell to a defeat by 11 goals to 0.

Bridgend Ladies 1st XI got their first win of the South Wales Premier Division 2 season thanks to a well earned win against Haverfordwest at Pencoed Comprehensive School. Having dominated the game for large periods, The Ravens were grateful to Louise Jones and the returning globetrotter Sian Rosser who scored the goals to secure all three points.

Just follow @BridgendHockey to become part of the action. What’s more, those of you already on Twitter, why not help raise awareness of our great club, by sending out our link to @BridgendHockey and/or retweeting our tweets.

You know you want to…

Bridgend Mens 1st XI made the trip to Newent and with a severely depleted squad due to injuries and unavailability and after a first half performance in which we never got going, fell to a defeat by 4 goals to 1. With 6 first team regulars not featuring, it was always going to be tough against Newent who had a playing squad on the day of 14, compared to our threadbare make shift squad of 11. Having found life tough in the heat during the first half, the second half at least did ensure that Bridgend made a fight of it thanks to a goal from Andy Schofield, but it was too little to late with the half time score of 4-0 proving too difficult a hurdle to overcome. Next up, it’s a home game against Yate at Pencoed Comprehensive School next weekend. Elsewhere, Bridgend Mens 2nd XI fell to a defeat in their first game back in South Wales Division 1 with a 3-1 reverse against UW Swansea, while a goal from Rob Sloane wasn’t enough to prevent Bridgend Mens 3rd XI from suffering a 6-1 defeat to a strong Gwent outfit.

Next weekend’s fixtures:
Bridgend Mens 1st XI v Yate (Home) – 1:30pm
Bridgend Mens 2nd XI v Cardiff & UWIC (Away) – 12:00pm
Bridgend Mens 3rd XI v Cardiff & UWIC (Home) – 3:00pm

Senior Men’s – Tuesday 17th August 7.30pm—9pm @ Pencoed Comp
Senior Ladies – Thursday 25th August 7.30pm—9pm @ Pencoed Comp
Youth - Tuesday 6th September 6pm—7.30pm @ Pencoed Comp

Club Open Day
The club will be holding an Open Day at Pencoed on Sat 3rd September from 10.30am—1pm for anyone who wants to play hockey at any level (New or Ex players – all ages welcome) followed by a club Exhibition Match at 1.30pm. Contact Us if you’re interested in attending, or just turn up at Pencoed Comprehensive School (Directions Here).

Club Trials / BBQ
The Club Trials / Barbecue will be on Saturday 10th September at Pencoed Comprehensive School / Rugby club 11am – 4pm.
Further Info will follow once final arrangements have been made.

Welcome to another season at Bridgend Hockey Club. I hope you had an enjoyable summer break and are all fit and looking forward to an enjoyable season. Last year turned out to more challenging than anticipated.

It began with the late unexpected move from Bridgend Rugby Club to Pencoed Rugby Club which did not bode well for the rest of the season as it turned out the concerns were to be found on the playing side.

Both the Men‘s and Ladies selection committees struggled week in week out to get settled and full sides onto the field, eventually resulting in relegation of the both the Men‘s 2nds and Ladies 1sts X1, and subsequent withdrawal of both the Men‘s 4th X1 and Ladies 3rd X1 from the league this season.

This will have a significant impact on the size of the playing squads for this forthcoming season. Both the Men‘s and Ladies selection committees are aware of their responsibilities in ensuring ALL ―paid up members are given the opportunity to play their chosen sport.The reasons for the demise of 2 x teams is ultimately down to the lack of availability of the members. The club can only continue to survive if members are willing to make themselves available week in week out.

The season goes from September to April not as and when you want to play – No club in any sporting activity can survive with this kind of commitment or lack of it. I do however recognise there maybe be difficulties – Now and Again. Looking ahead: next year we will be losing more than 10 young players to university which be another massive loss to our playing numbers, so this years challenge is to find new players to replace the ones we know will be leaving. We all have a part to play, please ensure your unavailability is known by your relevant Captain as early as possi-ble, pay your subs prior to the start of the season so we know who is available for selection.

Have an enjoyable and successful season…

Steve Murphy
Chairperson Bridgend Hockey Club

If you’re looking to start, continue or re-launch a hockey playing career, Bridgend Hockey is just the club you’ve been looking for!

With 3 Mens, 2 Ladies, 2 Veterans and numerous Youth teams, we’ve got the perfect level of hockey for you, whatever your skill level, experience or age. We’ve got a wide range of teams, a very busy social calendar planned and we’re the perfect way to make new friends in the Bridgend / South Wales area.

New members of all standards both Senior and Youth are very welcome, especially those looking at playing at a high standard.

Contact Us if you’re interested in joining Bridgend Hockey or for Membership Enquiries.