Saturday was of course the 11th day of the 11th month and most teams (a team having 11 players of course) observed the 2 minutes silence in respect of all those who were lost in battle (during the wars rather than playing in Adel colours).
The first game of the day at Adel saw a 1-1 draw (the 2 digits of the number 11) with the ladies 4s taking the lead midway through the second half but a late York equaliser past stand in keeper, Hannah Fisk saw the points shared. Adel came close on several occasions to grab a second goal but the York back line were resolute and held out for the draw.
High noon saw the table-topping ladies 2s take on Bridlington. A competitive first half saw Adel take the lead through Tina Parsons but Bridlington playing on the counter with pacy forwards equalised having already come close earlier in the half but being denied by an outstanding stick save from young Stella in goal. Initially Adel struggled to break through the middle of the Brid defence but eventually some passing down the flanks saw Adel get to the backline on a couple of occasions and Woody and Annabel Walker scored to see Adel 3-1 ahead at the interval. The second half saw Adel’s squad of 15 work in their favour and they ran away with the second half eventually winning 10-1 in a game featuring 11 goals. The goals were shared around the team but perhaps the biggest surprise were a brace of goals for Jenny Hopkins stepping up from the backline to strike home a couple of corners. After some shuffling around of the 1s and 2s squads its good to see the 2s maintain their form and promotion challenge for the 3rd year in a row and new skipper Sophie will be keen to finish off the job started by Sandra this season and avoid any play offs at the season end.
Perhaps more pleasingly was the news coming back from the other side of the Pennines where the ladies 1s finally secured their first league victory of the season with a rousing 4-1 win over Didsbury who now take over from Adel in the bottom place in the league. Despite nearly being left behind Rosie Baker was the star of the day with a couple of goals and the team now has some confidence for next weeks tough home game against table toppers Pendle Forest.
The Ladies 3s under new skipper Emily Harley had a narrow 3-2 win at home against Bingley but sadly the 5s could not quite ensure an unbeaten day for the ladies section as they went down 6-1 away at Slazengers.
The mens section scored 11 goals across the 4 teams who had a game on Saturday although the 3s had a free weekend due to Bradford pulling their 3rd team out the league. The 1s continued their 100% start with a 5-2 away win at Sheff Uni Bankers but big rivals extended their lead at the top (on goal difference) with a thumping 10-1 away win at Grimsby and the showdown in a fortnights time between the top 2 promises to be a season defining game for both West Yorkshire clubs.
The 2s took on table toppers Sheffield Hallam 4s led by Mark Richards brother and in a ding dong game to please the crowd, they came out on top with a 4-3 win with Miles Buller continuing his hot streak in front of goal. The 4s had 2 games this weekend and were victorious in both games with youngster Joe Greer stepping up from the 5s to give a man of the match display on Saturday in the 2-0 win at Rotherham and then playing a supporting role on Sunday as Alan Carvalho and Luke Taylor scored the goals in the 5-4 win over Huddersfield to maintain their top spot in the league. Their closest challengers may well be Chapeltown who took on our 5s on Saturday and sadly the 5s could not quite ensure an unbeaten day for the mens section as they went down 2-0 but there was plenty of promise with the many youngsters making their way in senior hockey continuing to shine and learn from the guidance of the wise old owls supporting them.