Saturday saw the 2021/22 season draw to a close with the return of the annual Presidents Day at Beldams Lane. The club’s honorary vice-presidents, along with the town’s Mayor, invited to watch a packed day of hockey in glorious sunshine. With three of the four promoted teams playing at Beldams Lane, it was also a chance to celebrate a historic season for the club.
National League bound Ladies 1’s kicked off the President’s Day action at midday in their first home game since clinching the title. They signed off from their fantastic season with a 2-1 win in their final game against Old Loughts, in front of a delighted home crowd.
Next up were the Ladies 7’s, the first of our teams to be promoted almost four weeks ago. They didn’t disappoint, taking a 2-0 win against Saffron Walden to leave them with just one defeat and only seven goals conceded all season.
Finally the Men’s 2’s, who won the title last week, finished up the day with an emphatic 11-0 win over Vauxhall 1’s.
With the Ladies Acolytes, over at Hockerill, also securing a 5-0 win against Upminster, it was a fabulous day for all of our promoted teams and a great way for them to sign off from their winning seasons. In fact, all six games across Beldams and Hockerill ended as home wins.
We were also delighted to have a visit from the Mayor of Bishop’s Stortford Keith Warnell, who said: “It was an honour to be invited to Presidents Day and to celebrate the clubs’ promotion to the National League. It’s wonderful to see the club thriving, with members of all ages enjoying playing hockey regularly, and the club so active in getting hockey into local schools. It really is a fantastic facility here, providing such a wide variety of sports and activities to the town”
The season may be over, barring a few postponed fixtures, but hockey goes on. Summer League is just around the corner, there’s Exiles Day on 23 April, and our End of Season Dinner in May. More details on these coming soon!
