Senior Grand Masters hockey is going from strength to strength at Amersham & Chalfont HC. Once again, ACHC Senior Grand Masters hosted England at Amersham on 9th April. This time our Over 75s B played England Over 80s B, followed by a fixture between the A teams.
Throughout the season, fortnightly events take place on Thursdays for players Over 70 to meet up with old friends and enjoy competitive games of hockey, followed by a meal and liquid refreshments. So far this year 105 different players have turned out, including one some 89 years young, to play round robins with up to six sides.
The Senior Grand Masters play fortnightly until 25th June and resume next season in Amersham on Thursday 17th September. We welcome any players over 69 who would like to join us. Our Grand Masters and Grand Maestros are also looking to recruit additional players over 58 to play in either the London or South Over 60s leagues on Saturdays. Please contact info@achc.org.uk for more details.
A select Over 75s B side drawn from the Senior Grand Masters and other Thursday regulars, playing in green as “Chiltern” beat England Over 75s B 8 – 0. With several Thursday regulars playing for the Over 80s, it was a friendly but competitive match. Chiltern, captained by David Holgate, went ahead following a John Sammons tap-in and were soon 3 – 0 up with strikes from Donald Dunbar and David Holgate. As the match progressed, Donald scored another and David finished with five goals.
Shortly afterwards the Chiltern A side, captained by Ian Pett, played in a much closer fixture against the reigning Over 80s World Champions but Tony Griffin put Chiltern ahead midway through the second quarter after England had failed to convert a number of fine chances in the first quarter. There followed a close contest before Trevor Denison scored the second Chiltern goal in the final quarter to secure a 2 – 0 victory. Nine of our players were approached after the matches to trial for England Over 80s in 2027!!
Two weeks earlier a select Over 70s A side drawn from the Senior Grand Masters and other Thursday regulars, playing in green as “Chiltern”, and captained by Andy Matthews, drew 0 – 0 with reigning European and World Champions England Over 75s A.
Earlier that day, our B team, captained by Arthur Creswell, lost 0 – 2 to England O75s B, with their opening goal scored by David Holgate!
England return to Amersham on 23rd July, when England Over 80A play England Over 75B at 12.00 then Chiltern play England Over 75A at 13.30. These will be their final warm up matches before the World Cup in Breda from 6th – 16th August.
