OH WHAT A NIGHT!

End of Season Ball:  Thank you to everyone that attended the End of Season dinner/dance on Saturday evening.  It was great to have so many young, old, past and present members of the club come together and celebrate the end of the season.  A packed marquee enjoyed dinner followed by speeches and awards.  In addition to this there were some very generous donations for the Auction to raise money for the club.  A special thank you to a very generous student who returned to support the event both physically and financially!  Let’s just say hopefully the sun shines in Exeter this year so that he gets his money’s worth!  Elliott Smith looked very dapper, as he proudly wore his GB women’s singlet over the top of his tux all evening.  The speeches and awards included both some comical and poignant moments, ending with a tribute to Tom Wilson when Harry Kempe was awarded his Cup for his 1st XI efforts this season.    

 

                                                          

 

 

Following the formalities in the marquee, everyone moved into the clubhouse to enjoy the live band and photo booth.  All photo booth prints will be posted on the OL Facebook page later this week.  A massive thank you to Chris Row and his team that ran the bar all evening (and folded up 1000+ raffle tickets!); Lester who spent all day setting everything up and tidying away the following day; all those club members that kindly donated prizes for the raffle and auction; Conti catering for delivering a lovely meal and service; Mervyn and Domino Marquees for making the marquee happen; Janet and Jackie in the club office for all the organising behind the scenes in advance of the event and for every single one of you that turned up to make it such a great evening! 

 

Finally a great big thank you to Miranda and James Baldwin – the driving force to make it such a fabulous night!

 

 

                                                                             

 

Presentations: As part of the evening the End of Season presentations were made to the following:

 

                            Player of the Season                                                      Most Improved Player

Ladies 1s                      Sarah Smith                                                                  Tash Patient

Ladies 2s                      Phoebe Menear                                                             Venetia Bailey

Ladies 3s                      Hannah Leiper                                                               Maisy Howson

Ladies 4s                      Danni Knott                                                                   Megan Brooks

Ladies 5s                      Eden Price                                                                    Beth Walton

Girls U18s                     Tash Patient                                                                  Eden Price

Girls U16                      Charlotte James-Pajwani                                                Charlotte Collier

Girls U16 (Indoor)          Liv Corry                                                                       Zoe Wright

 

Mens 1s                        Harry Kempe                                                                 Will Hopkins

Mens 2s                        Geoff Purnell                                                                 Max Kempe

Mens 3s                        Dom Camilleri                                                               Callum Barber

Academy                      Igancio Pinedo

Loppers                         Sean Murphy

Vets                             Phillip Wheater

Boys U18                      Owen McLaughlin                                                 Tom D’Arcy-Smith

U16 Boys             Joshua Beardwell – Duane Robinson’s Most Improved Young Player Shield

A special mention also goes to Molly Gayler who was awarded the Captain’s Cup.  Well done to you all!

 

MINI SUCCESS CONTINUES:

Our mini section continues to do the Club proud and last weekend was no exception when the teams travelled to Canterbury.

 

Following the pressures and excitement of the Regional Finals last weekend the boys headed off to Canterbury this Sunday to take part in their annual tournament. Despite a very early start both the U10 and U12 Boys got into their stride very quickly and immediately began playing some excellent hockey.

 

U10 Boys:  They continued their form from the previous week and after the first few matches were beginning to look invincible.   However, the Canterbury team were progressing in a similar way and eventually in the fourth match both sides met. Canterbury played some fantastic hockey and dominated much of the game, created a number of chances, but only managed to convert one. The Loughts boys defended valiantly and managed to take their chances when they created them and ended eventual 3-1 winners. They were riding high and went on to win the next two games and looked well on their way to lifting the trophy. However, in the final seventh game, the boys lost their first game of the season to Sevenoaks which shook them greatly and left them with a nervous wait to find out whether they had done enough. Fortunately the other result went their way and they ended up tournament winners to add to their regional crown, what a fantastic week for a wonderfully deserving team!

 

U12 Boys:  The team who hadn’t played to their full potential the previous week, were keen to put that behind them and enjoy playing their best hockey. They went out with smiles on their faces and were quickly rewarded with a couple of early wins and their growing confidence was evident. In the third game it was a strong Sevenoaks team that suffered as a result, as the boys played some magnificent hockey to score 7 unanswered goals. The next games were against the two Canterbury teams and the boys fought very hard to gain a 1-0 win against a strong Pilgrims team and then competed strongly with the Canterbury A team. Neither side could break the other down so it ended in a 0-0 draw. Fortunately the Canterbury team had drawn another match and so the Lought’s boys only had to win their last match to secure victory. They did that convincingly which earned them a very well deserved first place and a chance to lift the trophy. 

 

All the boys really played some fantastic hockey against some very strong oppositions and it was great to see them all playing with smiles on their faces. Special mention should be given to the two goal keepers: Finn who was playing his first competitive game for the club, and Tej who stepped in to keep goal for the U10s in Matthew’s absence.  Despite the weather, it was a great day, there was some wonderful hockey played by some very impressive teams so what an achievement to come away with the winners trophies in both age groups. WELL DONE BOYS!!

 

U10 Girls: The girls only conceded 3 goals in the 8 games!  The scoreline kept so low as a result of some great defending and goalkeeping and all the girls fought hard all day and all put in gutsy performances. Despite their best efforts they were unable to score in their first 4 games finishing with three no score draws (against Surbiton, Ashford and Canterbury) and a 1-0 loss to the eventual runners up Guildford. They went on to win their next three matches 2-0, 2-0 and 3-0 (against Tunbridge Wells, Holcombe and Canterbury) with some great movement of the ball and goals shared amongst the girls. The final game against tournament winners Sevenoaks was lost 2-0. The girls finished 4th overall. Well done Maisie, Hatty, Cressida, Kayuki, Grace, Hillary, Anya, Amelie and Eva!

 

U12 Girls:  The U12 Girls were missing a number of key players, but still managed to put out a team to take part in the Canterbury tournament.  Strong opposition stopped the Loughts girls from stealing a win and they lost most of their matches, but the team fought hard and played some great hockey.  The defence worked hard with Goalkeeper Maia making some great saves and the team building on their defence to build some bold counterattacks, enabling them to score and get some points on the table.  A fun day and great experience against some tough opponents! Well done Maia, Sophie, Emma, Cressida, Amy, Scarlet, Molly and Maddie.

 

Also a well done goes to the U8 mixed team who finished runners-up in their group – great result!

 

NATIONAL FINALS FOR THE VETS 050S:

We wish good luck to our Vets O50s team who have been ably led all season by Phil Wheater who have the EH National O50s Shield Final at Lee Valley on Sunday 1st May on pitch 2 at 4 pm.  Their opponents are Charnwood Mountsorrell!

 

BACK TO HOCKEY:

The Club is joining hundreds of other clubs across the country which will be running "Back to Hockey" sessions for men and women. The first session will be at its Luxborough Lane on Tuesday 10th May starting at 7.45 pm.  The Back to Hockey sessions will be run by club coaches and are aimed at men and women who have either not played hockey for a long period of time or who are looking to try the sport for the first time.  The coached sessions will provide players with a great opportunity to learn or refresh skills and to play with like-minded people in a friendly and relaxed environment without the pressure to perform.  For information please contact John Wright at jtw7010@gmail.com who is coordinating the sessions.